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HVAC Clogged Condensate pan or lines

DennisCTB Join Date: Nov 1998 Posts: 2709 NorthWest NJ   Pics

2012-07-06          184166

My pan or condensate lines are clogged in my furnace.

I have to rework the way they are in now as they are fixed so that cannot suck it out with a shop vac or add any bleach etc. to the lines.. but I have plans for that.

Can you add a little bleach to the lines and or the pan to purge any growth or bloggage? Or will adding any bleach to the drip pan cause corrosion?

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HVAC Clogged Condensate pan or lines

hardwood Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 3583 iowa

2012-07-06          184167

Dennis;

I'd be careful if there is any aluminum in the system. Lots of things react with it, I'm not sure about bleach.

Don't know how hot it is mthere but a neighbor has an offical state weather station, he's registering 101.7 right now.

Frank. ....

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HVAC Clogged Condensate pan or lines

DennisCTB Join Date: Nov 1998 Posts: 2709 NorthWest NJ   Pics

2012-07-06          184168

Frank this am it was really nice even a bit cool but it has gotten hotter and hotter all day long. Now at 6:30 PM about 95 degrees.

The pan is made of plastic, the cooling tubes in the evaporator are copper. Until I rework the drain pipes I have no way to just add a cap full of bleach to just the PVC drain pipes and not the pan. ....

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HVAC Clogged Condensate pan or lines

kwschumm Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon   Pics

2012-07-06          184172

Bleach and copper should be OK, millions of gallons have been dumped down plumbing drain lines for years. No need to do full strength to kill what needs killing. ....

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HVAC Clogged Condensate pan or lines

Murf Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada   Pics

2012-07-08          184181

Dennis, unless somebody botched the install and you have standing water in the drip pan, instead of the water just passing through, it's not likely anythings growing in there.

More likely the copious amounts of water lately have flushed the accumulated dust, dog / cat hair, etc., etc., in the coils down into the pan where it's formed a plug.

The short-term solution is to merely give a big puff of air (a can of compressed air for blowing dust out of computers works well) back up the line. It will blow s blockage clear.

Long-tem solution is to slide the coils out and clean them properly.

Best of luck. ....

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HVAC Clogged Condensate pan or lines

kthompson Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5275 South Carolina   Pics

2012-07-09          184185

If the air coil is clogged then you will not get air flow through it to the vents. If there is no opening in the duct work and filters are being changed as needed doubt you have that issue.

The drip plan will clogged for many reasons. Some will grow gunk, insects will drown there, blown in insulation will get in it and so forth. Service rep used wet dry vac on our drain line this past Friday which was new idea to me. Sucked it from the outside of the house.

They do make a large tablet to place in those pans to kill any alge type growth. ....

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HVAC Clogged Condensate pan or lines

DennisCTB Join Date: Nov 1998 Posts: 2709 NorthWest NJ   Pics

2012-07-09          184186

I wound up opening the 5 x 5 inch access to the coil in the duct, which only lets you visually inspect the coil, you cannot even get your hand in there the coil is right up to the edge. I confirmed that there was standing water in the drip pan and that the coils were not freezing.

My condensate line services the humidifier and the condensate so I took the humidifier line and lowered it and stuck a short piece of 3/4 pipe with an end cap on it. I then removed the bracket attached to the furnace condensate line which allowed me to lift the pipe out of the drain hole in the floor. My house was built when it was still legal to drain through the basement floor. I then attached some short pieces to the drain end so that I could use my shop vac with this adapter



This made a pretty tight fit, sucked out the clog, poured some more water with a bleach mix into the drip pan and sucked it out a couple of times.

Been running fine since, probably should have been doing this every year before I use the AC.

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Link:   Shop Vac adapter

 
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HVAC Clogged Condensate pan or lines

DennisCTB Join Date: Nov 1998 Posts: 2709 NorthWest NJ   Pics

2012-07-09          184187

Quote: Originally Posted by Murf | view 184181 Dennis, unless somebody botched the install ....

I have two HVAC units, both of which had a sink trap in the condensate lines that of course would always be full of water until it evaporates at the end of the season.

I reworked the lines on one of the furnaces to remove the trap last year. The clogged one still has the trap which I think is a problem, its not a sewage line after all !
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HVAC Clogged Condensate pan or lines

kthompson Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5275 South Carolina   Pics

2012-07-09          184191

We had a new system in my office installed last year. Think they installed a "S" piece of pipe near the drip pan but not sure. Here they install a trap outside in the line my impression to prevent insects from using the pipe for a home. Might be why they would near the unit also but you are right should not be producing any gases in that line.

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