What to do if the air conditioner leaks in the apartment?

If water drips from the air conditioner drain on hot days, this means that your climate control equipment is working properly and is functioning perfectly. But if the air conditioner is dripped in any other place, you should sound the alarm. To find the causes of a malfunction, you need to know for what reasons a leak occurs, and how to fix it. This is what will be discussed in our article.

First, a little theory. An air conditioner is one of the types of climatic equipment. The equipment allows maintaining a comfortable temperature level in the apartment in hot weather. However, its operation also entails certain difficulties. It happens that the liquid flows directly into the room, and often it is not a couple of drops, but a rather impressive leak. Even more difficulties arise if the entire internal unit of equipment leaks - then condensation flows down to the floor, as well as furniture and other items, including electrical appliances, this can result in a complete incapacitation of home appliances.

Let's try to figure out why water is dripping from the air conditioner. The fact is that the principle of operation of the equipment is not only to cool the air, but also to create a favorable microclimate in the room. For this, the system is additionally equipped with the option of dehumidification of air streams. The mechanism of action is simple: liquid from the air, in contact with the cooled element, condenses and settles on the surface of the indoor unit, from where it is discharged into the external one. It is impossible to determine exactly how much water is produced in a day. Much here depends on the initial temperature of the air and the level of its moisture content, as well as on how many degrees it is necessary to cool the room - that is, the determining factors in this case are the power of the equipment and the parameters of the climate in the room. On average, a split system is capable of removing 13-15 liters of water per day, industrial air conditioners with high power are capable of converting up to 150 liters of liquid in 24 hours.

The presence of a breakdown is also indicated by the appearance of ice on the block. Regardless of whether whole drops freeze, or there is slight frost, you should immediately call the masters, as this indicates incorrect operation of the temperature regulators.

Sometimes the owners of HVAC equipment face problems which entail malfunctions in the functioning of the indoor unit.

• Overfilling of the reservoir to collect the released moisture - this can happen if the equipment operates at maximum power for a long time. This happens in shopping malls and business centers, where air conditioners work non-stop.

• The heat exchanger freezes - as a result, the working fluid at the moment of evaporation begins to produce a lot of condensate, and this leads to frequent leaks. Such breakdowns most often occur in spring and autumn, when the average daily temperature is positive, and the cold is kept at night.

• Breakage of drainage elements or pump malfunction leads to the fact that condensate is generated, but does not penetrate into the outlet block - this also leads to leaks. If the hose is incorrectly installed, the condensate is not able to cope with the rise in the pipe and flows back into the inside.

• If the branch pipes that discharge the working fluid into the working unit, poorly fixed or loosened, the circuit begins to depressurize, and this also becomes the cause of breakdowns.

• With some types of faults, an excessively large volume of working fluid accumulates inside a closed loop - this causes excessive pressure, which often causes equipment failure.

Leaks are often preceded by attempts to reduce installation costs.

• The hole is made illiterately - the fact is that it must break through at an angle, then moisture flows out into the street, and not inside the room.

• Drain pipe may be kinked if improper quality materials are used.

• Due to poor quality rolling, freon leakage begins. This causes the heat exchanger to freeze - the melted water flows down, forming ice, ultimately this can bring the equipment out of working condition completely.

• With low thermal insulation of the freon line, condensate accumulates in a significant amount, and this also leads to leakage.

The desire to save money on installation work turns out to be even more expensive for the owners of the premises: first they will have to pay for the illiterate installation of equipment, and then fix the problem. In some situations, it is necessary to remove the equipment altogether, then mount it again - this will cost an order of magnitude more.

Sometimes there is a leak from the outdoor unit. As a rule, this cannot be noticed immediately, since it is from it that water usually flows when the air conditioner is working properly. At the same time, unrepaired defects can damage the entire air conditioner. The most common causes are:

• lack of freon;
• clogging of the evaporation mechanism;
• breakdown of the movement regulator;
• damage to the radiator.

The way to eliminate the leak directly depends on the cause of the breakdown.

In this case, the outer part of the evaporator freezes with further thawing of frost after the system is turned off. Usually this problem is accompanied by an atypical sound and slight blowing of ice.

Such a breakdown most often occurs during system testing with poor-quality installation. The cause of the malfunction is mechanical damage to the pipeline. It must be replaced - soldering, duct tape and gluing are highly undesirable.

If the outer tube is not equipped with a mesh, over time it becomes clogged with cobwebs, insect cocoons, dust or dirt. In winter, its complete icing can take place. To remedy the situation, you need to clean the pipeline with a wire or a vacuum cleaner; in frosts, you will have to carefully beat off the ice.

Most often it occurs in winter, when there is a significant imbalance in the pressure and temperature of the circuit of the entire system. The heating of the evaporator of the indoor unit decreases, condensation forms and, as a result, ice builds up. As the temperature rises, the walls of the evaporator thaw out and leakage occurs. The solution to the issue can only be the installation of a pressure regulator.

Often, when installing equipment, the drain pipe will bend to prevent the ingress of unpleasant odors.This leads to malfunctions, therefore the deformed area will have to be replaced, while it is best to use the original siphons.

As already mentioned, this error occurs when trying to self-install an air conditioner with a gravity outlet. In this case, the indoor unit turns into a large water tank and becomes extremely dangerous for people in the room. To eliminate such an error, it will be necessary to dismantle the entire system and its complex re-equipment.

In a situation where the withdrawal of water to the street for any reason is impossible, air conditioners with a drain pump are installed, for example, in basements or underground structures. Such equipment can also leak.

• Drain pump breakage - the condensate is not completely absorbed. Such equipment must be repaired or completely replaced.

• Broken water sensor - when such a problem occurs, the mechanism does not see the need to pump out water and, accordingly, does not turn on the pump. The result is the accumulation of liquid in the gutter of the indoor unit. The only solution to the problem is to install a sensor.

• Blocked float chamber. If you do not carry out regular maintenance, dirt and foreign objects will block the float over time, thereby disrupting the timely pumping of condensate. The situation is quickly corrected by a comprehensive cleaning of the camera itself and all its elements.

• Violation of the throughput of the duct tube. Occurs when it is bent or any other obstacle occurs. The problem is corrected by cleaning and fixing the kink.

In the event of an unintentional power outage or voltage drop in the network, a slight leak sometimes appears. Do not worry - when the power is restored, the problem is quickly resolved.

The most common cause of leaks is a clogged drainage system. This is why the tank, pipes and openings should be cleaned regularly. If you neglect these preventive measures, sooner or later not only moisture will get into the pipe, but also leaves, debris, as well as dirt and other foreign objects. Sometimes flying insects are clogged into the drainage tube. - on hot summer days, they suffer from the heat and strive to be as close to the water as possible; in urban conditions, wet air conditioner structures become comfortable places for them. Some owners of climatic equipment equip the tube outlet with special mosquito nets, but this can only serve as a temporary solution to the problem.

Keep in mind that the drain hole is only 1cm in diameter and clogs up pretty quickly. As soon as this happens, condensation can no longer get into the street, and moisture goes out into the room.

If you do not have the skills to work with climatic equipment, you do not need to try to clean the system yourself. - contact a specialized service department. Professional craftsmen will turn off the climatic equipment, flush the pipe - only after that the system will start working correctly. Such services are quite inexpensive.

For information on what to do if the air conditioner leaks in the apartment, see the next video.