Got an air conditioner leaking water? When an air conditioner unit starts malfunctioning and leaving puddles inside or around you home, it can be a huge source of frustration. Not only can your home climate reach uncomfortable temperatures, but there’s a risk of your expensive air conditioning equipment needing repairs, too.
That’s why when you encounter an AC condensation leak, you need to act fast to resolve the situation. This way, you can get your home back to a comfortable temperature and avoid even more expensive AC repair bills down the line.
In this guide, we’ll review the various types of air conditioners, what happens when they start leaking, and how to identify the cause of your air conditioner leak, too.
Leaking Affects All AC Units
Unfortunately, water coming out of air conditioner units is something that people have had to deal with since the day air conditioning was invented.
With proper maintenance, you can avoid AC leakage, but it’s likely you’ll have to deal with leakage at least once in your life. It’s important to understand that, while abnormal, these leaks can happen, no matter what sort of AC unit you’re using.
Central Air
Central air leaking water? You may encounter leaks in your central air indoor unit or outdoor unit. You may notice irregularities with your entire home’s temperature, too. How uncomfortable!
Mini Splits
Water dripping from split AC indoor unit? It can be frustrating to find puddles on your floor when you’ve got water leaking from split AC units. This can be not just annoying, but also a tripping hazard.
Window ACs
Window air conditioner leaking water? When you find a window air conditioner leaking water outside through your window, you could risk damages to your window, raising AC costs even higher.
Identifying the Cause of an AC Leak
So, you’ve discovered an air conditioner dripping water. The question is, what caused this to happen in the first place? As it turns out, an AC unit dripping water could have a multitude of causes. Fortunately, Service HQ is here to break them all down for you so that you can hopefully figure out what’s gone wrong with your AC unit, too!
Clogged Drain Line
When a condensate drain line gets clogged up, excess condensate has nowhere to go but on your floor.
- The evaporator coil cools down hot air to blow throughout your home. This coil collects condensate as it works.
- Condensate is removed via the drain line, but when this line fills with dirt and dust, it becomes backed up and malfunctions.
- Ultimately, your condensate has nowhere to go, causing it to leak all over your floors instead of draining as intended.
Low Refrigerant
Refrigerant is necessary for an AC unit to function, but when it leaks, all sorts of problems can occur.
- When your refrigerant runs low, your AC unit will no longer be able to cool down the hot air that runs through it.
- As a result, the evaporator coil freezes solid instead, causing the buildup of ice inside of your air conditioning unit.
- Eventually, this will result in a leak, along with a hissing or bubbling noise emanating from the AC unit.
Dirty Filter
The buildup of dirt in your air conditioner’s filter can result in bad consequences for your AC unit.
- A dirty air conditioner filter will block air flow to the evaporator, meaning the coil can become too cold and freeze.
- Debris can also gather on the coil itself, causing it to freeze over. Eventually, the frozen coil will cause water to leak.
- It is important to replace your AC filter and clean out the unit itself as part of its regularly schedule maintenance.
Leaking Drain Pan
A drain pan is supposed to gather moisture, but if overflowing or outright broken, it can leak.
- As moisture is pulled from your indoor air, your drain pan normally collects this moisture to feed it into the drain line.
- However, since the drain pan is not very deep, even a partially clogged drain line can result in it overflowing.
- In addition, a pan that is broken, perhaps because of rust, can cause it to leak even with a functional drain line.
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