AC Leaking Water — Why It Happens and What To Do First

Water around the indoor unit, or a stain spreading on the ceiling below it — almost always a drain problem, not a refrigerant one.

Act now

Treat this as urgent. The air conditioning repair is usually small; the drywall, insulation and flooring repair that follows an ignored attic leak routinely costs more than the HVAC work.

(561) 814-1600 Condensate Drain Clearing & Repair

A Florida air conditioner pulls a startling amount of water out of the air — gallons a day in summer — and all of it is supposed to leave through a condensate drain. When you see water where it should not be, the drain has stopped doing its job. Refrigerant leaks do not produce puddles; that is worth knowing, because the two get confused and they are very different repairs.

The first thing to do is turn the system off at the thermostat. That stops the coil producing more condensate while the water has nowhere to go, which stops the leak getting worse. Then, if you can reach it safely, look at the drain pan under the indoor unit. If it is full, the drain line is blocked. If the pan itself is rusted through or cracked, the pan is the fault.

There is a second reason this matters more than it looks. Most Florida air handlers sit in an attic, directly above a finished ceiling. There is supposed to be a float switch that cuts the system off before the pan overflows — and one of the most common things we find is that a previous visit bypassed it, because a switch that keeps shutting the system down is inconvenient. That bypass is why a blocked drain turns into a ceiling repair.

Describe what it's doing

Tell us the symptom and we'll tell you what it usually is.

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Before you call anyone

Check these first — they cost nothing

Turn the system off at the thermostat — this is the one action that stops it getting worse
Look for standing water in the drain pan under the indoor unit, if it is safely reachable
Check whether the secondary drain line outside is dripping — it is an alarm, not normal drainage
Check the air filter; a filter so clogged the coil freezes will drip heavily once it thaws
Move anything valuable out from under an attic or closet air handler
Do not pour bleach into the drain line — it damages some pans and components

An A-frame evaporator coil with condensation running into the drain pan

If the checks above do not resolve it, the causes below need instruments — pressures, temperature split and static pressure — rather than guesswork.

What it usually turns out to be

A blocked condensate drain line

By far the most common. Warm, damp, dark and narrow is ideal for biological growth, and eventually the line closes up entirely. Clearing it is quick; keeping it clear is the actual service.

A bypassed or failed float switch

The safety that should have shut the system down before the pan overflowed. When we find one wired out, that is the reason the leak reached the ceiling.

A rusted or cracked drain pan

Pans do not last forever, particularly secondary pans in attics. Once one is holed, clearing the drain will not stop the leak.

A frozen coil that has thawed

Ice on the coil melts faster than the pan and drain can carry it away, so it overflows. The leak is the symptom; the freeze is the fault, and that is airflow or charge.

A disconnected or badly pitched drain line

A line that has come apart in the attic, or one that was never pitched properly and holds water. Common after other work has been done nearby.

A shared riser blockage, in condos and high-rises

The blockage may not be in your unit at all. Knowing that before spending an hour on your own drain is the difference between a fix and a repeat visit.

Condensate Drain Clearing & Repair (561) 814-1600

AC Leaking Water — common questions

Can I clear the drain myself with a shop vacuum?

Sometimes, from the outdoor end, and it is a reasonable thing to try. What that will not do is tell you why it blocked, check the pan for corrosion, or confirm the float switch actually works — which are the parts that stop it happening again.

My ceiling already has a stain. What now?

Turn the system off, and get the leak stopped before the ceiling is repaired — a repaired ceiling under an unfixed drain is money spent twice. It is also worth photographing the damage before anything is touched, in case it becomes an insurance matter.

Why does it only leak sometimes?

A partially blocked line keeps up in mild weather and cannot keep up on a humid afternoon when the system is producing far more condensate. Intermittent leaks are not a reason to wait; they are the early part of the same failure.

Want someone to just look at it?

Open 24 hours, 7 days a week. Someone answers the phone at 3 AM. Not a machine.

(561) 814-1600