My central ac is definitely old, but has worked no problem until this summer. Over the winter I had a three-stage Bryant Evolution put in. I live in a three bedroom rambler.
What is happening is that water is leaking onto the floor underneath where the blower motor resides. The ac works, but as I feel it starting to not work efficiently, I get "Clean or replace air filter" warnings on my thermostat control. I had been using MERV12 over the winter with no problems. So I switched to MERV8. Still having the problem. I went around and made sure all the dampers were open. They were. Then I start thinking that it is a dirty ("A"-frame style) evaporator coil or the condensation drain hose, hole in the drip pan or something like that. The "tent" of the A-frame is sealed on both sides and I would have to take off more screws than I would necessarily dare to, as it does not appear to be just an access panel. Freon was checked last summer (I could maintain 78 degrees but no lower and now this year I was struggling with 82 degrees, as the coil would begin to accumulate ice).
Here is the new bit of info that just came to light. Any time I have looked at the coil, I only took off the panel on the "back" of the unit (the side without the send/return freon lines or drain hose.
When I came to take off the panel with the hoses running into it, I removed the metallic duct tape that the furnace installers used to seal a big 1" gap where the top of furnace is larger than the bottom of the ductwork where the ac coil resides. They don't match and it leaves a "ledge" just above where the furnace burner manifolds reside. When I took the tape off, there was a lot of condensation underneath it. My question is, could this ledge be providing a non-drained area for enough condensation to build up, drop down onto the blower motor, get blown up to the coil and freeze on it? I have it set so the AC motor is always on high when the AC unit is running.
Also, what is the usual "fix" an installer should follow when things don't match like that? Three of the four sides match, but again, this fourth side is about an inch larger on the furnace side than the existing duct they had to join with and they just taped it up.
What is happening is that water is leaking onto the floor underneath where the blower motor resides. The ac works, but as I feel it starting to not work efficiently, I get "Clean or replace air filter" warnings on my thermostat control. I had been using MERV12 over the winter with no problems. So I switched to MERV8. Still having the problem. I went around and made sure all the dampers were open. They were. Then I start thinking that it is a dirty ("A"-frame style) evaporator coil or the condensation drain hose, hole in the drip pan or something like that. The "tent" of the A-frame is sealed on both sides and I would have to take off more screws than I would necessarily dare to, as it does not appear to be just an access panel. Freon was checked last summer (I could maintain 78 degrees but no lower and now this year I was struggling with 82 degrees, as the coil would begin to accumulate ice).
Here is the new bit of info that just came to light. Any time I have looked at the coil, I only took off the panel on the "back" of the unit (the side without the send/return freon lines or drain hose.
When I came to take off the panel with the hoses running into it, I removed the metallic duct tape that the furnace installers used to seal a big 1" gap where the top of furnace is larger than the bottom of the ductwork where the ac coil resides. They don't match and it leaves a "ledge" just above where the furnace burner manifolds reside. When I took the tape off, there was a lot of condensation underneath it. My question is, could this ledge be providing a non-drained area for enough condensation to build up, drop down onto the blower motor, get blown up to the coil and freeze on it? I have it set so the AC motor is always on high when the AC unit is running.
Also, what is the usual "fix" an installer should follow when things don't match like that? Three of the four sides match, but again, this fourth side is about an inch larger on the furnace side than the existing duct they had to join with and they just taped it up.
