Furnace Condensate Drain
Make sure that your condensate piping is configured properly.
Furnace condensate drain. Can a condensate line coming off of the furnace to the floor drain have it s vent pipe covered with duct tape on the top. The vcma 15uls has 1 2 gal. The condensate trap is absolutely mandatory for a high efficiency gas furnace. When you see water puddling around the furnace with the a c running you have a clogged condensate drain tube.
If this drain is plugged the unit may not close the pressure switch. Codes installation leaks clogs connections troubleshooting repair. I removed the duct tape. A c condensate drains pumps.
You can prevent slime and eliminate drain tube clogs in two easy steps. First remove the drain tube and fitting. Drain the furnace condensate into the sewer line instead of pumping it outside the house. Then there s the obvious answer.
I have been trying to get an answer from the furnace company as to why this was done. So far i only get the run around and no answer. Since the drain taps into the exhaust system leaving it open to the air would allow for a potential exhaust flue gas leak in the living space which is a big no no. This is what a service tech did to the vent.
Additionally the inducer motor would suck air through the drain if it weren t trapped which could. In north carolina code officials responded to last winter s troubles by amending the building code to allow just that. Furnace condensate lines in the state can now be routed into the home s sanitary drain. Condensate switches imc 307 2 3 states that all hvac equipment that produces condensate must have either a secondary drain line or a condensate overflow switch a secondary drain pan with a secondary drain line or condensate switch or some combination of these installations should be used to prevent overflow if the primary drain line blocks.
Furnace tip for professional hvac contractors. Condensation from air conditioning coils contains bacteria that can form slime and clog the condensate pan drain tube. This short how to video will show you the import. Little giant vcma series is ideal for collecting detecting and the automatic removal of condensate from air conditioning equipment de humidifiers high efficiency furnaces condensing boilers and other equipment where an automatic drain pump is required.