Leaking Air Conditioner: Why and What to Do? 3 Effective Solutions

Air conditioning is your best friend in the summer! You count on its reliability to face the crushing heat. To breathe a little, you do not allow him any sign of weakness. And as soon as it sinks or leaks, it’s panic! Although you dread this failure, know that it does not mean that your favorite device is good for the scrap.

What should I do if my air conditioning leaks?

Abnormal water flow is one of the most common problems with this type of device. Benin in the majority of cases is mainly related to its evacuation and is rather easy to solve. But how to do it? We save you the heat blow with our tips for repairing leaky air conditioning!

Clean the condensate tray

The first thing to do is to clean the condensate pan. Located in the lower part of the device, it recovers and fills with stagnant water. 5 steps are enough to restore it like new:

1. Remove the screws holding the cover, and unclip it,
2. Locate the condensate pan, disconnect its drain pipe,
3. Scoop out the excess water, if it overflows, before removing it completely to empty it into a basin,
4. Clean it with an air can or a soapy sponge,
5. Reposition and plug the tray back into the machine, then replace the plastic cover.

Finish by testing the proper evacuation of your air conditioner. To do this, pour a little water into the receptacle and check that it follows the slope to the pipe.

Unclog the drain pipe

If the first step was inconclusive, and the air conditioner is still leaking, the condensate drain pipe is certainly clogged.

In this case, you will have to unclog it and push the plug to the general evacuation using a small ferret (small diameter pipe). However, we suggest that you avoid this manipulation if you do not feel comfortable. The pipe is fragile and could be damaged further with the handling of the ferret.

Hire a professional

Apart from cleaning the condensate tray, which you can easily do, it is best to call on a 

ac repair professional. The latter regularly carry out maintenance operations for this type of device.

In addition to intervening in depth on your equipment, they are able to check the entire air conditioning system, as well as the evacuation pump, and even replace faulty components. Some also use fungal and bactericidal treatments specially adapted for this maintenance.

Why is my air conditioner leaking?

To cool a room, an air conditioner dries it out by sucking out its moisture. By condensing, it forms condensates (dust-laden droplets), collected, and then evacuated.

Over time, these impurities clog the drain pipe and cause the condensate pan to overflow, and therefore water runoff.

As you will have understood, an air conditioning leak is nothing to worry about. However, water loss can cause your appliance to perform less well and promote mold growth. To solve the problem as soon as it arises, remember to have your heat pump or air conditioner inspected every 5 years (if the power is greater than 12 Kw).

Other common problems: air conditioning system

The air conditioning circuit is made up of a whole host of components, which can then be as many possible sources of breakdowns. Here are the elements that can cause your air conditioning system to fail:

• Gas leaks in the circuit at the level of a pipe, the gas escapes and we lose the pressure in the circuit. More pressure = more relaxation possible
• HS compressor: Like the leak, the consequence will be to no longer be able to compress the gas, and therefore there will be no colder through the expansion
• Compressor pulley: if the pulley is out of order, the compressor no longer turns. But this is very rare
• Pulley clutch: if the compressor pulley clutch is out of order, there is no more movement and therefore no more air conditioning. It’s already more common
• Condenser out of order: it no longer allows the liquefaction (condensation) of the pressurized (and heated) gas by cooling the latter. The problems are generally more on the side of the fan located in front of the radiator
• Drier that no longer works: it no longer filters impurities and water in the fluid, which results in the degradation of other elements such as the compressor or the expansion valve
• HS regulator: here there is no problem of pressurization but a decompression problem
• Overpressure in the circuit: if a sensor (pressure switch) detects high pressure in the circuit, the air conditioning will be cut off for safety
• Faulty sensor: if a sensor no longer works, and therefore provides false information to the computer, the assembly may then be cut off. Ditto if the temperature sensor in the passenger compartment no longer works: the automatic air conditioning will then no longer be able to modulate the ventilation since it does not know what is happening in the car in terms of temperature (it therefore no longer knows what do or it will do anything if the sensor sends erroneous information, such as an overestimation of the temperature in the car)
• The pressure switch makes it possible to control everything according to the pressures it measures, in the event of a malfunction it can induce the non-operation of the circuit
• An HS thermostat at the evaporator level can lead to the non-operation of the air conditioning.