How To Blow Out Ac Drain Line

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Did your AC suddenly stop cooling your habitation? Or maybe it close down completely?

In either example, a chock-full condensate bleed line may exist the cause.

In this article, I'll become over the causes and symptoms of a chock-full air conditioner condensate drain line. I'll also permit yous know what you need to practice if your AC's condensate bleed line is blocked.

Ac condensate drain line clogged symptoms

If your air conditioner is exhibiting whatever of these symptoms, then information technology may be clogged:

• Standing water on the flooring or walls near the Air-conditioning unit
• Water leaking out of the Air-conditioning unit of measurement
• Air-conditioning completely shuts down and won't run
• AC drain pan is full or overflowing with h2o
• Musty smell coming from your AC vents
• Ac is not cooling your home

What causes a clogged AC drain line?

When an AC cools your home, it produces h2o as a byproduct of cooling the air. The water is removed from the AC by a drain line. The drain line goes from the air handler within of your home to the bleed line discharge outside of your habitation.

A clogged Air-conditioning drain line is caused by a blockage inside of the bleed line. Blockage can come from a variety of sources, including:

• Slime growth
• Dirt/grit/debris from inside of the air handler
• Dirt/dust/debris from exterior of the dwelling, blocking the discharge
• Insects/creatures climbing into the drain pipe and getting stuck

If you don't remove the blockage from your bleed line, water will build upward in your AC'southward drip pan. The water build-up can eventually get out of control and leak out of your AC unit of measurement—causing damage to your home.

How to unclog your AC condensate drain line

Unclogging an Air conditioning drain line is a adequately simple job that most homeowners will have to practice at some point.

To unclog your AC condensate drain line, follow these steps:

1. Check to see how bad the clog is

Have a wait outside where the drain line goes and see if at that place is any pocket-size blockage. Sometimes, removing the clog is an like shooting fish in a barrel set up that can be removed outside. Also, accept a wait inside the drain pan to see if the clog is in the line that connects to the drain pan.

2. Remove the clog by hand

If there is a minor clog, and so you may be able to remove it by hand.

Find the drain line discharge. The discharge is normally located outside of your home, on the side of your house.

Poke a finger upward the drain line on each end to come across if you can remove the clog that way.

Sometimes, the clog is minor enough that you tin hands remove information technology by paw and get your Air-conditioning running quickly.

Other times, it takes a chip more than attempt to remove the clog from the condensate line. You lot'll need to find your AC unit in your house and unclog information technology.

If your condensate drain line is nevertheless clogged, read farther.

3. Turn off power to your Air-conditioning unit

You lot're going to exist taking apart the drain line, so you need to turn off the ability start. Notice the disconnect switch for your AC unit and turn information technology off. Your Air-conditioning needs to be off while you're working on the condensate drain line.

4. Locate the condensate drain line

The next pace is to find the condensate drain line'south point of entry into your Air conditioning unit. The condensate bleed line will be connected to the air handling unit, usually in your garage or attic.

v. Make clean and unclog the vent tee

The vent tee is located near the air handler. It commonly has the superlative of the tee capped off with a plastic piece.

The vent tee serves as an access indicate to clean the condensate line. Remove the plastic cap and take a look within the tee. You might find some slime build-upwards inside there! If and so, y'all've establish the source of your clog.

To make clean out the vent tee, use a moisture/dry vacuum to blow air through the tee. You may need to wrap a rag around the vent tee to form a seal with the vacuum hose.

If your vacuum is not strong enough to remove the clog from the condensate line, then you lot tin use a drain gun instead. A drain gun will inject high-pressure gas into the bleed line. The high pressure will remove almost any clog.

My Pick: Condensate Line Drain Gun

Homiom Drain Gun

This drain gun uses high-pressure gas to articulate condensate drains instantly. It has a flexible hose for easy use and comes with iv CO2 cartridges.

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6. Sanitize the drain line

Later you lot blow the build-up out of the tee, use water to affluent out the condensate line. Take a await at the discharge end of the line on the side of your house. Y'all might be surprised at all of the debris that you blew out of your line.

You should also affluent your bleed line with vinegar to help intermission downward and remove build-upward. Cascade a few cups of vinegar down the drain line and let it sit for 20-30 minutes to help break downwards sludge.

Some folks will tell you that you should pour bleach downwards your condensate bleed. I'd advise against that—information technology's usually unnecessary. Bleach also may kill your plants and damage the siding on your home.

Instead, apply bleed pan tablets to forestall growth in the first place. Drain pan tablets sit down inside of your air handler'due south drain pan and will neutralize organic growth before it starts.

My Option: Drain Line Tablets

Drain Line Tablets

Pop one of these Clean Period tablets into your bleed pan every month to keep slime growth abroad. Comes with half-dozen tablets then yous'll be good for 6 months.

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7. Test the drain line to make sure it's clean and clear

After removing all the clogs, flush your drain line out with water to ensure that information technology is working properly. You should have make clean, clear water flowing out of the drain line'due south discharge.

Plow your Ac unit back on and let the cool air menstruation!

What to do when your Air-conditioning's drain pan is total

If your AC'south drain pan is full, so you need to unclog its condensate drain line. The condensate bleed line is the function of the AC that's responsible for removing water from the AC's air handling unit.

If the condensate drain line is clogged, your Ac'southward bleed pan volition fill up up with water and shut downward.

Why does your AC shut down when its drain pan is full?

The main reason is to prevent water from spilling out and causing damage to your abode.

Some other reason is to prevent impairment to the Air-conditioning unit. An Ac unit that'due south full of water volition eventually break downwardly.

How does your Air conditioning know when its drain pan is full?

The mechanism that is used to detect when a drain pan is full of water is a float switch. The float switch consists of a small bladder that moves upward and downward.

When the bladder is down, a switch is enabled to tell the Air conditioning'south control board that the drain pan is okay.

When the float moves up, the switch opens up and tells the control board that the drain pan is full. When this happens, the control lath signals the rest of the AC to shut downwardly so it doesn't overflow with water.

So if your Air-conditioning shuts downward and won't start back up, it could be due to the float switch. If the float switch moves up, your Air-conditioning will shut downwardly regardless of how much water is in the bleed pan.

Source: https://hvactrainingshop.com/ac-condensate-drain-line-clogged/

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