*Need Home A/C - Water Leak HELP*

[slash]

Tonight my wife walked into my daughter’s room and called to me saying there was water coming through the carpet. I ran in there and I could see footprints where she stepped on the carpet from moister coming up underneath. It was right inside the doorway to her room. I pulled up the carpet then I started pulling up the laminate floor in the hallway and realized I had to remove the molding first. Once I removed the molding and some of the flooring I noticed a few water marks where the wall was wet behind the molding. So the water was coming from the wall. It took me a few minutes but I realized the A/C - Heater was about in that spot above in the attic. I figured the condensation pan was overflowing from a clogged drainpipe. But when I got up there I found a drip about ½" away from the drain pan. I’m wondering if this something other than condensation. If you take a look at the pictures I hope you can see where the drip is. I’m hoping someone here can give me some insight on this problem. Do I need to call an A/C guy out to look at this or can I just adjust the pan to catch this drip?

[Bryan]

I'm no expert, but could it be that your air handler isn't level anymore and that's why the water isn't getting to the drain pan like it's supposed to? Maybe the side of the air handler away from the drain pan needs to be lifted a bit? Wedge a little piece of wood to lift that side and tilt the water toward the drain pan.

Or can you scoot the drain pan over a little so it is under the drip? This could be a short term fix until you get help.

Hope that helps.

[guitarsjb]

Sometimes the pan doesn't lay right and your drip will find a new spot. Like Bryan said too..you may have to adjust the pan to make the drain right.

[mm2002]

I agree, just move the pan over a little. Unfortunately, you may have to replace the drywall in the area that got wet. If you have mold starting in there, it could lead to some pretty bad problems. Good luck bro.

[slash]

Thanks for the responses. I have the carpet pulled back and have fans on it drying it out. I pulled up the laminate flooring past the water. Fortunately all of the flooring was dry since the water ran under the plastic that I lay beneath it. I just put in the flooring about a month ago and I can tell you it came up a lot faster than it was putting it in. As far as the drip I put a 5-gal bucket under it when I first noticed it. A few hours later (1-2 hrs, not sure of the time I put the bucket up there) I check the amount of water by pouring it into an empty 1 gal Milk jug. It was about 3/4 full. I filled up the milk jug then poured it into my 5-gal bucket and marked the bucket at 1 gal. So I put the bucket back under the drip and checked it 2 hrs later and the water is right at the 1 gal mark. So this thing is dripping 1/2 gal an hour. Is that normal?

[rjohnstone]

If you have a lot of humidity, it can be very normal.
The condensation runoff from my AC unit is a steady stream sometimes.
My AC unit is mounted on my roof (outside) with a drain line that drains the condensation into the gutter on the back of my house.

[Carbuff]

If you have a lot of humidity, it can be very normal.
The condensation runoff from my AC unit is a steady stream sometimes.
My AC unit is mounted on my roof (outside) with a drain line that drains the condensation into the gutter on the back of my house.

Thats the way the one unit is on the roof of the place I work, Its a constant run out the gutter when its hot out.

[Bryan]

So this thing is dripping 1/2 gal an hour. Is that normal?

If the it's warm outside and the humidity is pretty high, I'd say yes. It doesn't sound like anything's wrong with your A/C, it's just not draining into the pan like it's supposed to.

[slash]

I think I got the A/C leak fixed now. I talked to an A/C guy and walked me through it. Apparently it was just a clogged drain on the A/C causing water to flow to that part of the unit.
Now the fun part of installing the flooring again and laying the carpet back… oh yeah, and the molding too.

[semagic]

didn't you say it was coming through the floor? if so, do have a one or two story home and which story is the bedroom on?