I'm telling you how to access the pipe to do whatever you want with it. Because as usual, you seem confused. Once it's cut you can do anything you want, including pouring something into the pan under the coils, if that's what he wants to do.
I've seen a lot of HVAC here in the USA. I've yet to see a residential central AC use copper for the condensate line. I've seen Holmes run around to a bunch of them in Canada on TV too and never seen anything but PVC. But then you're in your own little universe, so who knows....
I'm making the point about dicking around with the clogged pipe with bleach because that's the direction this thread took, and I'm wondering why that's a better way to deal with the problem vs blowing it with compressed air.
I'm asking those that propose to use bleach how they make it run up the drain line. If you're not one of those proposing to use bleach, then why are you butting in now?
Those that are proposing to use bleach have yet to explain the entire proceedure - which according to you involves cutting the line. Nobody else has proposed that step.
It's not always the case that the coils and condensate pan are easy to get to - without taking the plenum apart.
At my office and home they are copper.
Apparently your universe includes poorly-designed systems, components or materials.
Unless the furnace / air-handler is located very close to (or directly over) a basement drain, then a plastic condensate line that is run across open floor to the nearest drain can be stepped on, pinched or otherwise collapse and block proper drainage. Naturally this collapse is more difficult when the line is made of ordinary 1/2" copper pipe. Also - copper might have bio-chemical properties that hinder the formation of blockage in the first place.
Have a cutout in the furnace plenum which was originally for a humidifier. Removing a cover plate provides complete access to the condensate drain pan. My bleach solution, therefore, runs down and out. MLD
Bleach solution dissolves blockage---bleach solution then goes down line and out. Repeat several times and then maybe you'll understand how it works. MLD
Because YOU raised the question of how it would be possible to get a liquid into the drain line or AC pan.
I never said anything about getting to the coils and condensate pan.
Given your record here for sensationalism and pure hysteria, forgive us if we don't believe you.
Then there must be one hell of a lot of poorly designed systems out there because PVC is used in every residential system I've seen. And for good reason. It's a fraction of the cost of copper, it works, and there is nothing wrong with it.
Then that is the problem. You're dealing with half-assed installations that have nothing to do with the PVC or copper. I have yet to see PVC pipe get pinched or just collapse. Even if you step on it, it doesn't pinch or collapse, unless it's heated to 250F. And no drain should be run across a floor.
It's impossible if you do the drain right, instead of running it across the floor for people to trip on. Geeez...
You've got a problem---you need to find something that will dissolve a mental blockage. Let's kindergarten this a bit------ Try this---forget condensate drain and think sink drain blockage. Have you ever heard of "Liquid Plumber or Draino"? You put it in the sink and then it mixes with the water above the blockage and somehow, magically via a chemical reaction, manages to eliminate the blockage. It really isn't a hard concept to grasp, you really can't be that dumb!
You (and others) have a basic problem of being able to visualize the situation.
Oh, how dumb we really are.
For one thing, most people use liquid plumber or draino when there is at least *some* draining or flow still happening.
Second, draino crystals are heavy and will sink to the bottom where (presumably) they will directly contact the blocking material. This is aided by the fact that the diameter of your sink drain is large and the crystals can access or reach the blocking material, and the distance involved is very short.
Now, contrast all that with the A/C condensation line. It's highly likely that the average home owner will not be attending their furnace to the extent that they would notice the condensation line in the process of getting plugged (as they would with any sink drain in the house). It's only when the condensation line is completely plugged (and causing over-filling and leaking elsewhere) would the home owner detect a problem.
So draino crystals sink to the blockage and do their magic but liquid plumber is only effective if there is some flow--is that what you're trying to convey. I think that the makers of Liquid Plumber would take issue with you----apparently you've never seen the liquid plumber TV commercials--very dramatic how it works so nicely. I had a completely blocked condensate line--water in the pan almost to the top of it. Several hours after I put in the bleach solution the pan was empty and the water that I put into it ran freely to the outside drain. I guess you're one of the "My mind is made up, don't confuse me with facts" types.
Oren used improper usenet message composition style by unnecessarily full-quoting:
(attach a shop-vac to the end of the condensate line)
Yea, I'm not one of those "sane" Canadians - that would suggest something other than a crazy-ass bleach method to clear the condensate line, like maybe blow the line with an air compressor.
If there is ZERO flow, then what-ever you're adding to perform a chemical reaction with (or near) the blocking material must get close to the blocking material - or be in direct contact with the blocking material.
If I have a sink full of water, and the sink drain is completely blocked, then how effective do you think it will be to add a liquid to the sink water?
Liquid plumber is a dense liquid that (like the draino crystals) will sink down through the water and into the drain.
Normally, the condensate pan is hard to access in most furnaces / AC systems.
Your blockage must have been near the outlet where the pan is connected to the condensate line. If the line was blocked further down, it would have taken much longer (if at all) for the bleach to clear the line.
What kind of moron puts an air-conditioner inside a 100+ F attic?
And even if it was in the attic - your condensate line would run *out* of the attic, to a place where it could drain -> AND be more accessible than the condensate pan.
Even if your A/C unit is inside the attic?
So you're telling me that blasting some compressed air into the end of the drain line is *harder* than crawling into an attic, dis-assembling the plenum or taking a cover-plate off, and shoe-horning some bleach into the drain pan?
So that makes you an expert in how to clear a blocked line?
I really want a logical, rational explanation as to why it's more ergonomic to pour bleach into the drain pan vs blowing compressed air into the line from the accessible exit-point of the line. Sticking a shop-vac into the end of the line and pulling the junk out is also a good idea and worth a try way before the bleach-in-the-pan idea.
I have listened, and I have pointed out what I think are real functional issues as to why the "draino" method has problems.
That includes your evap coil, the plenum and the condensation pan.
Which if you ask me, it's moronic to put any HVAC components inside an attic. Much harder to thermally insulate it. A very inefficiant location for a lot of reasons (access, noise and vibration, etc).
But beyond that, again your making the case that if the drain line is plugged, then it's more ergonomic to use a bleach solution in the pan - vs blowing out the line from it's exterior exit location? How exactly do you rationalize that?
HomelessGuy has great difficulty visualizing anything beyond his little cardboard box. He can't imagine large two story homes where it's not at all unusal to find one HVAC unit in the attic, one in the basement. Is it the ideal situation? No. But a lot of the above is pure nonsense.
EG: noise, vibration - Haven't been around a modern HVAC unit apparently.
Access? Crawl into attic? - I walk into mine
If I were to do the bleach method, I'd grab the bleach from the laundry room, mix it with some water in a pot, walk upstairs and into the attic and pour.
Blowing it out, I'd back the car out, move the lawn mower, roll out the air compressor, find the nozzle for it, wheel it around the house, get an extension cord, plug it in, uncoil the air hose. And then I'd have to figure out how to get the end of the air hose connected to the condensate line And then I'd have to start cutting pipe because the condensate line runs inside the house down to the basement where it joins the line from the basement furnace. So the exiting end of the condensate line isn't even directly available.
How about cutout in the plenum right above the drain pan-I can reach in and touch the bottom of the pan. Used to be a humidifier there, now a piece of sheet metal covers the hole providing an easy access when ever I need it. Boy--you must be miserable to be with in a car if you ever run into a road block or detour. You're not going to move because this is the way you always go and that's it!!
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