# PLEASE HELP! AC drain pipe caused flood



## slpstang02 (Sep 7, 2009)

Ok here is the deal. 

My AC handler has a SafetT Switch incase of clogged drain.

Well i noticed my AC was continuously shutting off after about 10 minutes of running and house was hot. I pulled the top part out where you can insert bleach. As soon as i pulled it out water flowed up and over and then bounced up and down at the rim. I read numerous posts about using a wet vac inside and out.

So i grabbed the wet vac and sucked alot of water out of both inside and out. Looked in no water. Turned AC back on. Worked for about 2 days. CLogged again so i tried vac again. No luck. 

Well i had to due something to keep air running here in florida with wife and kids home. So i pulled out Safe T switch and installed a pvc pipe with an elbow and down spout and scrwed it in. It allowed the water to dump out the secondary drain where the safet switch was. I had to open the panel to allowe air in so it would not creat a suction and keep the water in. It does the job of allowing air to run and fills a bucket quick.

Now down to the real drama. My house is a two story. Air handler is on second floor. I read somewhere someone had said to attach a garden hose and flush the line out. So i installed a shut off valve on the drainage pipe so water and air could not go back into the drain pipe. It also allowed a tight seal.

I installed a screw on cap to attach to the hose and connected it to a piece of pvc pipe and put it into the downspout where you would put bleach.

Wife turned on hose for about 8 seconds. I felt alot of resistance and then i heard water flowing out of the downstairs bathroom air vent/ water was shut off and i had a huge mess to clean.

After using a circular saw and sawzaw cutting the floor boards up on the second floor i located the draininge pipe. eventually i located the leak. The leak was at the first elbow piece coming from the down spout directly under the air intake hose thing. The water pressure caused the elbow piece to seperate from the drain pipe. it appeared at first that the installer did not glue them together. but after looking further it looked like there was glue inside the pipe. could the water pressure casue the pipe to break away the cement?

secondary why would my pipes be so clogged that water pressure from a hose could not clear the pipe and cause the joint to burst?

PLEASE HELP! What do i do? I tried blowing into the pipe but i get some much resistance the air shoots back out at me.

please please please help me.

thank you.


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## woodchuck (Sep 7, 2009)

I recently had the same problem. I could blow through mine from outside and I had to do it three times before it finally started draining. I think the crud just settled back down and stopped it up again. 

Maybe put the shop vac on the drain where it drips outside and it will eventually suck the clog out without the mess of blowing into it.


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## kok328 (Sep 7, 2009)

Water pressure should not blow apart a properly attached joint.
You might be dealing with some type of insect nest that is blockin the flow.
Try feeding a fish tape from each end of the drain to clear the clog.


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## handyguys (Sep 8, 2009)

Also - not sure of exactly what's going on. Just an observation, that valve in the picture is closed.


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## glennjanie (Sep 8, 2009)

Hello SLPStang:
I vote for KOK's remedy; snake the pipe out and put a 'running trap' on the lower end to keep the insects from getting into the pipe. The trap will drown them and the condensate will wash them out as the come along, being that near the end of the pipe.
Glenn


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