American Standard (Trane) AC and constant problems

[Brandon McCombs]

Hello,

I'll spare the complete story of the problems I've had in the last few months with the new AC unit in the house I just bought but I do mention some of the issues below. I'll mention the newest problem though that is making me doubt either American Standard or the idiot who installed it. I haven't figured out exactly who to blame yet.

I'm currently having some semi-major condensation problems with the blower unit. I ran the AC throughout today and I walk into the utility room just a few minutes ago to see a lot of standing water coming out from the bottom of the furnace unit. It seems that condensation had been building up and drips in multiple locations to find its way to the cement floor and then seeps its way into the studs that are only a foot away from the one side of the unit. It is causing water to leak into the carpet on the other side of the wall where I have my finished basement.

When I call the HVAC guy out to take a look at this problem it is going to be the 4th time I've had the AC guy out to my house since I moved in which was in mid-February and it will be the 3rd time in the same number of weeks. The first time was because the unit outside wouldn't even run. They had *never* tested it when they installed it last Fall.

Should I be demanding something from this guy since he seems to be an idiot? My IFC board was fried a week ago (3rd visit) and had to be replaced due to condensation on it (whether it was while running or due to a clogged hose that he unhooked and let water run everywhere the previous time [2nd time] he was here is something I do not know). It is very possible my IFC could be fried again if all this dripping isn't stopped. I see at least 4 places where water is dripping from the top of the unit where the furnace portion is located down to the bottom where the blower is located and then onto the floor. I can't imagine that is normal. Is a drip pan required? Did the guy forget to install something? Maybe a hose is just loose? I feel like telling the guy to verify every hose is hooked up properly and if I have to I'll watch him do it.

This is getting ridiculous and I'm very frustrated. I'm already having to deal with mold due to all the water he let run out of the condensate hose and I wondered why today that I had a fresh spot of damp carpet, despite a small fan having run all day, and I have a feeling it is due to all this condensation.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Brandon

[The Daring Dufas]

American Standard/Trane is some of the best HVAC equipment. Like any equipment, it will fail if it's not properly installed and maintained. It's unfortunate that craftsmanship is sadly lacking in a lot of the service industry. You should find a service company that employs technicians who care about their work and possess the knowledge and skills to do a proper job. There is a drain pan in the evaporator and there are several things that can cause a leak. The drain line could be clogged, I often use a shop vac to clear the drain and cleanup the spill. There could be a crack in the drain pan, it can be sealed easily. You may have a piece of insulation or something else blocking the drain. Or the coil could be freezing up and causing the water to drip anywhere but the drain pan. I'd try a shop vac on the end of the drain line first even if it's a short piece going to a condensate pump.

TDD

[aemeijers]

For once we agree- call a different HVAC company. If the guy OP has been using has shown himself to be clueless, give somebody else a shot. I'm all for giving a vendor a chance to make good on their work, but my time and blood pressure is worth something, too. I presume OP used this guy because a transferrable warranty came with the system when he bought the house. Most companies work on all the major brands- ask friends, neighbors, and coworkers who they have been used and been happy with. If all the pieces are in place and mostly undamaged, it should not take more than 1 service call, and not be that expensive. (compared to the cost of the system, at least...)

-- aem sends...

[JoeSpareBedroom]

In case you need many more people to give you the exact same advice, I'll chime in:

- Stop using the AC (and wasting your money) until it's been looked at by somebody competent.

- Ask every experienced homeowner you know for names of HVAC techs they've been happy with on an ongoing basis. You're looking for a homeowner who says "I've used this company for 19 years and I've never had a problem." Ask your neighbors, your boss, your dentist, anyone.

- Pick an HVAC company with some kind of size. Even the best tech can occasionally be stumped. It's good when they can get help from someone in their own company rather than trying to track down their cousin Bubba whose real job is riding the back end of a garbage truck. In my previous home, we had a 3000 year old furnace and the only tech available one day was a rookie. The owner of the company showed up with him because he figured the rookie had never seen anything like our antique. That's the kind of company you want to deal with.

It's nice to save money, but when your heat goes down for two days because some hack couldn't fix it and your pipes are about to freeze, you'll wish you hadn't saved money by hiring the hack.

When you find the right HVAC tech and he's at your house, ask if he knows a good appliance repair company. Your refrigerator will be next. Goodbye expensive steaks.

[Brandon McCombs]

I do believe American Standard should protect the IFC boards much more than they do now (which is no protection at all) given the fact they are in the lower portion of the furnace unit where all the condensation is going to be (whether it should be there or not). It is too easy for water to get on those boards and take down the entire system. FWIW, I have a Freedom 90 furnace and an Allegiance 13 A/C unit outside.

I'll use this post to reply to all the others. I wanted to thank everyone for their time in responding. The AC and furnace are new (just installed last Fall) so still under warranty. The guy I've had come out here is the guy who installed it and, like I said, he has now been to here 3 times just while I've lived here since February. I've kept calling him to come out here because he was the guy who installed it and because I believe he is the only one in the area for American Standard. But if anyone can service them then maybe I'll switch to someone else.

I believe that was my problem the 2nd time I had him come here and that's when he was surprised by how much water was in the hose because it was either clogged or the sump pump wasn't working (not sure which yet). At least when I inspected it myself a week later I used a bucket just in case it was clogged. He was never that bright though and now I have mold problems.

Unfortunately I don't know what the drain pan looks like :( The water is coming from the furnace portion of it which is surprising to me but then again I don't know anything about this stuff.

I had drips coming down on the side where the blower fins are visible and the source was the highest point of the blower's circular shape, I also had them on the extreme far, front right of the unit where you take off the service panel and seemed to originate from the hose leading to black inducer fan (I think that its name?) in the furnace section, and the other major one was off the metal housing that the IFC board was mounted, which scared me because I wondered the chances of the water getting on the board again.

I had some freeze up happen prior to him coming out the 3rd (last) time because the blower stopped working. That was when the circuit board was fried but the A/C unit outside would be able to still run but the lines inside would freeze because of course no air was circulating so I know that isn't the problem.

[dlindaman]

dlindaman had written this in response to

: Okay, this is kind of a late response, but I had an American Standard condensing furnace installed this past Spring and I love it, but it drips lots of water on the floor when burning in the gas mode. I called the installer who said a hose must be installed wrong. He came out, couldn't find anything wrong, then the weather warmed up and it was a moot point. Now it is getting cold again and the furnace is dripping. I applied both of my IQ points to solving the problem and was able to determine the condesate is beign sucked back into the fan enclosure due to air resistance being less up the drain pipe than through the air filter. I ran a ring of silicone around the top of the drain pipe inside the fan enclosure where the drip hose goes from the the furnace into the drain pipe. Problem solved.