Central Ac Unit Condensate Drain Leak

by Leona
(North Carolina)

We had our heating and air conditioning system replaced 2 years ago...we went with a Goodman HVAC because my sister had installed a Goodman the year before and was pleased with it.

We have an unusual housing foundation called the plenum system in which the foundation is dug out and sealed with plastic and then layered with sand, so there is not ductwork...the ac unit simply uses the coolness of the air at that level into the earth and heats it or cools it as needed...

Also, because the house foundation is level with the ground, we had to pipe the drain line out into the yard...Recently a man did an inspection for termites and to see if underneath the house was completely dry as it should be.

He reported that midway the house, there was a constant drip...this drip happened to be exactly where the inside portion of our split system was located. When I went to check, I saw there was a pool of water collecting at one corner of the hvac unit. The technician came and decided that the drain line was backing up because it was clogged with grass and yard debris...

He blew it out and left thinking the problem was solved...the leaking continued...he said that the insulation was probably wet from the back up and that it would continue to leak until the insulation dried out...2 weeks later it was still pooling up at that corner...he returned two more times still concentrating on the drain line...insulated all the pipes to assure there was no condensation building up...still leaking continued...

He finally decided to take off the side and tried to reset everything inside, even pushing some pipe so that it was centered over the drip pan...after he left the leaking became a deluge...

I was soaking it up with towels hour after hour...came back next time with another technician...they took off the side of the unit and finally found a crack in the drip pan...he said that he did a temporary repair to keep me from having to soak up the water until he could order the part...that was last Thursday...

I have been soaking up water every day...the hvac unit is only 2 years old...it had a five year warranty which doubled to ten by my doing some type of registering on line...what could have caused the drip pan to crack...and why can't my technician fix it...at no charge since it certainly should be under warranty...