Condensate & Drains

The condensate drain is the source of many a service call in Florida. A lot of the time, the problem is just a clogged drain; bacterial zoogloea (drain snot) loves humidity, and the all-aluminum coils don’t do us any favors. Other times, there are some clear drain design or installation flaws that present hazards to […]

Double traps are no good. That's the end of this tech tip. Okay, here's some detail: Anytime your drain goes up and down more than once, you have a double trap UNLESS you place an air vent between the two traps that vents ABOVE the drain inlet. The double trap causes drainage issues because air […]

This tech tip came from an email sent by Adam Blunkall, a Tennessee-based HVAC technician. He shared some tips to help prevent the issue of freezing in 90%+ furnaces in his market, and we appreciate his insight. Thanks, Adam! If we’re draining our 90%+ furnaces (or any condensing heating system) outside the structure in a […]

We recently received a Speakpipe question for the podcast about a common nuisance call on straight-cool A/C units and heat pumps. The systems, often retrofit units, were backing water up into the secondary drain pan and overflowing it. This issue isn’t happening on furnaces, which are positively pressurized, which means we have to take a […]

There is not much worse than having a service call where you can’t figure out where the water is coming from or where it came from before you got there. I have spent many hours scratching my sweaty head in attics while I stared into the riser of a drain line, waiting for water to […]

If you have worked at more than one company in your HVAC career, chances are you’ve found there is more than one place to put a float switch. Every company seems to have its own “secret sauce” for running drain lines and placing float switches.  Is your company a “no float switch” company? Although a […]

It should be stated and restated that codes and code enforcement vary from location to location within the US. The IMC (International Mechanical Code) is one of the most widely utilized and referenced. The 2015 version of the IMC section 307 is what I will be referring to in this article. Condensate Disposal  The code […]

Condensate overflow prevention devices or float switches, as they are often called, are such simple devices that you wouldn't think there would be much room for controversy. In my experience, there are few areas of the trade where technician and installer preferences and opinions vary greatly. Let's start with some float switch basics. Float (condensate) […]

This article is primarily based on HVAC School’s “Drain Cleaning – More To It Than We Think,” hosted by Bryan Orr and featuring Corey Cruz and Mike Klokus. You can listen to that episode HERE. How hard could it be to clean a drain? The slime should just wash away if you flush the drain […]