[justplumducky]

I didn't do anything to this split system so far but clean the evap coil, bower ass'y and condenser coil, but upon restarting system, vertical air out of the grille returned and seemingly stronger than it was when horizontal.

Fan motor vents on bottom of motor were 100% covered with same layer of stuff you see on evap A-coils (mobile home with no prior servicing, long time. Below is pic of blower wheel. Fan motor was overheating and running at reduced RPM? Didn't notice its RPM before cleaning coils and restarting it. Only noticed the horizontal air.

Coil didn't really seem that dirty (if reduced air flow thru coil will cause horizontal air). It was black in color (the fins) and I didn't do a flashlight test or anything like like that, just proceeded to clean it. Water exiting the coil didn't look very dirty.

 

[beenthere]

Yep, a plugged/plugging condenser coil can and usually will make the air come out the side instead of the top. Centrifugal force at work.

 

[justplumducky]

The furnace with split system AC in this mobile home is an older early model: Presidential III with what is supposed to be a 2-wire, HEAT ONLY t-stat. Instead, it is 2-wires, but a HEAT/COOL t-stat that was running the AC continuously because the tstat switch was in COOL position. A HEAT/COOL tstat is Ok as long as the switch stays in HEAT position (for any peeps with a similar problem). FAN AUTO/CONT and HEAT/COOL rocker switches are on the front-upper panel of furnace.

Water was found on the bathroom floor which is adjacent to the furnace closet, as well as in the air duct near the furnace closet, so am assuming at this point it's from thawing of an icing A-coil (coil had a thick layer of dirt on both sides and blower wheel was a mess... think I posted a pic of it here) and system was being run in 60's temps. Just finished the thorough cleaning of this system yesterday, so now we run it with the upcoming warmer weather this week and see what happens.

A hypothetical question however: If drain pan were cracked ( assuming some of these drain pans are metal in these older units) can it be repaired without removing the coil? (not that anybody would want to... in the crawl space).

Edit: Oops, how could anyone repair the drip pan from down under since it would be positioned directly above the air duct. NEVERMIND! (not much sleep last night).

Well, guess I should try to make this post worth while.... Is a cracked drip pan ever a likely occurrence in older mobile homes or regular homes?

 

[supers05]

Leaking drip pans? Definitely possible. More likely on metal pans. However, excessive heat, and/or vibrations can cause a plastic one to also fail.

Silicone once it's dry is about all you can do. In extreme cases, we'll use a metal patch, duct seal it, then spray the whole thing in pan sealant. (we so aren't doing these twice....) It's usually not worth it for a mechanic to repair in resi units. (custom stuff is different) DIY it and you can save a few $$.

Cheers!