Why Is The Air Conditioner Leaking?
Have you noticed water leakage around your air conditioning unit? You may wonder, “why is the air conditioner leaking?” This is a question the air conditioning professionals from Symbiont Air Conditioning in Englewood, Florida get asked all the time.
It’s estimated that close to 90 percent of the issues their technicians deal with are related to water leakage in the A/C unit. A leak, no matter how insignificant or small could be a cause for concern. If you notice leaking water give us a call so we can inspect the unit to assure there isn’t anything mechanically wrong that could damage the unit.
Why Is The Air Conditioner Leaking?
As a bit of background and education, we’d like you to understand what are the potential causes that could lead to an air conditioner leaking.
Every air conditioning unit — whether it’s in a home or a commercial building – has an evaporator coil. This coil cools the warm air that blows across it. The warm air blowing across it can lead to condensation accumulating on the coil and it could leak. Think about the condensation that builds up on a glass of ice water on a warm day; that’s what the evaporator coil is like. If the moisture builds up on the coil it will drip into a drain pan and leak into the house and that is not usually cause for concern.
What is a cause for concern when you see leaking water on the A/C unit?
Here are a few:
- A clogged condensate drain line; this is common, but still needs to be quickly addressed. If the drain line is clogged it means the line is full of dirt and debris. If the line isn’t cleaned out, the clog starts out as a slow leak, but could progress until it ruptures the line.
- A drain line that isn’t securely connected. If the installation of the air conditioner wasn’t done properly, a leak could occur. Over time and due to the vibrations of the unit itself, the drain line could become loose.
- Dirty air filters can cause an A/C unit to leak water. If the air filter is dirty, it blocks the flow of air over the evaporator coil and the coil could eventually freeze. When the A/C unit cools down and the evaporator coil thaws, it will drip more water than the drain pan can accommodate. The air conditioner filter should be changed every one to three months — depending on how much use the unit sees.
- Low refrigerant levels jeopardize an A/C unit’s performance. If the refrigerant levels are low, the pressure in the system is diminished and again, the evaporator coil could freeze. When it thaws, the drain pan will overflow and you’re faced with a leaking A/C unit. Another issue that arises with low refrigerant is the air conditioner just isn’t cooling as effectively and efficiently as it should. This will mean you’re spending more money than you need to and not being as cool as you’d like.
- If your air conditioner is in the basement you may face other leaking issues. When an A/C unit is in the basement, it will drain into a drain pan that will then redirect the water to a condensate pump. If this is how your unit is configured you may have leaking because: the drain pan is rusted (from the water from the A/C unit and basement moisture); the condensate pump itself is broken.
You don’t want to jump to conclusions the moment you see leaking around your air conditioner unit, but it also isn’t something you want to ignore. If your air conditioner hasn’t been serviced recently, now is the time to call one of our air conditioning professionals, schedule a maintenance visit and let us check the leak and fix it if necessary.
We specialize in, and our expertise surrounds, GeoThermal and traditional air conditioning systems. We work with both residential and commercial air conditioning customers to heat and cool their homes and businesses.
Our fully trained, knowledgeable professionals provide residential and commercial air conditioning replacement, ongoing service and maintenance, as well as 24/7 emergency air conditioning repair. Symbiont Service Corp professionals also service and install GeoThermal systems throughout the State of Florida.
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