Is your air conditioner not working well, and you’ve spotted something in the drain; your AC’s drain hasn’t been cleaned in a few weeks, so how to unclog air conditioner drain?
An air conditioning system serves its purpose by lowering room temperature and removing heat from a particular area. The unit can accomplish this with the help of its internal systems.
For instance, fans work together to gather the heat inside and process it with refrigerant coils. It uses the heat from the area inside, not from the outside. The unit turns heat into cold air once processed, cooling the air leaving the AC unit. And the more the air conditioning unit works, the more force it exerts, so if its drains get clogged because of water vapor coming from the evaporator coils.
There may be something wrong that might happen; thus, you should check if it is happening with it right away. For people with problems like yours, you’ve come to the right article. Let us teach you how to prevent this; keep on reading to know more about it.
Ways To Prevent Your Air Conditioner From Having A Clogged Drain
How to unclog air conditioner drain? Drains play an essential role in being a part of your air conditioner; they are the ones who catch sitting water or water vapor coming from the internal systems. Because an unclogged drain can cause the evaporator coil to malfunction altogether, causing your AC to break.
If you want your AC to operate correctly, you should clear your drains regularly.
Otherwise, this might be one of the causes for it to break down. Suppose you have your unit’s manual book, then good for you. Try to review some of its parts as it might have some necessary information that we can use later. There are some parts that you might not know because they may not be available in the handbook.
So, here is something that you can base on if ever you will need it. Once you’re finished dealing with these, we can assure you; there will be no problems you’ll have to deal with anymore. Later one, you can have the well-deserved rest that you’ve needed after a long tiring day. You can refer to the listed method to work efficiently and without having to worry about anything.
Step #1. Locate your air conditioning unit’s drain line
Before anything else, the first thing that you must do regularly is turn off the power of your air conditioning unit. We want to avoid any injuries while cleaning the AC. Outside, you would mostly see the drain lines, so that dirt and collected water won’t stay and contaminate one area.
AC drains usually look like long thin tubes connected from the inside and the outside of the HVAC. They can be commonly found close to the condenser unit.
Step #2. Cleaning the ends of the drain line
Now what you’ll want to do is take a stiff soft brush with you and push it towards the end of the draining line. In this way, you can clear out anything that is clogged at the end of the drain. Mainly, drain clogs occur farther below, and you’ll have to do extra work.
In addition, dust particles or molds can be present in the drain, so for your safety, wear a mask and protective gear to avoid any harm from happening as they may carry viruses. Regardless, here’s how to clean mold out of the window air conditioner.
Step #3. Attaching a vacuum on your drain’s end line
Prepare a vacuum for this step, which will be needed to attach at the drain line’s end. You will use this to suck away any debris that has become lodged inside. Seal it at the end using duct tape; if you want a more accessible alternative, put tissue and stick it onto the mouth of the vacuum into the pipe’s end.
Once everything is set, turn your vacuum on and let it stay in place for a minute or so. When done, remove the vacuum and check the contents of it. Make sure to empty it afterward as it may cause damage to your appliances.
Step #4. Locating and cleaning the vent tee
The vent tee, a pipe that interconnects to your unit’s line for drain to the tray on your drainage.
If you’ve located it on top, you have to remove the PVC cap. Using a wire brush that’s thin, poke the end of the vent tee to check if there are any clogs in that part of the drain line. If you’ve found any, push it towards down the pipe. It would quickly go down, and the flow would be much better. Learn more on plumbing a vent using a tee fitting to understand fully.
Step #5. Making a mixture solution
We are near our final step, but before that, prepare a cup of bleach mixture along with a cup water and mix them thoroughly. After mixing, pour it down into the vent tee s that it goes all the way down to the pipe.
This bleach solution is one of the most effective ways for clearing clogs; it won’t require you to spend much and is budget-friendly. After thirty long minutes, check outside if all clogs have been drained out of the drain line. If yes, then it is a success! Learn more if bleach can clear a drain.
Conclusion
And that is how to unclog air conditioner drain. Again, check your drain lines from time to time if it is still in condition. Once you see that it isn’t, you can base from the steps above. If you couldn’t do it yourself, we recommend you call an HVAC professional for this.