A leak anywhere in your home is bad news – but when you have a leaky HVAC system, problems can start to pile up faster than you would have ever expected. It is essential to act quickly to prevent further damage to your HVAC system and your home.
As soon as you notice your HVAC leaking water you need to:
Identify the problem: Identifying the source of the leak is the first big piece of the puzzle. While HVAC systems are pretty complex and intricate pieces of climate control hardware, there are usually only a handful of reasons they spring a leak. This article will help you figure out the source of your leak.
Shut the problem down: Even if you are not able to repair the problem yet, you need to do what you can to prevent water damage from getting worse while you figure out how to fix it.
Fix the problem: Some of these problems can be fixed in record time, even by homeowners without a lot of experience. Other HVAC leaking water issues are a little more complex to resolve, require special tools and experience to address them properly, and should really only be attempted by experts that know exactly what they are doing – and won’t make the problem even worse.
Let’s dig a little deeper, shall we?
Below we run through some of the most common reasons your HVAC system is going to “spring a leak”, issues that you’ll want to get out ahead of right away.
A clogged condensate drain line is probably the most common reason that an air conditioning system starts to “weep.”
A clogged drain line is going to inevitably cause a backup in your system, first back flowing throughout the drain pipes themselves and then into the drain pan overflow system. If not addressed soon enough, though, that drain pan or drip pan overflow tank is going to become overwhelmed as well – and that’s when you’re going to start to see leaking around the ac unit itself. If you don't have an automatic shutoff switch, the water can continue leaking indefinitely, damaging your walls, floors, and property, especially if your air handler is located in the attic.
A bunch of different things can lead to a clogged drain line and an overflowing drain pan.
Dirt, dust, and debris that get sucked into your HVAC system can gum things up. Rust can cause all kinds of nightmare problems. Even algae growth can build up inside of HVAC components (especially down here in humid Tampa Bay), and that’s going to cause a backlog for sure.
You may be able to unclog a condensate drain line yourself using a shop vac or water hose. However, if in doubt, call an HVAC technician to clean out your clogged condensate drain pipe thoroughly. Then, check and clean it regularly to prevent the problem from recurring.
Drain lines can become disconnected over time, especially if they were not properly fitted in the first place.
If they haven’t been tightened down properly, or if the proper fittings haven’t been used, it’s not uncommon for the shaking, rattling, and rolling of an HVAC system to cause these drain pipe fittings to come loose.
Mix in a little bit of water pressure from the drain line fluid itself and all of a sudden you’re looking at a recipe for leaks for sure.
It’s not a bad idea to check all of your drain lines for leaks, either. Have a look at the primary drain line and the secondary drain line. You might be surprised that both of these need attention! If a disconnected drain line is the culprit, it should be an easy fix you can do yourself.
The condensate pump in your ac system might go “on the fritz,” especially if it’s a little bit on the older side of things.
All that continuous water pressure is going to do a number on the hardware itself. On top of that, the wet environment is going to be a breeding ground for mold, mildew, and even algae.
If the pump stops working your HVAC system is going to become a lot less efficient – but it’s also (likely) going to spring leaks as well.
This is not one of those projects homeowners are going to want to tackle all on their own, though.
As soon as you start to talk about condensate pump system components that are misbehaving you’re going to need to call in the experts to tackle the project for you. You need a little bit of experience with HVAC systems to address this issue and you definitely need specialized tools to make the repair go as smoothly as possible.
Leave this to HVAC repair specialists.
All HVAC systems have refrigerant running through them to keep the pressure from dropping inside of your HVAC hardware and to stop evaporator coil freezing as well. A refrigerant leak can occur over time without you noticing anything going on at all, leading to a frozen evaporator coil and leaked water.
When your AC refrigerant levels drop, you may hear a bubbling or gurgling noise. You’ll notice that your AC system just can’t keep things as cool as it did in the past, that it runs more and burns more energy without as much efficiency.
If that’s the case you need to call HVAC repair experts right away.
Significantly lower levels of refrigerant are going to damage and potentially destroy your HVAC system if they aren’t addressed immediately.
This is definitely not the kind of job that homeowners are going to want to tackle. Get in touch with an HVAC technician, let them know you think your refrigerant level has started to leak, and see if they can come out and help you ASAP.
Go too long with low levels of refrigerant and you might end up with more than just warm air - you might have to replace the entire AC system – a much more expensive project than just having experts like ours at Comfort Air address the problem for you in no time at all.
Give us a call, we can help!
Though there are definitely some AC system water leaks that homeowners can tackle all on their own, it’s usually a better idea to call in the “big guns” for professional HVAC repair help.
HVAC systems are pretty complex and prone to being “finicky” if they aren’t in perfect working order.
Attempting to repair them without knowing exactly what you are getting into can lead to all kinds of issues, including:
On top of all of that, you have to worry about not finding the actual root cause of the leak itself and instead just treating the symptom, because you’re not used to working on complex HVAC systems.
When you hire our experts here at Comfort Air Rheem Pro Partners, you don’t have to worry about any of that anymore.
Our experts are licensed, certified, and experienced HVAC technicians who know how to quickly diagnose problems, find the root core issue, treat those problems so that the leak stops, and then prevent the leak from ever happening again.
To learn more about the HVAC repair solutions we provide our friends, neighbors, and community members throughout the Tampa Bay area here in Florida please don’t hesitate to contact us today.
Drop us an email through the contact tool on our website or call us at 813-413-1726.
We’ll help you fix that leak once and for all!
