lmb10
Aug 12, 2010, 07:21 AM
Hello--
I am in a three-unit condo building, and we are having water problems from the AC unit (a Carrier) above us. Occasionally (once last summer and twice so far this summer) we get sudden gushes of water from that upstairs AC unit. The first time, an AC repair person found a cracked drain pan, but that turned out not to be the problem. After the second time, we focused more on possible external sources like the roof and the sealing of our bricks because there had been rains around the same time. Now, after the third time, we are certain that it is something with the AC because it is right above the water that comes in, there hadn't been rains, and there is no water in the above unit. To diagnose the problem, we had the AC running above for hours and hours, with three holes cut in our ceiling in various rooms to look for the source of the leak, and there has been nothing. So we know it is not a gradual leak accumulating somewhere; instead there is a sudden gush of water and then it takes several weeks of AC usage for the problem to happen again. Could it be that a blockage gradually forms somewhere from sediment or even ice? Without the water leaking now, we don't know how to find the problem. When the gush happens, the water comes somewhat steadily for 10-15 minutes, perhaps a gallon or so of water. Those are just estimates, and as for the time, it is possible that it is a much shorter gush and it just takes the water time to find places to seep through.
I am in a three-unit condo building, and we are having water problems from the AC unit (a Carrier) above us. Occasionally (once last summer and twice so far this summer) we get sudden gushes of water from that upstairs AC unit. The first time, an AC repair person found a cracked drain pan, but that turned out not to be the problem. After the second time, we focused more on possible external sources like the roof and the sealing of our bricks because there had been rains around the same time. Now, after the third time, we are certain that it is something with the AC because it is right above the water that comes in, there hadn't been rains, and there is no water in the above unit. To diagnose the problem, we had the AC running above for hours and hours, with three holes cut in our ceiling in various rooms to look for the source of the leak, and there has been nothing. So we know it is not a gradual leak accumulating somewhere; instead there is a sudden gush of water and then it takes several weeks of AC usage for the problem to happen again. Could it be that a blockage gradually forms somewhere from sediment or even ice? Without the water leaking now, we don't know how to find the problem. When the gush happens, the water comes somewhat steadily for 10-15 minutes, perhaps a gallon or so of water. Those are just estimates, and as for the time, it is possible that it is a much shorter gush and it just takes the water time to find places to seep through.