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Water under my furnace

7K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  Bratts 
#1 ·
Hi All,
There is water under my furnace. I'm not sure where it's coming from. I put pan under the pump but pan was dry. I opened the furnace (see pic) and as I pointed in the picture both shelf are not wet. It seems the water is focused/coming from under the front left corner of the furnace, but again the body furnace is not wet from the bottom!! :(
Do I need to clean the drain pipes? If yes, which ones? I marked the pipes so you can point me to the right pipe. Thanks for all your help and comments.
 

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#10 · (Edited)
Yeah. I am a KISS fan. keep it simple stewpid.:laughing:

After +30 yrs of seeing and unplugging those drains U realize that simplicity is the best and using a LARGE diameter hose. the manufacturers give us a 3/4" drain opening so why the heck does everyone bush it down to 1/2 and use a small hose. If they all had full size 3/4 drains and hose we would have 85-90% less problems.
 

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#2 · (Edited)
I think the water is coming from your condensate pump. Where does the clear hose from the pump drain into? From your photo it looks like the hose is kinked. It appears that your pump is filling up and then coming out of the slots at the top of the pump. Where does the angled white pvc in the center of the photo go? I would turn the pump on and observe it to see if water is coming from the top portion of the pump. It probably needs a good cleaning/flushing as well as all of the pipes. You can use a shop vac with the filter removed to suck the water out of the drain pipes.
 
#3 · (Edited)
> Where does the clear hose from the pump drain into? --> it goes up to the main septic pvc .. Also, i put a pan under this pump to see if the water will come from it, but i found the water under the pan (on the floor).

>From your photo it looks like the hose is kinked. --> I checked it and it's going in circle (pls see the pic below)

>Where does the angled white pvc in the center of the photo go?--> angled pvc is connected to the black pipe which showing behind the yellow gas line.
 

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#4 ·
firedawgsatx thanks for your comment. If you don't mind since I'm new to this. Which pipe on my picture need to be opened and cleaned with vac shop? and which filter I need to remove?
You mentioned, I should turn on the pump, I thought the pump goes ON/OFF automatically? Can I force it to run? but you are right, there is water sitting inside the pump.

I know I'm asking basic questions, but any hit will help. Thanks again.
 
#5 · (Edited)
The water in that clear hose should be clear. That water appears to be either very dirty or rusty. Usually there is a clamp on the end of the clear hose that secures the hose to another fitting or the pump. You can detach the clear hose by whatever means it is attached and stick the shop vac on that hose. Also the pump can be taken apart and cleaned. There is a float rod in there that gets gunk in there. Once you take the top off the pump you can see how it operates. The float activates a switch to turn the pump on/off when it gets to a certain level in the pump. I will have to study the photos some more and get back with you in the morning.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Here is a link to a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYAZJpqA31M that explains a litlle about the pump. Here is a cutaway image of a typical condensate pump. There is normally one pipe that enters the pump and the exit (clear vinyl hose). You can remove the clear hose at the nipple coming out of the pipe to stick your vacuum hose on there to clear the clear hose if there are any blockages. The larger of the white pvc pipes that is going into your pump is just pushed in there. It looks like you will just have to remove the screws holding the pump to the side of the cabinet and push the pump down enough to free the pipes entering the pump. Then you can place your shop vac hose on the larger of the pipes you just removed. Some pumps are very easy to take apart. If I remember correctly you should be able to separate the top of the pump by squeezing the sides of the top half with your fingers and pulling up to expose the internal workings. Unplug the pump before doing this. Some people add a pvc pipe union to facilitate cleaning of the piping. Some add "tees" so they can pour bleach or water into the piping on a regular basis to keep the drain clear. To start your pump tp test it you would have to pour water into the pump to get the pump float to rise and trigger the switch and turn on the pump. I am pretty sure that your water on the floor is due to an overflowing pump. These pumps do fail, I would take it apart and see if you can see an obvious problem that can be corrected by cleaning it.
 

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#8 · (Edited)
As previously mentioned that horizontal piece draining the AC coil could be plugging up or the fitting on the coil where the water drains out. I would chop it out and replace it with clear plastic hose you can get from HDepot in the plumbing area by the foot they sell it. That way you can remove and clean the drain opening periodically and actually see the water draining. Have to adapt it back to the white pipe but HDepot has fittings and you should be able to do it.

You can also get rid of the white plastic and drain both the humidifier and AC coil with clear plastic hose and connect them together with a barbed plastic tee from HDepot. I prefer clear hose so you can see it draining. Hard plastic is good for the venting but soft hose is better for the other drains as it is easy to remove and cheap to buy and replace. Use a 90 deg barbed plastic elbow where it drops down to the pump so the hose does not kink.
 
#9 ·
Yuri, that would be an ideal solution! That is an awful lot of plumbing on that set-up. Clear plastic hose lets you see how well the condensate is draining and where the clog is located if there is one. I switched to clear tubing on my two systems a couple of summers ago and I really like it.
 
#11 ·
Water under furnace humidifier too

I have the same problem. The leak started after a furnace technician replaced the solenoid valve. I noticed that he fully opened the needle valve. The pump immediately started "flushing" several times an hour. The leak turned into pool. It only stopped when I closed the needle valve. Water is clear, hose and tubing are intact. There are no visible obstructions or kinks. I am reluctant to open the needle valve until I know the cause and can fix it.

What is the most likely cause of the leak?

Thanks to all who respond to this post.

Bratt
 
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