DIY Tips to Cleaning Your AC Unit's Drain Tube It can happen to anyone. You’re walking through your home, when suddenlyYour feet splash into a gross, wet puddle on the floor.Unless your pet has a bladder control problem, it’s more than likely a clog in your AC unit’s drain line. What made my drain tube clog? Your AC doesn’t just cool your home, it also controls humidity, condensing moisture in the air and shuttling it outdoors through a small pipe called a drain line tube. Mucus-like algae, mold, mildew, and even ice in extreme temperatures, can build up inside your condensation drain line forming a clog that causes water to backup into lines, your AC unit, and eventuallyIf you need a flotation device to traverse your carpet, the AC condensate drain line is a likely culprit. Where can I find my drain tube to clean it? The AC drain line should be located near the outside unit, leading from your AC unit’s evaporator coil.

It is typically a ¾ inch PVC pipe – however some drain lines may be copper. Feeling brave enough to combat your own clog? Locate your condensate drain line. Using a wet/dry vac you’ve previously removed the paper filter from, connect the attachment from the vacuum to the drain line using duct tape or simply wrapping a cloth tightly around it with your hand. Run the wet/dry vac for a few seconds to a few minutes until the drain is clear. If you don’t want to fork out tons of dough to repair water damage in your home, it would be a wise idea to perform a little maintenance on your AC drains lines. Drain lines should be properly angled down and kept clear of mud, grass and debris for water to flow out properly. After the gunk has been removed from your drain line, get in the habit of performing a little DIY maintenance. Simply open up the drain line clean out or T on your inside unit and pour a 50/50 warm water and bleach

mixture OR warm water and vinegar solution through the line. use a minimum of 2 cups once or twice per year. Be advised, however, some newer units no longer recommend bleach or vinegar due to oxidation/degradationIn these cases, boiling water is recommended. Installing a safety switch to automatically turn off your AC whenever the drain line clogs can help you avoid expensive water damage. Regular, professional maintenance not only keeps your system running at peak performance, but can catch messy drain line clogs and other issues AC have you feeling stuck? Contact Aire Serv® today. Ready to breathe easier? “What Do I Do if My Air Conditioner’s Drain Line is Clogged?” Got a clogged condensate drain line eh? It’s a messy problem, which many Phoenix-area homeowners have. You should get this fixed fast because a drain line clog can cause big problems like: Causing hundreds to thousands of dollars in water damage

Allowing harmful contaminants like mold, mildew, virus and bacteria to grow in the drain line Starting a house fire due to backed up water leaking onto electrical components of your heating and cooling system There are two things you can do to unclog it:stand alone ac unit for sale Call on a professional air conditioning technician from George Brazilinstallation of air conditioning units If you want to do it yourself, this article will give you a simple method of unclogging the drain line. mobile home hvac problemsThere may be more wrong with your a/c unit than just the drain line, so we highly recommend calling George Brazil to at least diagnose the problem. Follow these instructions to unclog your air conditioner’s drain line

Step 1: Get out your wet/dry vacuum You’ll be using a wet/dry vacuum to suck out whatever is obstructing the drain line. Step 2: Find the main drain line outside of your home Most homes have a main drain line and a secondary drain line. The secondary drain line is usually located higher and water drips out when the main drain line is clogged. The main drain line is located near the ground on the outside of your home.  It’ll be a 3/4-quarter inch PVC pipe that’s coming out of your home. Step 3: Connect the wet/dry vacuum hose to the main drain line Now we get to the fun part. Before you turn on the vacuum, make sure that the hose has a good seal on the PVC pipe or its suction power won’t be as effective. Let the vacuum run for 3 minutes or so. Step 4: Check the vacuum for algae water and other debris After 3 minutes has passed, turn off the vacuum and check it to see if you were able to get anything out. You’ll likely find algae, dirt, dust, and/or insects in the vacuum alongside all the water that had been backed up.

Toss the junk, and you’re done! If you don’t feel comfortable unclogging your own drain line, contact George Brazil for a repair visit. Scheduling online saves you 10%! Bonus: How to avoid future drain line clogs Avoiding clogged drain lines is easy if your air conditioner gets an annual tune-up. Our service technicians will check your drain line as a part of a typical maintenance visit. But if your system does get clogged, you can easily prevent costly water damage if your system has a float switch. A float switch detects when water is backing up due to a clogged condensate line and shuts off your cooling system, preventing it from producing any more water and leaking everywhere. On your next maintenance visit, we recommend asking your George Brazil technician to install the float switch for you and to double check the cleanliness of your air conditioner’s drain line.It’s one of the hottest days of summer. You come home from a long day at work to discover that your air conditioner isn’t working properly.

You inspect your A/C unit and find that the drain pan your unit sits in is completely full of water. What do you do? In this article, we discuss reasons why water could have pooled in your drain pan and some simple maintenance steps that you can take to prevent this issue from recurring in the future. In most cases, a full drain pan means that you have a clogged drainpipe. The humid conditions inside the refrigerant coils and pipes are the perfect breeding ground for algae and mold, which can clog the drainpipe over time. If not taken care of, a clogged drainpipe can create serious mechanical problems for the air conditioner. First, turn off the power to your air conditioning unit, even if it isn’t running. With the unit turned off, check the tubing on and around your unit to make sure there are no cracks, holes, or leaks in the drain line. If you find any, these pieces should be replaced. Once you have determined that there are no issues, the next step is to remove the water from the drain pan.

The easiest way to do this is with a wet/dry shop vac, which you can pick up at your local hardware store. Simply vacuum up all of the water and dispose of it. Finally, remove any sludge or debris that may be at the drain. Check the drain termination outside for obstructions.  Be sure the drain outlet is not blocked by mulch, pine straw or other debris. The water is gone, but the source of your problem still needs to be fixed. Start by removing the PVC cap from the top of the drainpipe. Next, use a strong, small wire brush to gently clear the clog. Once the large pieces are gone, pour a cup of bleach in the drain pan and into the top of the drain pipe (don’t forget your eye and hand protection). This will get rid of any additional algae, mold, or mildew that may be gumming up the works. Once the clogs are clear, put the PVC cap back on and turn the power to your A/C unit on. If the unit does not begin to work immediately, turn it off, wait thirty minutes, and turn it back on again.