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A/C condensate tube blowing cold air - DarrellC - 06-17-2017
Just noticed that the condensate tube is blowing out cold air. the pvc pipe comes out of the unit and goes down to a pump. as it comes out of the unit, there is a 3" tube going up. vent I assume. there is cold air blowing out of this tube. There is also another fitting of some sort above it that has cold air coming out around it. Is this normal? seems like a lot of wasted air going out into the basement.
RE: A/C condensate tube blowing cold air - Robert Adams - 06-17-2017
They didnt put a trap in the line. As in a trap and vent just like any other plumbing.
I do not have a trap on ours. Ours is an upflow in the middle of the house and the drain pipe coming up from under the house has a trap in it. The drain pipe from the unit just runs over and 90s down into the stand pipe. The reason i dont have a trap is that i dont want a mess when the trap gets plugged up with green slime. And being in the house and in a sealed room the little leak of air isnt an issue.
Allot of units here are in the attic and the drains will plug up with green slime pretty fast. The best thing on those is to upsize the drain pipe to 1" pipe as that puts off the plugging allot further in time.
RE: A/C condensate tube blowing cold air - daddo - 06-17-2017
The proper way on a positive air system is; Open Tee, trap, closed Tee (if applicable) and clear exit.
For a negative air system; Capped tee, trap, open tee, then clear exit.
Here, you must have a drain cutoff switch and a way to blow the drain. Some cities require a way to apply drain tablets or a type of drain treatment.
You can cap the open tee if you drill at least a 3/8" hole in the cap to allow venting on smaller systems, but this really won't save you much.
RE: A/C condensate tube blowing cold air - blackhat - 06-17-2017
If it's inside the thermal envelope of the house it's not exactly wasted either.
RE: A/C condensate tube blowing cold air - daddo - 06-18-2017
And if it's a furnace in a closet, it provides good combustion air.
RE: A/C condensate tube blowing cold air - vernonator - 06-19-2017
(06-17-2017, 11:36 PM)blackhat Wrote: If it's inside the thermal envelope of the house it's not exactly wasted either.
Yeah that's what my builder said about all the duct leaks I had in the basement. Its wasted because its not going where I want it to go....