Lifestyle

What To Do If Your Air-Conditioner is Leaking Water

2019-08-13 , 2:00 am

Last Updated on 2021-11-10 , 1:24 pm

You can say that Singapore is pretty hot since we’re dependent on aircon to live, sleep, and even breathe.

It’s a vicious cycle, really, since it’s hot, so we use aircon, which then causes a greater urban heat island effect and faster global warming, so in turn, we turn on the aircon even more often.

Anyway, leaks from the aircon are, at least to me, tears from the aircon.

Hey, at least the aircon only cries, which is much better a problem than finding a snake eating a rat.

Easy 2 steps for what to do

Clean your aircon filter, use for another hour
If it still leaks, call a pro

Yeah, it’s that easy. Of course, apply common sense and put a bucket below your aircon or something so the area doesn’t become wet.

By easy, I mean that’s the no brain, no equipment version of what to do. If cleaning filter doesn’t work, the other steps would require some other equipment which I assume you don’t have.

At that point, you might as well just call in a pro.

How to clean aircon filter

Dirty air filters cause water leaks because this blocks airflow in the unit, which causes the air inside, around the evaporator coil to become too cold.

This then causes the coils to freeze, forming ice inside. Ice inside melts when exposed to outside air, thus causing leaks.

Generally, filters should last 1 to 2 months.

So here’s the process for cleaning, though you can also change the filter:

Turn off aircon
Take out filters
Wash with soapy water
Dry
Put back

If you need a longer process involving vacuum, vinegar, then check out DoItYourself.

If you’re wondering what the heck is an aircon filter, check out the following video:

The other 5 reasons to call the pro

Beyond the 2-step easy process, doing anything else is frankly too much work. At this point, I leave it to the pros.

According to Billy Air Con (not sponsored, but hey, if you’re an air-con pro who wants to sponsor us…), there are 6 reasons why your air-con clogs:

Your aircon drain line is clogged
Overflow pan is damaged
A dirty aircon filter
Improper Installation
A Broken Pump
You aircon condenser coil is leaking

We already covered point 3, so let’s look at the others.

AC drain line is clogged

Happens to be the most common reason for aircon leaks. What you need to do here depends on your aircon type, but you can use a wet/dry vac on the condensate line.

Overflow pan is damaged

This is basically a pan that is below your unit that allows excess water to flow into pipes to be drained (that’s why called overflow pan).

So if there’s holes or anything like that, instead of being drained water will leak.

Either fix the holes with epoxy or replace the entire thing, which depending on your aircon you might as well call an expert.

Improper Installation

The easiest way is to complain to your installer and ask them to fix it.

This happens when the aircon is not on a flat surface, which causes overflow pan to leak because the aircon is not level.

Warm air going inside the unit because of improper installation also causes condensation, which means water inside aircon = leak.

A Broken Pump

Call a pro, cause you need him/her to replace this. To test if this is the case, you need to pour water into the overflow pan. If it doesn’t drain, it might be a broken pump.

The aircon condenser coil is leaking

Since this one is located on the outside of your house, it’s better to just contact the pros.

Really, the steps for doing this is longer than the others above combined.

Gimme more trustable sources

Just to be clear, in case you’re holding your phone trying to contact Goody Feed thinking we’re an aircon contractor; we’re not.

Billy Air Con as linked above is obviously one source that has longer instructions, but Aircon Astiquer also has a rather long tutorial if you still insist on DIYing.

Aircon Astiquer also has a few disgusting images of grime and dirt, so do as you will.

Featured Image: Seasontime / Shutterstock.com