Equipment
- Carrier split air conditioning system in an apartment, condensing unit on the balcony
Ceiling drip over a bathtub in San Jose
Problem: In a San Jose apartment, water was dripping from the bathroom ceiling into the tub. Not a lot, but steady enough that the tub was catching it. It wasn’t the first time. The same drip had been reported before and kept coming back, and the last crew through the unit had said it needed an HVAC specialist.
Diagnostics: The drip wasn’t coming through the drywall. It was coming out of a short pipe stub in the ceiling above the tub. That stub is the end of the AC’s emergency condensate line.
An air conditioner pulls water out of the air while it cools, and that water has to go somewhere. In this apartment the primary condensate line runs to a black hose that ties into the drain under the bathroom sink. The emergency line is the backup, and it ends over the tub on purpose, where someone will notice it. Water there means the primary line isn’t keeping up.
Our technician followed the primary line to the sink and found it clogged. With nowhere to go, the condensate was backing up and spilling over into the emergency line.
Solution: We cleared the clogged primary line and cleaned it out, then cleaned the drain connection and the black hose under the sink. We checked that condensate was draining the way it should and ran the system to make sure it was working. The air filter was due for a change as well.
Result: The primary line was flowing when we finished. That pipe over the tub should now stay dry while the AC runs. If you see water from an outlet like this again, don’t just wipe it up. It means the main drain is backing up, and catching it early is cheaper than a stained ceiling. We service AC systems in San Jose and across the South Bay.
Photos
