HawthorneVillager.com

Hello all....

we had our AC unit on all day. Noticed early evening the air flow is weak. Thought nothing much of it. Later, in the night the air flow its still not strong. So I decided too take a look at the furnace and behold water its leaking from the base if the unit. Also inspected the pipes and I noticed condensation. I also noticed water leaking from the middle of the furnace as well. Any idea what the issue is. Our house is four years old. This is the first time having a situationlike this before.

your probably low on gas for the AC, turn if off for 2 or 3 hrs and then turn it back on, if the the airflow is back to normal then your coils are freezing and thats usually due to a AC gas leak. its a small repair, but can be expensive $200 to $300.

was it blowing well before and then just recently lost air flow, thats usually low gas

check you air filter many times it is so clogged with dirt you are blocking the air flow

korinthos has the right idea.

Coils freeze when air flow past the coil is restricted by a clogged filter or when the refrigerent is low.

Start with making sure that the filter is new and that the filter is one that does not restrict air flow too much.

If no one has done any maintenance on your HVAC system over the years then you are due for repairs. While they are over to repair the AC ask that they also lubricate the blower so that this winter you are not faced with a $1000. blower replacement.

I use M.A.R.C.H. Climate Care on Main Street for service.

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For Home Inspection services call Andy Shaw at Halton Home Inspection Service. 905 876 4761

It also sounds like the drain line from your AC to your floor drain is blocked. That's why you have water around the base of your furnace.

John Allingham, Professional Engineer
Owner & Certified Home Inspector
Halton-Peel Home Inspection
(416) 254-5869
inspect@peelhomeinspection.com
http://www.peelhomeinspection.com

We just had this happen last week as well. As John and CJ pointed out above, before you call anyone, check to make sure it isn't just the drain line that is blocked. It's the one that comes out of the furnace where you see a plastic elbow, then has a rubber hose to your floor drain.

I popped the hose off and it was fine, but we had some material (it was like sawdust) in the elbow. I jammed pipe cleaners (so that's what they're actually for!) and some wire in there to clean out the elbow and everything was fine. Before that, we had a lake/river below the furnace flowing to the drain - we thought it was coming from below the furnace but upon further investigation, it was building up on the flat part of the furnace beneath the elbow and dripping down from there. I'm not a handyman, but I believe that's where the condensation builds up on a tray inside and flows into this hose to drain....

IMO, the key statement in the OP's comment was "weak air flow". A condensate leak would not cause weak air flow but it can be the result of the problem. It's more likely that the coil is iced up as a result of a clogged or restrictive air filter or a refrigerant problem.

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For Home Inspection services call Andy Shaw at Halton Home Inspection Service. 905 876 4761

Well, I had to say it. "Weak air flow" is not caused by a clogged condensate line.

The leaking condensate is a symptom, not the cause.

But hey, I'm not Mike Holmes - IE perfect, so maybe it's a combination of both problems.

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For Home Inspection services call Andy Shaw at Halton Home Inspection Service. 905 876 4761

Thanks for the info. We shut off the AC unit last night and turned it back on. The air flow is back to normal. Still going to have someone take a look at the furnace. Anyone out there willing to fix my furnace for a case of beer?

Not only is Mike Holmes perfect, he is also a knight in shinning armour and he lives in a castle.

_________________
For Home Inspection services call Andy Shaw at Halton Home Inspection Service. 905 876 4761

Wha ha ha ha ha ha ha,,,,,,,,,,

_________________
For Home Inspection services call Andy Shaw at Halton Home Inspection Service. 905 876 4761

Just keep on checking it as well, because mine started just like that and as someone mentioned above, it was actually a leak in my A coil which is expensive to fix. Hopefully your problem is easily solved BTW, I find in the summer time, especially with my dogs I guess, I need to change my furnace filter every 2-3 weeks. I need to buy stock in those furnace filters

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Attempting to GIVE A DAMN ... 40% complete.. ERROR! Hmm, looks like my GIVE A DAMN is broken!

Glad to hear you've got airflow on a day like today. I think you'll find that your drain line is still blocked.

John Allingham, Professional Engineer
Owner & Certified Home Inspector
Halton-Peel Home Inspection
(416) 254-5869
inspect@peelhomeinspection.com
http://www.peelhomeinspection.com

I had this same problem last year. There was a pool of water in our basement underneath the furnace and it wasn't draining. So I called someone to look at it and they said it was the pipe not draining out properly. So they replaced the tube and added an elbow joint to help the flow. However we still experienced the same problem within the next few days. So they came out again and said maybe the problem was the motor was running too high. But we still experienced water leaking under the furnace. We called again and they sent out their service manager who found out what the problem was. He said the plastic drain pan had melted, because the builder installed it too close to the heat coils!!! He quoted us $800 to fix the problem, but suggested that we take it up with our builder (Mattamy), because the code says there should be a min 2"-6" clearance from the pan to the coils.
To make a long story short, after numerous emails and phone calls, Mattamy finally sent someone over (after 2 months) to fix THEIR problem.

If your home is a Mattamy, maybe the same guy did both installs!!!

Good luck, hope this helps

we had that, we had someone come in and reset the board with all the little computer stuff and the air flow increased , then to full after it dried out,
apparently those little boards cost more to replace then a furnace LOL