AC generating water

[jdc0222]

Hello -
Our AC unit is generating a lot of water. It is located in the basement. There is a PVC tube running out of the bottom of the condensor and through a hole in the basement floor. This appears to be the only mechanism for draining the water off of the condensor. The pipe itself does not appear to be clogged.

The hole through the floor seems to be full, so it overflows on the floor, and is soaking the carpet and the wood at the bottom of the wall. The basement is below grade so their is no way to drain this outside. I would like to keep the water from saturating the carpet and causing a mold problem.

Is this the right setup to drain the water from the AC unit? Any ideas of how to fix this issue?

Thanks,
Jon

[HayZee518]

apparently the condensate drain line in the floor has met a clog or the drain line has a trap which is blocked. before you start pouring any drain cleaner down this pipe try taking a snake and unclogging the trap. I say do this first because drain cleaners contain lye and toxic chemicals which may harm you if you get any of this stuff on you.

[jdc0222]

actually, the pipe in the floor does not connect to anything, it just runs under the basement floor cement. I guess the area under the basement floor is saturated and cannot hold any more water, so it is bubbling out of the hole instead of percolating into the dirt under the floor.

I think the route to go now is to run PVC pipe from the condensor drain and out of the house. I will need a pump to get the water to go up from the basement because it is under ground. Does this make sense?

[HayZee518]

ok, because the condensate drain line is near the basement floor - the only recourse I see is to chip up some basement floor and dig down - put in a plastic bucket with some holes drilled in it near the bottom, then use mortar mix and fill in the space between the bucket and the original basement concrete. In this bucket put in a submersible sump pump with a diaphragm start switch. when [ground water and the a/c condensate] fills the bucket, the sump will start and pump the water effluent out of the bucket and outside your basement.

[LazyPup]

Not only is your current condensate drain system not working, it is a major violation of the plumbing code and potentially a serious health risk to all the occupants of the structure.

The Plumbing codes require that an Air Conditioner condensate drain line must terminate into an “approved indirect waste receptor”.

To make an approved indirect waste receptor the condensate line may terminate outside the structure providing the lowest point of the drain line remains a minimum of 6” above average terrain. The line may also terminate into a sink, sump pit or floor drain providing the lowest portion of the condensate drain line remains a minimum of 2x the pipe diameter or two inches, whichever is greater, above the flood level rim of the receptor,

Quite often when an AC unit is installed in a basement there are no sinks, floor drains or sumps into which we can run the drain line. Fortunately there is a very simple and rather inexpensive solution. They make a small self contained “Condensate Drain Pump Assembly” for this application. The condensate drain pumps have a small plastic reservoir, which holds about a gallon of water and there is a built in pump with an automatic switch that works in the same manner as a sump pump.

To install the pump unit the AC condensate line is terminated into the pump reservoir and the pump unit has a 3/8” diameter plastic hose that can be run outside the structure or to an approved receptor. You then plug the supplied cord into a 120vac outlet and it works automatically from there. Generally the installation time will be 30 minutes or less.

You can find condensate drain pumps at any HVAC supply house or you can run a search online for Condensate drain Pump. “Little Giant” is one of the more common brand names and their unit typically sells complete for about $70. While $70 may seem a bit high for the size of the unit, it is a real bargain when you weigh it against the cost of cutting the concrete to install a sump, then installing a sump pump.

[jdc0222]

There is definitely no drain in the basement. The sewage pipes terminate at one corner of the house, through a basement wall. The waste pipe exits the house about 3 feet off of the basement floor. I have never seen this setup before, but I guess the builder thought this was the best way to go.

It might be possible to tap into the sewage system, but the pipes in the utility room (where the AC is) run through the ceiling, so the pump would have to push the water up into the waste line. I guess an alternative is to drill a hole through the cement basement wall and put the outflow from the pump there.