Air Conditioner Water Damage Prevention

AC Water Damage & Other Woes

Air conditioner water damage can be catastrophic. It can cost you thousands of dollars in repairs if left unchecked. The good news is that AC water damage is easily preventable with regular maintenance and a little observation from time to time.

Condemnation of Condensation

Hey look at that, they rhyme! But yes, we are giving condensation a condemnation because air conditioners produce a lot of it. And without proper maintenance, that condensation may lead to some very nasty air conditioner water damage. If water damage is left unchecked over time, you could be looking at a serious mold and bacteria problem and possibly a caved-in ceiling.

(Fourth wall break: Hi there. This is the guy who writes the blog posts for Super Heat & Air and I once had a drywall ceiling cave in on my head due to water damage. It’s not pretty and will ruin your week! Trust me, it sucks. Don’t let it happen to you.)

Condensation is produced by the evaporator coil of your air conditioning system, which ties into your plumbing system from the unit’s main drain line. The evaporator coil has an emergency drain pan in case your main drain line gets clogged. If your main drain line and your emergency drain get clogged, water could overflow and start seeping through your ceiling or walls. Guess what that means: water damage, which could leave a bigger hole in your pocket than it does on your house!

Other Causes of AC Water Damage

Burned contacts: sounds like lenses you wore while staring at the Sun or people who you wronged in the past. But contacts are really components of your air conditioner’s contactor. The contactor is an electrical relay that sends voltage to several components of your air conditioning system. If the contacts burn, you get burned: with repair costs! (Redundant? Perhaps, but see where we’re going with this? We’re just trying to save you money)

Dirty coils and low refrigerant pressure could cause the evaporator coil to freeze up and then defrost. When that happens, it releases more water into your cooling system’s main drain and emergency drain than they can handle. This leads to (in case you haven’t been paying attention): air conditioner water damage! The heat energy from a poor high voltage connection could also cause thousands of dollars in fire damage costs, so we’re not just talking water damage woes here!

Here are some other things you can do to reduce the risk of air conditioner water damage and other AC-related woes:

Schedule an AC Inspection

Scheduling an annual inspection or two is one way to prevent water damage from your air conditioner in the future. An inspection will include checking the main drain and emergency drain lines for clogs; inspecting for dirty coils and burned contacts; and a refrigerant pressure check, among other preventative measures.

Keep it Clean

Sometimes a little maintenance is all it takes. A once-a-month air conditioner filter change is recommended, as dirty air filters could cause your evaporator coil to have to work harder to cool your home. By not replacing your air filter every month,  it could lead to damage to your evaporator coil. Also, check your air conditioning unit outside to make sure tall grass, weeds or shrubs are not obstructing the condenser unit. This could cause serious irreversible damage to your compressor, as well as poor cooling and heating performance, which (at the risk of being redundant once again), will cost you more money!

A condenser coil in an outdoor unit that has not been cleaned in years will lead to premature failure.  Condenser coils need to be cleaned regularly for air conditioning systems to operate at peak performance.

K-9 Corrosion

Do you have a dog that plays in your yard? Does it like to “mark its territory” on your air conditioning unit? Pets can affect your AC system’s performance too. 

Therefore it’s best to keep a watchful eye on where “Fido” or “Fifi” like to relieve themselves. Acidic pet urine can cause premature compressor failure, as well as poor air conditioner performance.

So when the dog goes outside to play, make sure it doesn’t choose your AC unit as its place to spray!

Safety Float Switch

Have your AC technician install a safety float switch to prevent excessive condensation. A safety float switch will shut off the power to your air conditioner in the event that the drain pan overflows. When the safety float switch stops your AC from running, a technician will clear the drain pan so the switch will allow the air conditioning unit to turn back on.

Preventing air conditioner water damage to your home and other problems to your system’s performance just requires simple due diligence. We understand that not everybody is an expert and will not always notice the signs, which is why we always encourage scheduling regular maintenance with one of our professional air conditioning technicians.

Do you need help with maintenance or preventing water damage to your AC?  Call Super Heat & Air at (813) 355-0288 to find out more about our affordable maintenance packages!