I purchased a house in Arkansas (hot/humid summers) with central heat/air last August; it has an older AC unit that was charged with freon in Oct. Recently I have noticed that when the AC is running, there is a drip in the wall not far from the indoor unit. Sounds like it's dripping from ceiling to floor inside the wall. The ducts are all in the floor, so I don't think it's condensation on the ducts, but it seems to be condensation somewhere. The repair guy came back last week to check, and went up in the attic to see if there was a vent or other pipe, but he could not find anything or figure it out. He did, however, load me up with 4 more lbs of freon (two refills in 7 months) and said that it was leaking because the copper in the pipes was being made much thinner these days. He thought the drip might be because it was low in freon. That all sounded bogus to me, but I paid him and let him go, hoping to find a more reliable repair service in future. In any case, the drip is still there after running the unit for 15 mins or so, but goes away after it's off more than 1 hour. I don't think a drip in the wall is a good thing... but I'm not sure how worried I should be...
Drip behind wall from AC?
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not good
Alot of damage can be caused by a small drip.
Sounds like a few possiable issues.
1-Could be a low presuer line that didnt get insulated, or has been removed for some reason and not put back. The line will condensidate if not insulated.
2-Damaged drain pan
3-No secondary drain pan
4-Leaking drain line
These would be most common problems.
Finding the problem should be a priority for you. Also a gas and go is not very helpful for you. Some one needs to find the freon leak and repair it or replace the falty part.
Also be sure you have a float switch on drain pan, it can save you a lot of headake.
GOODLUCK:thumbup:
Alot of damage can be caused by a small drip.
Sounds like a few possiable issues.
1-Could be a low presuer line that didnt get insulated, or has been removed for some reason and not put back. The line will condensidate if not insulated.
2-Damaged drain pan
3-No secondary drain pan
4-Leaking drain line
These would be most common problems.
Finding the problem should be a priority for you. Also a gas and go is not very helpful for you. Some one needs to find the freon leak and repair it or replace the falty part.
Also be sure you have a float switch on drain pan, it can save you a lot of headake.
GOODLUCK:thumbup:
The drain appears to be something different. It is draining away at floor level via a plastic pipe that goes through the bedroom behind the AC unit, and then is dumped at the back of the house. This is not the source of the drip in the wall, which is overhead. There is another insulated pipe that goes up from the unit into the ceiling that has a small copper tube accompanying it. I always assumed this had to do with gas coming into the furnace, which is part of the unit, but perhaps this is the refrigerant feed to/from the outside unit?
that's probably the source of the leak, somewhere along that line as it's being sent/received from the outdoor unit. It's the only thing that is overhead. i went up to the attic to see if I could spot it, but there is too much insulation. Will call a pro. Thanks.
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3,630 Posts
the closer you are to a charged unit the colder that suction insulated line is going to be.if it is loose or missing anywhere on that suction riser from the condenser the water will drip down picking up the moisture and drip out the nearest opening.if that insulation is not tight on the suction the air from the house within the walls will cause a moisture situation...and the dripping like ice water in a glass left on the table in a warm room.if your charge goes short ice could start at the compressor section and run right up the wall on the suction.first thing is to fix that leak because your losing oil as the freon leaks and your in the future for a compressor burn out.
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3,630 Posts
might find some time this weekend and check all the piping from the air handler out to the condenser that you can reach any oil residur on the copper(where it is brazed) or on the connections out at the condenser are potential leaks...might save on the bill if you see something on that monday visit to direct the tech too.
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