Is this a problem? The pad the compressor sits on seems to collect quite
a puddle, and there is some water standing in the bottom of the housing.
This is an outside unit, that is, a Carrier AC system with outside
compressor and coils, and lines running to an air handler inside. I
thought the cold part of things was the set of coils inside the air
handler. Thanks.
quite
housing.
If there's even a short section of the suction line exposed (no
insulation), it's probably just water condensing on the line and
running down to where it enters the unit..
There are usually drain holes at the bottom of the unit which
occasionally get clogged and need to get cleaned out, if you have
access to it. I also have a Carrier and on my unit. If your unit is
similiar, I shut the power first, then I remove the fan shield on top
and can get access to the bottom and poke a long nail in the drain hole
to clear them.
If your condensate water gets pumped out of the house close to the
compressor, like mine, it could be what the water on the pad is from.
In that case you can just re-route it to drain further away.
What is the air temperature rise off the condenser?
Perhaps it could use more of a heatload on the indoor evaporator coil.
The cold suction vapor will cause the suction line near the compressor,
and in many causes, it will cause the compressor to condense moisture too.
This situation is rather normal. Check the condenser's temp rise anyway,
and the indoor em drop between the supply air diffusers and the return
air grilles.
Do you have apparent good airflow from the diffusers in all rooms? These
three things may or may not reveal any helpful information.
- udarrell
<snip>
Thanks everyone for the answers...
This is the downstairs unit of a two story house, so it doesn't run as
often, but when it is running it does blow cold air. When you check the
temps, you just use a normal thermometer or something? What are you
looking for in the inlet and outlet air temps?
I tend to suspect it's probably normal, although this unit (downstairs)
seems to have a lot more water condensing around it. I thought it might
be bad insulation around the tubing going back in to the house, but that
seems to be ok. The drain from the air handler is coming out another
wall, so I am pretty sure it's just condensation. I see a much smaller
amount of condensation on the upstairs outside unit, but it definitely
seems to run much more, given that heat rises etc. etc.
I'm getting the feeling from the answers so far that it is probably
nothing to worry about, so I am probably going to let it ride for now.
The indoor temp/split will vary according to the relative humidity
level. (See chart) Figure A18-1
http://www.udarrell.com/air-conditioning-total-heat-enthalpy-latent-heat.html
A lot of factors enter into the indoor temp/split, that is why the
condenser split is helpful information as to the Btu/hr heatload that
the evaporator is transferring to the condenser.
Your outdoor split will not be as much as the condenser chart shows;
note that the higher the relative humidity the higher the condenser temp
rise.
Figure A17-4 Sorry I wrote all over the charts, it's a bad habit of mine.
Do the same simple checks on your upstairs system, and see how they
compare. (Post the temps here.) - udarrell
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