AboutJim Barnhart Expertise Fifty plus years working with Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation, Sheet Metal,Hot Water Heating.
Anything that conditions the inside air that we live in, Be it Heating, Cooling, Exhausting or Ventilating.
Limited- refrigeration, Current pricing, Steam Heat.
Experience Answer questions about , residential and commercial.
Answer questions about sheet metal fabrication.
Fifty years plus experience.
No answers for oil equipment, No answers for kitchen appliances, No answers for laundry appliances.
Expert: Jim Barnhart Date: 7/2/2008 Subject: AC drip pan and rusty water
Question Hi Jim,
I have an AC unit in my apartment wich had its main drainage system
abandoned and instead they fitted a metal pan beneath the unit where the
water drains and collects. A defective outside unit the one that releases hot
air, was causing alot of water to be collected on the pan, now the pan is full
of rust and mold, I had a person come and check it and he made a list wich I
gave to my landlord, he had the outside unit changed, but the pan wich is my
concern is still covered in rust and dirty orange water. Now I am no scientist
but wouldnt the ac unit sucking in water wich in turn evaporates over time
specially if its sitting there, suck also in rust, fungus, or mold particles with
the air? or is there no actual health risk involved. Ive read that fungus
travelling in the air can get into ur nasal passages over time and cause a
major infection without you knowing, should I pressure my landlord to have it
changed for this reason, it doesnt seem he will change it unless I find an
actual problem that it may be causing me since the AC unit is pumping out
cold air, but my fear is the fact that the pan is right below the ac not even 5
inches away from the radiator, and is constantly sucking in air that is
travelling over the surface of the dirty water in the pan.
Answer Jorge,
None of what you say is the way it should be.
Your saying "I have an AC unit in my apartment" but no description of the type of unit or where the "AC unit" is installed in your apartment?
This is the way it should be.
Your "AC unit" has a cooling coil, there is a drip pan built onto or connected to the cooling coil, this is the main drip pan, the cooling coil condensates and the condensation water runs down and drips into the drip pan, the main drip pan has two drain connections on the side of the very shallow drip pan, the lower drain connection is the main condensate drain, the main drain line is gravity and runs down hill to a convenient draining place inside the building, the drip pan and drain line should be positioned so that both drain completely and don't hold water.
The upper drain connection on the main drip pan is an over flow,
If the main drip pan or drain line becomes clogged then the water rises to the over flow drain, the over flow drain drains into the pan that is under the unit, the pan under the unit should have a drain line that drains to some place where you would see it draining/dripping as a signal that the main drain is stopped up and needs attention.
Under normal operating conditions the pan under the unit should be clean and dry.
