Air Conditioner Condensate DRAIN TRAPS! Function, Problems, Cleaning, Air Loss! Do I need it?
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- čas přidán 28. 06. 2024
- In this HVAC Training Video, I Show IF/WHEN to Install a Water Drain Trap such as a P-trap, U-trap, Dry-Trap on a Furnace & AC Unit, Air Handler System, and a Mini Split Unit! I Explain How These Work and What the Problems are. Supervision is needed by a licensed HVACR Tech while performing tasks as Experience and Apprenticeship garners Wisdom and Safety.
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Information in this video is intended for educational purposes only. Any work related to the topics in this video should be performed by licensed technicians or by apprentices under the supervision of licensed technicians. AC Service Tech LLC is not responsible for any possible damages or injuries caused by the use or misuse of any information provided.
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#hvacr #hvacr #hvactrainingvideos #hvactraining #hvactraining101 #acservice #acservicetech #acunit #airconditioner #function #install #airloss #drain #draintrap #condensatedrain #condensate
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You young guys getting into the trade are very lucky to have access to this guys videos. I wish I had them 20 years ago.
A lot of younger guys don’t utilize this information . I study every chance I get
We had installation manuals, that's all you need even to this day
@@superdutyscaler6823 install manuals don't show how to service a system.
Right you are sir. I had no idea this guy was so legit!
As a young guy in the trade, I agree! I am very grateful!
Make sure to always add a tee on p trap. Clean out is needed especially in a attic
The amount of things that I can learn from Craig in a day is ridiculous 👍🏿 thank you for all of this information and helping people become better techs
Wanted to comment on your latest vid in the hopes you see it. I spent hours watching your videos in order to fix my HVAC system. I know you teach to help the pros but I hope you dont mind that you help a lot of DIYers like myself. I took the time to watch many videos on your highly accurate and detailed inspections and repairs of HVAC systems and in the end I was able to fix it myself. Thank you so much for all of the videos and just know youre helping so many. Cheers!
This man, legend
Those visuals, as simple as they seems, are priceless to adress the mindset toolbox of any tech. Thanks forever Craig!
Thanks so much! I moved into a house with a furnace/ac combo and it over flowed. I had to figure it out at 1:30 am! I had to cut the pvc pipe- I was going to put another trap- but now know I don’t need one. I can just use the pump. So grateful!!! ❤
For 13 years my Nordyne 4 ton unit drained out what I thought was a pretty good condensate "drip". It had NO p-trap. After watching a previous video you did, I installed the Rectoseal trap and turned the condensate drain into a small garden hose. Everything equal, I dropped the RH by 5%. To test how well this works I opened up the cap between the trap and air handler and added food coloring and let the unit run. The food coloring just sits there. Closed the cap and off she goes.
There you go, all that water siting in pan and air until unit turned off to drain, plus sucking in outside air. You may have reduced runtimes by 10-15% by reducing latent load.
Best video ever 10 stars and 10 thumbs up. Specially now that I am about to install a heat pump and I had been searching for this answer since I didn't know the requirements for it and also because I new ducted and ductless work differently and also because I was debating whether to drain it outside or inside into a drain or even a pipe that drains my kitchen sink but was concerned about sewer gases backing into the drain pipe.
Just what I was looking for, I was having issues with negative pressure. Great video!
Wow 😮 Now I’m even more freaked out. I’m a first time homeowner. I watch these videos all the time trying to learn what I should be doing. My AC is on the second floor in a closet. It ducts out from there. Another video told me I should flush the pvc drain pipe with vinegar. But my drain pipe had no cap to open to pour in vinegar. Apparently that’s not unusual because there was a video for how to cut a T valve in. But now you added a p-pipe. I don’t have that either. Where does that go? Before or after the T-valve? The prior videos just warned that the drain pipe had to slope down from the AC. 😱
Great info. Helps to understand why we use the traps. Thanks Craig.
Best video on traps i have seen. Thanks
Thank you for this excellent explanation. I was confused when my horizontal high efficiency furnace had a trap on the furnace condensate drain, but not on the AC coils condensate drain.
Great and positive training, very informative, thank you so much
Jesus I love this Channel. I just bought his mini split book. Very excited to read it!
As Always thanks for your great expertise !
Great job, thank you brother. You are so talented
great video
learning more about how ac works.
✌
Excellent video. Thank you!
Great demos. Thanks
This was very informative.
I was so confused, not anymore! Gracias!
Great video. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks guy. I really appreciate this.
Exlent explanation thanks for your kind information
Great information, thanks.
Good video, thank you fro posting this.
Awesome video!
Great video
Great Video !!!
Great video. I'd love to see how a clogged/dirty filter can affect air ingress pressure on the drain line, too. My guess is more air clog = more water column. Can a clogged filter cause enough vacuum to suck a trap dry?
Thank you for this video
Best channel on youtube
Great videos.😊
A lot of great information
Any videos on where to take line temperature readings for superheat and subcooling on packaged rooftop units??
I think we should be calling the system either ‘Positive pressure’ or ‘Negative pressure’ system to avoid confusion.
A good topic of discussion would be what to do with that secondary drain port for each style system.
SS2 (or the like) safety switch or p-trap on negative pressure. SS2 or indicator tube/drain line on positive pressure.
Alternative is to run an in-line safety switch (SS1) on the primary then the above option minus the SS2.
Thank you! Great video again. Question, if I have a horizontal air handler draining into a pump, do I need a p-trap?
Here in Florida the majority of houses are built on slab foundations with the line set and condensate line running under the slab in 3 or 4 inch pvc. The exit point for the condensate line is outside the house and rises up 8 to 10 inches above ground level. This creates a natural "P" trap as the under slab vs the exit point in total is about 15 inches, trapping the water in the line. Therefore no "P" trap is necessary. Depending on your construction it may or may not be necessary to add a "P" trap.
The air escaping in your math scenario is 15.8 cfm, not 4 cfm. You forgot radius squared. Not sure why it’s acceptable to allow a loss of 15 cfm from any positive system. This would be the same as having a one inch hole in your ductwork. This makes a compelling reason to have a trap on a positive pressure system, to prevent air escaping. Nice job demonstrating the physics.
And also, many local plumbing codes require a trap in any installation.
Why? They tell me it’s because they didn’t want all that air escaping! To your point sir.
Thanks
I put a trap on my gas hvac with an ac onto. I clean it when I check the water softener salt level.
The first 95% furnace that I installed constantly quick cycled and I found out the the condensate plug had to be opened so the water could drain off (Yeah I finally read the manufactures instructions) I added a p-trap with a clean-out tee and it worked fine at after that.
Thanks for the video =)
Good video. At 6:03, what is that small white colour tin with red colour cap?
Thanks.
Craig, Thank you. Also please make a video about piston sizes. Can the piston used for r22 be used for r410a? I always install the TXV when I do only condenser change out. But I always wondering what is gonna happening if I will leave the piston without touching anything on the air handler side.
Very good 🥇
Thanks!
Great video, should I add bleach water every so often to p-trap to help stop blockage issues. Thanks in advance
Thanks
The CFM result should be double. You forgot to multiply by 2 when calculating Area.
Also considering ~8CFM coming out of the PVC pipe i would recommend adding a trap even on positive pressure system. The air will cause restriction for condensate...
Thank you for the video. Great info as always.
What? The air does not restrict the flow of condensate at all when trap is on supply side of the fan. If anything it helps to push it out. Only time the air will restrict the flow of condensate is on a draw through system. Either way I install traps on both types
Can you please clarify when to use a P trap vs. when to use a U trap on a residential air handler. Thank you.
Great guy
I have a whole house dehumidifier and I piped the drain to a condensate pump; pipe just off the bottom. My hvac buddy added a trap when we were troubleshooting an unrelated problem. From your video, it sounds like I should remove the trap. Yes/no? Thanks
I just had a new Goodman installed and when I asked them why they didn't use a P-trap they said it didn't need it because the condensate line comes out of the bottom. I knew that wasn't right but I did read in the manual that if you have a shut off installed then you don't need a P-trap necessarily but I'm not sure if that's a good idea. Meanwhile these guys who installed it seem like they don't know what they're doing because they didn't mention that all they said is because the PVC pipe comes off the bottom of the air handler you don't need a P-trap meanwhile even though the pan is draining there is a small leak where are the threads attached to the pan. To show you what kind of workers they are in order to try and fix the leak they hit the PVC pipe with a hammer to break it off then they replaced it but didn't use any plumbers tape so it's still leaking a tiny bit. Maybe it wouldn't be leaking if they had a P-trap even though it's not really backing up in the pan much at all. I can't trust these guys that's for sure. I also have a little bit of water dripping off the coil and not going into the pan. I mentioned that and of course they're playing dumb. Not sure what I'm going to do about that
Great Video. In some positive pressure situations, a trap may still be needed. There's a youtube video out there where they use a clear evaporator chamber where the positive pressure is high enough to cause the air flow escaping from the drain to actually push the water away from the drain hole preventing it from draining until the system shuts off. It's similar to what happens with negative pressure but there's positive air flow pushing through the drainpipe. A trap in that case will prevent that. It will also prevent the loss of conditioned air escaping. However, in the case of the overflow, when it is drained outside the house, air will always be able to escape the system. A trap on that line won't help because it won't fill with water until the main drain clogs. Not a problem if you use an overflow switch. Forum threads on these p-trap topics go on and on and never seem to resolve to a solution for all cases.
How do you configure the trap to allow access to/replacement of the air airhandler filter?
Does the condensation still drains while using a dry trap ?
Also, should a overflow shutoff switch be installed as well ?
U trap is awesome
With a positive pressure system many homes have line going into drain -vent stack so you need trap to keep out sewer gas right?
Nice knowledge I’m having problem with apartment the water just sit in the drain pipe but want drain . But the drain lines running in from the same drain pipe ???? Help please
Does the air flow meter work well on wall vents?
With the second example shown (positive pressure system) I noticed the shut off valve is slightly higher than the drain vent. From the little bit of research I've done people stated that it's faulty and did not work as it should. That in order for the valve to be triggered it needs to sit slightly below the drain vent. Is this true?
My Furnace & A coil didn't have a trap on it for 10 years when I moved in this old house. I seen a video online and it showed the water trapped in the pan because of no trap. I looked at my unit. It had no trap. I looked while the unit was running and the condensate was pooled because of negative air flow. It looked just like this video at 3:08 min. I put a U-trap on it a few yeas ago. The u stays full of water now. When I pull the cap, I noticed positive air flow. Why would it have negative one time and positive later on? I went to HVAC school, but I don't use that knowledge except for my personal house.
All make sense
Do you recommend a trap on a front draw air handler?
Is it required for both upflow downflow and fan coil? Post and prefan
Great video as always. For any newbies, don’t put trap there air you won’t get your filter out 😉
You can do it so long as you don't glue the first drop 90
Add unions if you have to.
Yeah some clients want to change their own filter. Just as easy to run horizontal till I reach the side and put the trap there.. makes it easier on them for changing the filter
Any help is appreciated. Air blows out from my condensate line. It doesn't have a trap right now, do I need to install one to make it more efficient?
What is your opinion on drain hoses being used instead of pvc. Here in minnesota i see them everywhere. Im not sure if this is an acceptable alternantive or if not, why not?
It is okay to have a upflow furnace with the coil on bottom, or a downflow furnace with a coil on top?
What about a positive air flow drain without a vent? They seem to cavitate and splash the water from the pan, inside the blower..
Do you need vent pipe on a Airhandler?
Question - we have a gas furnace & A//C system and the unit in your video is right on top of the American standard freedom 80vs (the air filter is at the bottom of that for reference) anyway it's all in a 2ft Wx 9.5ft H closet that's in our laundry room... yeah it's all weird idk. The pvc lines coming out of the unit your talking about in this video don't have those black rubber seals or anything sealing the open area around where they enter or exit the unit. Cold air just blows right out them into the closet. Is that ok? Should we have them patched around? Trying to figure out where any and all air leaks can be sealed. Thanks 😊
I’m having a problem with air handling systems that are inside the ceiling at a gym, I’m getting water leaking from the bottom of the units, could this be due to the drain traps being full of air and not not trapped with water?
Awesome c
are supposed to pipe it that way on a handler ? feel like they wouldn’t be able to change the filter themselves ?
My drain line was plugged up and overflowed into the secondary pan, but I don't understand why the float switch which is attached next to coil drain didn't tell the system to stop? I pulled the float switch out and verified it does shut off the outside unit when moved, but don't know why it wouldn't shut off the unit before it started overflowing into the secondary pan. I have no P trap.
I have a machine similar to,the second one you show……it leaks condensate water under the two exit ports….they don’t have a crack, what is going on?
Any issues placing the trap outside if the drain line is properly pitched ?
What would be the effect of using a larger value capacitor on the air-handler blower? The value should be 5.0 uF (original capacitor, but someone replaced it with a 7.5 uF capacitor (both 370 VAC).
If the trap was empty and the unit was not draining while running, would it then fill up the trap when it shuts off? Assuming that it was not on long enough to overflow the pan.
So let me know if I have this right... The reason the unit on the left (Furnace/AC) has positive pressure at the A-Coil, and the unit on the right (AC) has negative pressure at the A-Coil, is because in the Furnace/AC (left unit), the blower is below/before the A-Coil (often between the A-Coil and the filter/return duct) blowing toward the C-Coil, and on the AC (right unit), the blower is after/above the A-Coil, blowing AWAY from the A-Coil.
Is a trap as effective if its outside??
Do you have a link to the dry trap @3:48
I have a commercial AHU drain question. The drain pan inside the motor housing, when the unit is cooling, is constantly full/overflowing and water is not draining through the trap, but when you open the door to the motor housing water begins draining out of the trap. There’s clearly a vacuum effect happening because the door is hard to open. What could be done to fix this issue? The condensate overflows the pan inside and the water level is about as high as the bottom of the door and leaks out of the unit wherever it can, just not through the condensate trap like it should. Any help would be greatly appreciated
We just had furnace/air handler/AC units /Evaporator Coil (A coil) and outside unit replaced... as well as a new condensate pump. I went downstairs and noticed that the pvc that comes out of the furnace and drains to the condensate pump has a piece of open pvc on the top of it, and AIR IS BLOWING OUT OF IT. IS THIS NORMAL? Does this decrease the air flow coming out of the furnace and/or AC unit into the ducts?? SHOULD it be open? Shouldn't the pipe to the condensate pump be closed?
So should the U trap always have some water in it?...
Does not having a trap cause water to drip off of the a coil?
What does it mean if you pull the cap on the inlet side of trap and water starts flowing into trap then put cover back on and water flow stops .
Yes, I noticed the same thing on my gas furnace with A-coil above! The U-trap is full of water but I can’t tell if it’s flowing until I pull the inlet side cap off,
Where can I get that Dry-Trap?
I looked this up because I’ve been working in my attic, and since it’s transitioning into winter, it dawned on me that the water in my condensate P-trap will more than likely dry up since the AC is not being run. So I take it I should keep an eye on that in the winter and add water to it if I need to?
Been wondering the same thing. Can't find an answer anywhere. I have a Trane heat pump with positive condensate pressure.
I have a lennox cba-024 230-01. I'm going to be leaving for vacation and have not cleaned my condensate line for the 2 years since I had it. Should I wait until I get back before I attempt to clean it. I don't want to mess it up and cause a clog.....
Adding a trap to a positive system can cause drainage issues if you cap it.
If you cap it before the trap or after?
@@johnconnor7501 before the trap. After doesn't matter.
The problem is the air hits the water in the trap and has nowhere to escape so it turns back into the coil (the place of least resistance) not allowing condensation to drain properly due to turbulence.
The cap need to be off to allow the pressure to escape.
@Eyezayah ⬆️⬆️
@Eyezayah the water doesn't go back, the air does, it basically hits a wall. Think about it.
@Eyezayah I'm speaking from experience.
The airflow doesn't disappear or stop once it hits the water, it's like air hitting a damper (I guess that would have been a better analogy)
Hi Craig, I guess this video was just for Air Conditioning coil drains but what about a 95% condensing gas furnace. My basement goodman furnace has a couple 1/2 inch tubes exiting the furnace burner section and dumps into some kind of gray plastic box trap they send with their furnace's, then dumps into the open drain or condensate pump. Is that trap necessary? This is in addition to the 3/4 inch pvc drain line coming from the cased coil drain pan above.
Yes keep that trap!
Yes of course it's necessary. It's preventing exhaust gasses from flowing into your basement or wherever it's located.
I have air flow coming out (exiting) straight up from the condensate line. A coil on top of a furnace. Do I need to plug it off?
It appears that his is capped off on the system on the left at the end of the video at 9:54. That system appears to be a coil on top of a furnace.
At 3:49 there is a device... Couldnt quite make out what you called it.. my condensate line has no p trap. Its a verrical force air system. Its. A system installed in 2009. There really is no clearance to have a p trap.hvac Housing cover blocks the depth needed for a standard p trap.
What about a horizontal furnace and a-coil?
Same rules apply
This explains my wife referring to watter weight.
If you have an auto shut valve installed (like your system has) and your U-Trap clogs then the shut off valve will shut the system down before water overflows. You said it would overflow which sounds incorrect.