One thing i recommend to all of my customer at newtons heating and air conditioning whether i was a HVAC technician or a HVAC contractor is to clean your drain line. So you maybe wondering how do i do this? Well let me explain what is kind of going on and why you need to clean them regularly. Your air conditioning system has a evaporator coil on your indoor unit and it gets to be about 40 degrees. All of your indoor air passes through it and you get cold air. Because its so cold though it makes condensation and a lot of it. This is especially true when its in the middle of summer and your unit is running all of time. Sense there is constantly water in this drain line it will start to build up with algae. When it becomes to much it plugs the whole 3/4 inch pvc pipe and your drain line back ups. Now this is a problem because if it backs up it actually goes into your float switch and shuts your system off. The float switch has something that looks like a bobber and as the water rises so does the bobber and than it trips. If your unlucky you may not have one at all. I cant count how many homes I’ve been to a customers home and the drain line backs up and starts dumping water onto the floor or celling. Nothing is worse than your drain line backing up and making your ceiling fall because there is no safety switch. So how do you clean it and should all homes have a float switch? There is only one style of unit called a package unit and the whole unit is outside so on these systems only you don’t need a float switch but if your air handler is anywhere in your home, your unit should have one. So what can you do as a home owner to help prevent this? Firstly getting regular air conditioner maintenance is the best thing you can do so we can not only clear your drain line but check your float switches. With that being said as a homeowner you can do 2 things yourself. You can put white vinegar down your drain line and that will help treat it but it does not do anything for any algae that is already in your drain line. What you can do as a homeowner is purchase a shop vac to clear your drain line which is the way we do it as well. What you do is go outside and look for a 3/4 inch white pvc pipe. You take the shop vac hose and put it over the drain and you can use your hand to make a good seal. This will pull out all of the algae and if you did this about every 3 months you really wouldn’t ever have a drain line problem. If you like this article and would like to see more you can also visit us at www.newtonsheatingandairconditioning.com
Air conditioner maintenance tips and what you can do as a home owner for people in Clearwater, Saint Pete, Largo or all of Pinellas county
