Possible fixes for overflowing a/c drip pan

[JSavelle]

I live in an older house with central a/c in the attic. Over the years, I've religiously cleaned out the drip pan so it wouldn't overflow and drip through the kitchen ceiling. However, this year has been different.

Even though I've done the bleach treatment and cleaned the pan with a wet/dry vac, the drip won't stop and the kitchen ceiling will need major repair. I called my a/c repairman, who blew out the drain line with CO2. But he said that the only permanent fix would be to move the a/c unit up off the attic floor, so the drip pan could be elevated for better drainage. And this would cost me about $1,500.

Since this is the only time in nine years that this has happened, isn't it a better bet that a) the pan is leaking, or b) the house has shifted, and the pan has somehow gotten un-leveled? Granted, having the a/c unit right on top of the drip pan probably wasn't the smartest move, but I'm not an expert. Any suggestions, or would the a/c experts reading this need some photographs of the setup?

TIA,

JS

[dpb]

JSavelle wrote: ...

...

B) happened here altho it wasn't actually the house that settled but the support frame upon which the A/C unit was sitting.

A) is certainly a possibility.

It should be possible to determine from where the water is actually leaking I would presume, even if took adding some food dye as colorant to see the new traces emerge.

The drain _is_ verified to be open, I presume?

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[jmeehan]

No frankly I think the A/C guy is right. Maybe someone else can come up with a different solution, but it sounds to me that it was a bad install and the only real fix is to correct the initial problem. Otherwise you can expect repeats or you will need to be very diligent about cleaning and noticing any problems.

You may be able to add an alarm to alert you if it gets blocked.

[jmeehan]

I forgot to add, that I am no fan of HVAC in an attic. Your problem is reason #6

[ransley]

Question, my drip pan goes under a unit incase the pan under the condenser inside the unit overflows from a clogged hose, do you have

1 or 2 pans, I have 2, the bottom one has a float cutoff switch so I cant ruin my ceiling. Have you looked at the pan under the coil. 1500 to raise a unit, get bids it cant be more than 3-4 hrs work Im guesing. But isnt the level of the AC the real potential issue, have you put a level on it, its not supposed to be level but my installer said raised a bit on one side so it will always drain. I think you should try a different tech , the 1500$ aproach is not where you start. If you dont have a second pan with float switch, get one. I have had no issues this way

[HeyBub]

[HeyBub]

The pan is probably metal and they do eventually rust/leak.

You should have two drains, the pan thingy is the emergency water collection device.

Anway, HD sells a plastic pan, normally used to place under a washing machine, that may work admirably. I replaced my metal pan with the plastic one and connected the drain line (which runs to the soffit) and all is well.

[ransley]

ll.- Hide quoted text -

And its no big deal raising a unit, cut ducts, attach flex collars, remove electric, hang chain and raise it.Not 1500 worth

[Moe Jones]

Asked your A/C man if as float switch would solve the problem. There are a number of different switches that basically senses if any water is in the emergency pan and if there is it will shut down your A/C so no water will drip out of the pan.