22 Yr old York A/c Problem! Help!

[Joebowler98]

The A coil was recently taken out by a local HVAC contractor to clean because water was "backing up" into the furnace! Water was all over the floor and pouring into my unit! They thought they had it fixed and hooked up the garden hose connection that ran to a previously used clothes washer drain. Within 30 minutes it was backing up again. The weird thing is that when I disconnect the hose and hang a 5 gallon bucket on it it doesn't want to back up? I checked the hose and it is not blocked. I even thought the drop was not adequate so I ran the hose straight out and along the floor to the floor drain so it should have no resistance. It backed up almost immediately! I removed the hose and water poured out of the pipe into my backet again! Do you guys have any idea of what to try next? It is a "slab" A Coil too. I appreciate any help you could give me. I have replaced the funace motor and outside unit 5 years ago with a Goodman 2 1/2 ton. Thanks for you help!

[TPG]

this seems a bit odd... you say they took out your coil for a condensate drain problem ? that's not typical 1st off. most times a condensate drain can be cleaned with a wet/dry shop vac and a little patience. but all that aside. your description of the hose vs. bucket is a bit strange ... so lets get some clarification..
1. when you say in your post " water was all over the floor and pouring INTO your unit" is the water not coming from inside the unit ?
2.coming from your indoor unit is there 1 drain line pipe or 2 ? and if there is 2 pipes which one is water coming out of ?
3. is your a coil mounted horizontal or vertical (is the A up ^ or on its side >)
4. when you hang your bucket and water comes out is it a steady drip or nothing and then a big surge of water ?

[Joebowler98]

Thanks for the help TPG. Yes the water is coming from inside the unit. There is one drain pipe that is on the front left part of the unit. It was a galvanized pipe but that was the first thing they replaced. The put it in PVC (it looked a bit plugged) and put the drain hose back on it. Within 30 minutes it was backing up in the unit. They then thought the A coil could be blocked up farther back and removed it and hosed it out and sprayed a cleaner on it. They reinstalled and put the drain hose back on it and it did the same thing! I diconnected the hose and water began to come out quite rapidly into the bucket. The A coil is rectangle I understand the term is "Slab Coil". There is no "A" shape to it. There is a surge of water immediately after removing the hose after a bit of time but, If I leave only the bucket hanging it is a steady drip while running. Thanks Again for the help!

[TPG]

your set up sounds a bit unorthodox Joe, you say your hooking a hose up to the drain pipe? is that new or have you always run it like that?
and also does the new PVC drain tube they installed have a P or J trap in it ? you need a 4" trap of some kind on your condensate drain so that water can collect in there and prevent the negative pressure created by the fan from pulling air into the unit and carrying water in with it. this can cause the water to collect in the bottom of the unit instead of staying in the pan where it should !
that being said it seems odd to me that when its a bucket it comes out fine and when its a hose it doesn't.that sounds to me like its a problem with something outside the unit ( the hose probably) since there is no force pushing this water out so you have to make sure any set up you have has gravity helping it out unless you wanna install a condensate pump.

[Joebowler98]

Thanks again for your help. This is the same set up as when i bought the home in 1999. There is no trap in it. There is just the approx 6" pvc pipe that runs out the front of the unit. It has a threaded end that fits a "garden hose" that ran to a nearby clothes washer drain. The A/C guy said that the guy who installed my replacement Goodman 2 1/2 ton unit about 3 yrs ago had too much freon in the lines. When he sucked down the unit the other day to clean out the coil he said that it might need a bit more freon. I have noticed that the line set going into the unit has quite a bit on condensation dripping off it now and it is dripping into the top of the furnace now! I sure wish I could find a diagram of this unit online to show you. It is crazy how when I hang the bucket to catch the water it seems to do alright but as soon as the hose is connected it backs up in the unit. I have taken the hose and blown through it so there is no blockage? What now? Its 100 degrees in Kansas now and really want to figure out how to run it without the bucket...