Posted: 8/9/2011 11:57:43 AM EDT
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One of my rentals has a large window AC unit in it. Got a call from the tenant who said it's leaking water into the house. Went down and checked it out and sure enough the pan on the bottom was filling with water and would leak into the house from the front of the unit. Pulled out the manual and it said water builds up but should drain to the back, if not check and make sure it's tilted a 1/4". Thing looks pretty level to me so I put a level on it and sure enough it is level. There is no lowering this big puppy because of the brace that's welded on to the frame of the trailer (yes it's a trailer). Me and two stong men and a boy may be able to bend it down but not sure. The thing is, the unit has been there for 5 years and never leaked, why now? Is it something simple like a clogged drain line or something? I have never been inside of a window unit so I am not sure what I need to do. Anybody have any suggestions?
Update: I pulled the unit out and cleaned it thoroughly. It had a lot of crud built up in it and I figured that was the problem. Slapped it back in there and let her run for awhile. It was looking good the first 15 minutes but then I noticed the bottom row of coils began to freeze up and the ones above it were condensating quite abit. After about 15 more mintues the bottom half of the coils were all frozen and water was dripping into and filling the pan again. Does it just need more coolant? Can a regular person do this or do I need to call a pro out? |
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it has to be on a tilt...more humidity in the air will make it worse..that may or may not be why it wasnt noticed before ? but its likely your just now noticing the leak and its been doin that for some time just on a smaller scale
Edit~ you can also drill a few holes in the housing near the rear bottom of the unit ut e VERY carfull to pick a spot where you wont hit anything |
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uh. put a couple door shims under the front of the unit. it should drain to the outside. maybe, if you need to, glue TWO door shims together and drive 'em in there.
should fix your prollem, regardless of how the support frame is on the back of the unit. maybe your mobile home settled a bit in the heat/floods, depending on which part of the country you're in. -tom |
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Drain holes are probably plugged with algae/slime. Could drill a new one but best advice would be to clean and sanitize the unit. This might be it. If you can slide the unit out of the frame, do so, clean the gunk off the bottom of the frame. Drilling extra drain holes won't hurt anything, likely help a repeat of the situation, just drill in the low spots of the frame |
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I drilled a hole in the housing of a small unit once. I couldn't believe that some kind of drainage wasn't built in to the unit but it wasn't. Just be careful where you drill. Be VERY careful. Don't ask me how I know 
So what exactly happens during a full coolant loss? I've always wondered. 
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Quoted: One of my rentals has a large window AC unit in it. Got a call from the tenant who said it's leaking water into the house. Went down and checked it out and sure enough the pan on the bottom was filling with water and would leak into the house from the front of the unit. Pulled out the manual and it said water builds up but should drain to the back, if not check and make sure it's tilted a 1/4". Thing looks pretty level to me so I put a level on it and sure enough it is level. There is no lowering this big puppy because of the brace that's welded on to the frame of the trailer (yes it's a trailer). Me and two stong men and a boy may be able to bend it down but not sure. The thing is, the unit has been there for 5 years and never leaked, why now? Is it something simple like a clogged drain line or something? I have never been inside of a window unit so I am not sure what I need to do. Anybody have any suggestions? You have to "hang" window units. Basically pull the bottom of the unit inward so the top is tilted outward, giving that tray the ability to drain. |
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Quoted:
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I drilled a hole in the housing of a small unit once. I couldn't believe that some kind of drainage wasn't built in to the unit but it wasn't. Just be careful where you drill. Be VERY careful. Don't ask me how I know
So what exactly happens during a full coolant loss? I've always wondered. Yeah, drill one of the refrigerant lines and all the gas escapes = no refrigeration. |
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Lots of them have no drain , they depend on the fan to pick up the water and blow it through the condenser to help cool it. Figure out how to tilt it back some. This is the correct answer. Also the drain slots right behind the front coil will be blocked with slime. Take a shop vac and clean it out then put a cap full of bleach in the front pan to kill all the slime. DO NOT DRILL ANYTHING. |
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Window A/C unit don't need a drain. The condensate water collects in a pan near the condenser coil where a 'slinger' on the condenser fan motor picks it up and throws it into the coil evaporating the water and making the unit run more efficiently. Some units do have the option of having a drain though.
1) You do have a drain and it is plugged. 2) You don't have a drain and the plastic slinger broke and water is building up. 3) You are low on refrigerant, the coil is icing up over the drain pan and causing a water leak. Hope this helps. |
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The evap usually sits on either plastic or Styrofoam pan that has a slot where it drains back to the cond/drain. find this slot and use a peice of wire to clear it out, I usually use a welding rod. There is a styrofoam pan in the bottom. It is full of brown rust looking crud. I am sure there is a clogged drain but I couldn't see it or get to one. I took off the cover and several of the frame screws but I couldn't get the U type brackets holding the actual unit into the housing out. They are wedged in there pretty good and there are several screws behind that I couldn't get to. I was sweating like a whore and it was late and I was ready to go home. Going back today to give it another shot with an extra set of hands. |
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Window A/C unit don't need a drain. The condensate water collects in a pan near the condenser coil where a 'slinger' on the condenser fan motor picks it up and throws it into the coil evaporating the water and making the unit run more efficiently. Some units do have the option of having a drain though. 1) You do have a drain and it is plugged. 2) You don't have a drain and the plastic slinger broke and water is building up. 3) You are low on refrigerant, the coil is icing up over the drain pan and causing a water leak. Hope this helps. In red be the problem. And you're right, there is no drain that I can tell after cleaning the unit. Do I have to call a Heating Cooling outfit or is this something I can do? |
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icing/freezing on some coils usually means low refrigerant. you'll probably want to get a quote from an a/c person on cost of refilling unit, vs cost of a new unit. it may be cheaper to buy a new one. also, if the unit is on a completely level surface, put a few shims under the front of the unit, chaulk around the bottom to seal off the elements, and see if that helps. |
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They have to be tilted to the rear just a bit, they are designed to be mounted that way. You could have a plugged up overflow, sometimes the overflow comes out the bottom instead of the rear. The thing around the fan is called a slinger ring, but you still need an overflow. |