Aircon leaking water possible to DIY?

[louisoh]

i tink the aircon design needs a major revamp... the designs now r all v prone to leaks..

 

[trueb1u3]

Dry vacuum cleaner no dangerous?. I did it once and inside the vacuum bag compartment flooding.

Cannot use dry cleaner, wait water go into motor, exploded.

 

[SandMan]

i bought a 2m plastic hose (those used for fish tank oxygen pipe), insert into the aircon water drain pipe and give it a blow..... it works all the time

wish problem is with outlet and front tray, that would be easier to deal with. Unfortunately in my case they are not choked, so the problem should be the hidden back tray.

 

[SandMan]

i tink the aircon design needs a major revamp... the designs now r all v prone to leaks..

YES! and aircons have been around for decades and costs thousands of dollars... and are installed in every room in thousands/millions of homes high up hard to reach, hard to open, hard to clean, always dripping... yet we depend on 'technicians' aka scammers who charge us hundreds.... no other industry is like this

 

[Shinning_Wolf]

Researched and made many attempts but aircon still leaked, gave up hired contractor whose bangla took 30 seconds to tell me there is something called a "back tray" and mine is blocked with jelly, so I had to pay him for thorough chemical clean. It worked.

Here is one of the only sites that ever mention the mysterious hidden back tray (scroll near bottom to see cross section, back tray is under shorter portion of cooling fin): https://www.astiquer.com/aircon-water-dripping/

Except for a forumer once in this thread, this is never mentioned anywhere else, so I wasted a lot of time dealing with the front tray and outlet pipe.

However it started dripping after only 4 months. Front tray and outlet pipe are clear so should be back tray problem again. I cant possible pay $80-120 every 4 months for chem clean, so am intending to buy a karcher wd2plus, add small hose adapter and tape a small rubber tube to the end to reach the back tray to suck up stuff.

Note sure if will work. Anyone else tried this? Or does the fancoil need fixing? Any way to prevent frequent future recurrence? Thanks very much in advance for any insight and advice.


PS: I really really hate the aircon industry

Air freshers could be the cause of jelly build-up, from my personal experience.

 

[Shinning_Wolf]

i tink the aircon design needs a major revamp... the designs now r all v prone to leaks..

No leaks means no money

 

[SandMan]

Air freshers could be the cause of jelly build-up, from my personal experience.

Thanks. we dont have air fresheners or diffusers

 

[Skoda29]

Don't on for 1 week.The jelly will disintegrate by itself.

 

[DragonFire]

I see this newish foaming Japanese drain cleaner on the market. Feel like trying it to purge all the biofilm outta my AC drain line.

 

[Mr Duck]

Aircon will start to leak water after 30 mins to 1 hr, unit already 14 years old. Possible to self fix? Will it resolve by itself in future? Thanks!

Leaking water means your pipe is stuck with jelly. Best is to off the aircon main switch first, open the cover take out the blower to wash. Vacuum the coil. Clean the water tray and install back than get a wet/dry vacuum to suck out the jelly from your toilet where the aircon water leak out by pouring a 1.5L ×2 water from the aircon tray while your vacuum is on.

 

[DragonFire]

wish problem is with outlet and front tray, that would be easier to deal with. Unfortunately in my case they are not choked, so the problem should be the hidden back tray.

What model is your AC? I've never heard of a hidden back tray in most consumer models. If the drip is from the back, it is probably a poorly insulated refrigerant line condensing water.

 

[SandMan]

Clean the backtray no need chemical wash. Just normal cleaning is included. Likely kena scammed.
You need to suck out the jelly from your drainage pipe every 4-6months depending on usage. You can either diy or just call aircon guy (usually market rate is 30-40$ per unit)

Thanks. Problem is not front tray or outlet cos water I pour can drain off no problem. Water starts leaking when I pour down the back tray.

Ok I'll try to find an honest contractor who can clean back tray at standard rate. My other fancoils dont have this problem at all.. so frustrating... and expensive....

 

[DragonFire]

Cannot use dry cleaner, wait water go into motor, exploded.

I don't vaccum even tho my shop vac supports that. Makes the hose really stink. I use a 800W blower to run air through the drain line for 5 mins. Blows out clogs easily.

Be careful if your drain line is shared between multiple units. You will need to seal off the branches to avoid making a mess.

 

[ouroboroso]

Thanks. Problem is not front tray or outlet cos water I pour can drain off no problem. Water starts leaking when I pour down the back tray.

Ok I'll try to find an honest contractor who can clean back tray at standard rate. My other fancoils dont have this problem at all.. so frustrating... and expensive....

Sounds like your aircon installer did not do a proper job. The water should all drain to the tray and if it doesn't, means the angle of tilt is wrong.

 

[eggie011]

Strange this topic came up today. Aircon guy was just here after lunch to clear my leaking aircon. $50. Though if I service all the units, it's $30 per unit. But already did that in May.

I don't really want to DIY. In the first place, too old to go climbing ladders anymore. Also the end of my aircon drainage pipe is unreachable, so no chance of trying to vacuum from that end. What to do.

 

[SandMan]

What model is your AC? I've never heard of a hidden back tray in most consumer models. If the drip is from the back, it is probably a poorly insulated refrigerant line condensing water.

Its mitsubishi starmex.
After removing cover, I pour water down the back tray, can see water leak out of left side of system, outside of front tray, then drips down the left bottom of cover, never touching the wall. Every part is screwed on tight and firm.

Back tray is very hidden. Refer to the web page I linked earlier to see an example.

After the bangla flush and chem clean, no more dripping for 4 months, that means no piping or installation issue correct? It didnt leak for about 2 years before that too.

 

[DragonFire]

Its mitsubishi starmex.
After removing cover, I pour water down the back tray, can see water leak out of left side of system, outside of front tray, then drips down the left bottom of cover, never touching the wall. Every part is screwed on tight and firm.

Back tray is very hidden. Refer to the web page I linked earlier to see an example.

After the bangla flush and chem clean, no more dripping for 4 months, that means no piping or installation issue correct? It didnt leak for about 2 years before that too.

Interesting. I had a starmex before and stripped it down to almost bare - even removing the blower fan. Never seen a drain attached to anything like a back tray.

Let me take a look at the page you linked.


Edit:

Oooh. That is deep inside. I didn't even notice it after removing the fan. This is probably a tray above the fan, and right below the upper fan coil. Let me read up a bit more. There is probably a vent you can stick a piece of pipe cleaner into to unclog it.... update - or not.. Apparently this back tray uses a sponge to guide water to drip down to the main collection tray via surface tension. Ths may be missing following a previous maintenance.

Do note that this sponge spillway is not designed to handle large amounts of water - like water poured in fast. It is sized to handle condensate flowing at a relatively slow, steady rate.

 

[wongkc]

Some websites are selling those tablets that you can put at the drainage tray to dissolve the jelly that is stuck in the pipes...

Not sure if it works... anyone tried before?

 

[SandMan]

Sounds like your aircon installer did not do a proper job. The water should all drain to the tray and if it doesn't, means the angle of tilt is wrong.

Thanks. I suspected that too, placed a level meter on aircon and checked no problem.

It was also working fine for about 2 years prior.

 

[ouroboroso]

Thanks. I suspected that too, placed a level meter on aircon and checked no problem.

It was also working fine for about 2 years prior.

Did you check the pitch (front-to-back) in addition to roll (side-to-side) angle?

Sometimes the flow doesn't become a problem until there is some slight obstruction e.g. goop in the drainage pipe