You need air conditioning all the time, especially during the summer months, to keep your home comfortable and well-ventilated.
However, over time, your air conditioning will develop many issues. Of all the air conditioner problems, excessive condensation is the most common one.
Seeing the dripping water flow down your air conditioning machine might be unsettling. The dreaded high cost of repairs will also get to you.
In this article, we shall be discussing how to fix excessive condensation from air conditioning. Read on!
Why Does Your Air Conditioning Collect Water?
Your Air Conditioning unit monitors your home temperature as well as humidity levels. It contains evaporator coils inside the unit.
The warm air that is blown into your HVAC unit is later blown over your cold evaporator coils. Later, this causes condensation, making the unit less humid.
Afterward, the moisture that forms drips into your drain pan, which connects to an outside condensate drain.
The air conditioner sweating pipes outside then drains the excess moisture out of your home.
This water accumulation generally happens when excess moisture exists in the surrounding air, and your air conditioning unit faces difficulty removing that extra water.
This results in water leaking outside your home, resulting in muddy puddles.
Common Air Conditioning Condensations Issues and their Fixes
You will find many reasons your Air Conditioning has excess condensation that cannot be removed via a proper channel. Let us look at them and their solutions.
- Condensate Drain Line Clogging
One of the major reasons for excess condensation is the clogging of the condensate drain line. When the dehumidification goes on, the moisture that collects consists of debris and dirt.
If the condensate drain line is left uncleaned, dirt accumulates over time, leading to a blockage.
The result? Water accumulates in the unit, pressurizing it to splash out of your drain pan straight into your house.
Recently, modern air conditioning units feature cutoff switches that shut the entire unit down if any clogged condensate drain line is detected.
This is an excellent way to safeguard your house from any water damage.
For the ones without this option, you will need to take action by yourself. Now, let us look into some of the fixes you can try out.
Fixes:
- Shut down the unit to locate your drainpipe for monitoring your standing water position. Empty the pan and clean it thoroughly to restrict mold growth.
- Now, locate the drain line to check the depth of clogging. Taking a lengthy wire brush, scrub the drain line properly to get rid of any gunk. This is applicable for lightly clogged drains.
- If the drain line becomes severely clogged, you would need a vacuum or special pump. To ensure the drain line is clean, take a small amount of water and pour it to check if it seamlessly comes out on the opposite end.
- Lastly, you should focus on daily HVAC maintenance as a preventive measure. As part of the routine, add some bleach down your drain line every 6 months.
- This prevents any mold formation and removes germs as well. However, be careful not to increase the cleaning frequency, as it leads to increased corrosion.
Let’s move on to the next reasons why your AC unit sweating inside.
- Damaged or Rusted Drain Pan
You can catch the excessive condensation while it drips using the air handler or evaporator coils under your drain pan. The water moves from here into the outdoors and the drain line.
If this drain line becomes rusted or damaged, the water will not travel into your drain line and leak inside.
This also happens when the air conditioning ages around 15-20 years. In such situations, rusted drain pans are common occurrences.
Drain pans corrode and rust over the years, stimulating your AC to drip water.
Check out what amendments you can do!
How To Troublehoot?
- A damaged drain pan needs to be securely and carefully sealed. Thoroughly clean the drain pan at first, and then find out the cracks using the flashlight. You can use a decent-quality anti-moisture sealant to seal the cracks. Later, test if the repair works by pouring water down again.
- In cases of rusted drain pans, it’s best if you replace them. Any drain pan will not be compatible. It needs to fit perfectly with your Air Conditioning unit.
Let’s see why you may still get heavy condensation from your AC…
- Duct Condensation Accumulation
Is your AC unit sweating inside? It must be because of the condensation that built up inside your air conditioning ducts.
The water that drips from the leaks from vents or ducts will ruin your home insulation. Moreover, it damages the air quality indoor.
It happens for several reasons. For instance, if warm air reaches the cool air duct surface when they aren’t insulated properly, it leads to condensation.
In summer, high humidity stimulates the accumulation of condensation.
Fixes:
- Decrease the level of humidity surrounding the air ducts. Make sure the ducts have enough space to allow airflow. Cover the lawn to reduce moisture if your ducts are dug underneath your home.
- For those with ducts in attics, keep the area insulated properly and seal any holes or cracks.
- Unblocks ducts that restrict airflow and regularly clean them. Otherwise, if air does not freely circulate through your Air Conditioning unit, it will become cooler inside the ducts, thereby raising the AC unit sweating inside.
- Check if the air filter is clean or not. It’s recommended that you replace these filters every 2 to 3 months. If a dust-allergic person resides in your home, you need to replace the filter more frequently.
- Lastly, if there is any leaking duct, repair it. Remember, the more the cold air sweeping outside, the more condensation builds up. A leak can be detected with the help of a pressure gauge or just by putting your hand on your duct.
There are still more reasons why your AC may have moisture problems. Let’s talk about them too.
- Frozen Evaporator Coils
Your indoor unit’s major parts are the evaporator coils. Due to restricted airflow or any leak, these coils freeze up.
Eventually, it leads to air conditioner moisture problems, causing your drain pan to overspill and water to leak out.
Now you must be acquainted with the fixes to locate the problem sources and later cater to that issue.
Fixes:
- In case of any airflow restriction, you need to examine the ducts, fin coils, return vents, and air filters. Cleaning these will help to restore your airflow and fix the leakage and freezing of the evaporator coils.
- If the AC filter cleaning does not fix your issue, your AC unit might be running low on refrigerant. Due to a lack of refrigerant, your evaporator coils will become very cold, which might lead to ice formation. The ice condenses and falls as moisture from the unit.
Unluckily, this issue cannot be fixed by you alone. You need to call an HVAC mechanic for help. They will identify the root of the problem, fix the leak, and refill your refrigerant.
If the above troubleshooting does not fix your air conditioner moisture problems, you need to look further.
- Broken Float Switch or Condensate Pump
Water cannot flow easily out of the drain line if the central HVAC body is placed far from the attic or in a location like a basement.
Condensate pumps play an important role in taking the water out of the system.
The float switch turns on when the level of water in your condensate pump reservoir goes up. Later, it stimulates the condensate pump to steer water out of your house.
If your condensate pump breaks or the float switch malfunctions, it will not pump the water outside your air conditioning unit.
Consequently, water will clog up and spill from your AC.
Fixes:
You cannot take any step by yourself for this issue. You need to contact an HVAC technician to help repair the damage or replace your condensate pump.
- Dirty Air Filter
You have seen above that debris-filled dirty air filters cause the evaporator coils to freeze, leaking water.
The filters guarantee flawless airflow. To keep the air clean, they trap air pollutants. However, if combined with dirt inside the filters, these particles might eventually clog them.
This clogging is harmful to the indoor air and also to your air conditioning unit. The airflow also weakens for this.
Furthermore, when the air filters are filled with dirt, warm air fails to circulate easily. This means the refrigerant does not absorb heat properly.
Again, this results in evaporator coils freezing.
You will later notice a small puddle of water when the ice begins to thaw.
Fixes:
- Collect the water that drips properly. Ensure that it does no damage to your walls or floors. After this, begin cleaning the filters. Let them dry entirely before placing them back in the air conditioning unit.
- Clean the filters every 2 to 3 weeks. You must replace them every three to four months for proper usage.
- To ease your process, you can set up reminders on when to clean up the dirty air filters.
There could be other reasons too. But I need you to watch this video to have a better understanding of this sweating issue.
Final Words
That’s a wrap-up for now. Now you know how to fix excessive condensation from air conditioning. Make sure to check what the actual problem is and take the necessary step to fix it.
We hope this article helped to fix your issue!
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