Float Switch Failed in Drain Pan Water Damage

[@86AW11]

My pan has a drain that exits to outside the house. If this guy had one it may have prevented all that water damage

[@powersb]

This is why I wouldn’t ever want a house with furnace and/or an AC above a ceiling. Mine just drains into a floor drain

[@myHVAClife]

S$#T happens sometimes. We have had it happen a few times. If it is one of our installs, we cover the repairs for the homeowner. It is the right thing to do. We also in an attic, especially on an up flow, always use the secondary drain port on the coil to run an overflow line directly to the emergency pan so that when the primary clogs the water goes from the primary pan straight to the emergency pan and not down through the furnace to cause equipment damage or to be sucked in to the blower. The water usually puddles in the bottom of the blower housing. I see so many people that do not use that for what it is there for. No reason to risk flooding the equipment if it can be prevented. Just my opinion.

[@joeshearer1247]

I quit using those float switches they let the water get real high before cuttting off and It looks like it wasn’t fully seated down and not in the lowest spot

[@sknight0391]

Choir boy approved. 💦💦💦 Jon loves moist videos like this one. 😎👍

[@bizzfo]

I never did understand HVAC units being put in the attic.

[@Eddy63]

We didn't get to see what happened to the old float switch ... Oh well ... Thx for posting

[@billc4993]

What happened to the post-mortem? Inquiring minds want to know.

[@davidtedore3706]

I've had installer over years forget to remove the knock out on the evap. coil before installing the pvc but I also don't like the fact that the aux pan did not have a secondary drain line I know you had a float switch installed but you see what happens when they fail.

[@2packs4sure]

I've never started using those encased fancy float switches. I used the white Beckett with arm, float, and microswitch til the bitter end (1988-2016) and they never got stuck,, they just worked,,,, cheap and they worked....

[@cypeman8037]

Why not drain the pan straight to the outside? I know people will say the float switch should turn of the machinery, but it didn't. I would install a small container in the tray with the float attached, if you must have one, monitoring the small container. If the float failed the small container would overflow and go down the drain installed in the larger tray to the outside.

[@peterhodgkins6985]

Hey - We didn't get to see the autopsy on the failed switch! ;)

[@search_eternal]

IMO, it's best to have 2 switches on a attic system. One in the over flow pan and one on the secondary drain. Even better have a wet switch in the pan also.

[@ThierryC2373]

That's the reason why I refused to install my unit in the attic last time I changed it in Florida... in the garage it goes. There is no logical reason to place these units in the attic anyway, the air is way too hot, it is difficult to access and to maintain and so on.

[@billkunert7281]

This is a general comment. I've seen several times when you were ohming a high resistance circuit and you were touching both leads with your hands. This will put the resistance of your body in parallel with the resistance you are measuring and give a lower than true reading. This was from several years ago as I had not seen any of your recent posts. Not try to butt in but I've had 45 years electronic experience with the USAF and as a Xerox tech rep. Really enjoy your videos and have learned quite a bit from them.

[@devnull7550]

It probably doesn't matter for most HVAC-related resistance measurements. A person's hand-to-hand resistance can be a few kilohms to a few megohms depending on the person and how wet or sweaty they are. A kilohm in parallel with a 20-ohm contactor coil, for example, would cause less than half an ohm of measurement error.

[@JimN_AustinTx]

99% of the time if your ohming something out it’s looking for outright shorts or opens. The few times you’d measuring low resistance like coil resistance your body in parallel with something under 10 ohms will only add noise to your measurement. A Don’t care. Yes for absolute numbers it makes a difference.

[@sadams135]

ive been using this method of clearing drain pans for a couple years thanks to your videos and i just have to say, thank you!

[@charlesharris4021]

I was really hoping to see what was inside of the flow switch keeping it from working.

[@alanbennett133]

We stopped using those after several wet ceilings. Those and those bulldog ones. High fail rate. Went back to the cheap ones.

[@jadney]

Is it possible that forcing the float switch down on that thick lip deformed the plastic in some way that caused the float switch to stick?

[@martinmcquaide4807]

Sometimes builders (to save money) put very shallow crawl spaces, forcing attic installation. Got to lift the unit high enough to drain into a pump, and utilize wiring for high level cut-off. Also pan needs separate gravity drain so owner knows somethings up if he see water coming out.

[@sknight0391]

18:16 I'm glad that pan was the only thing with a big fat lip after all that water came down on the ceiling. Ted mighta ended up with a big fat lip. 🥊😎👍

[@TedCookHVAC]

LoL

[@jimoakley3436]

She a pumper mama !

[@MsJherrington]

My HVAC installed unit Float switch failed inside the Air Handler and flooded the floors. HVAC Company came out, cleared the lines and did no other modifications or backups, had to subrogate the claim with my homeowners in order to be made whole. 8 months later, the EXACT same issue, however, this time, they REFUSE to take accountability for the water damage and have DROPPED me as a client over a 2 year old unit that they installed brand new. I am investigating the best courses of action at this time.

[@devnull7550]

This illustrates well why a single float switch doesn't provide adequate condensate overflow protection. In my own home, I use SS 103E dual sensor electronic overflow switches. There's no mechanical float to get stuck, and it has two sensors. One sensor goes either in the drain line or at the evaporator drain pan's auxiliary port, and the other sensor goes in the drain pan under the furnace or air handler. If my furnace drain pan didn't have its own drain line, I'd probably install a conventional float switch in series with the SS 103E for protection against a failure of the SS 103E's electronics. I'd never trust a single layer of protection.

[@Boraxo]

If ya don't double pan, at least 2 switches.

[@JohnSmith-ug5ci]

Big insurance claim.

[@nomusicrc]

Last YOU DIDN'T TAKE THE SWITCH APART

[@Chevroldsmobuiac]

The original installers for my attic unit chose not to glue together the sections of PVC drain line. No problem until my son, who was about five at the time, saw fit to pack the drain output with mud when he saw water coming out of it. As the drain line filled up with water, one PVC section in the attic pulled loose, and soaked a significant amount of drywall on the second floor until we figured it out. In that case, the secondary drain pan didn't do us much good. Took a bit of detective work! 😄 Glued the lines together myself and replaced the drywall and no more problems for many years. We can laugh about it now.

[@WillPlaysGames1993]

sounds like the bearings in you vac needs greased i had a shop vac that sounded like that so i took it apart and greased the bearings to the point it sounded brand new but im use to tear things apart to fix them since i used to do it as a kid and still do it now that im 31

[@jgarmer]

gone are the days of the 40ft siphon hose to a bathroom sink

[@Garth2011]

Maybe two float switches would help in those cases. In watching the many HVAC channels, it sure seems that condensate drain pan plumbing gets clogged up OFTEN. Is that due to the junk and dust that forms in the pan then gets into the PVC and elbows or is that simply hard water minerals that are forming? I wouldn't think that condensate has any hard water mineral effects. Love that strong pump and the pickup device by Lav/Cook.

[@bladedspokes]

This is why you never, ever put an HVAC system in the attic.

[@skatesuter5396]

@ 3:33 there appears to be a small rectangle of something in the water under the switch that may have blocked the switch from functioning.

[@CharlesAnsman]

Sys. Iced up, then thawed, overflowing the pan ? Aux. pan should have been piped out also

[@sergioblanco4504]

I wonder why that AC let out all that water to begin with. Could it be low on refrigerant and caused the coil to ice up?

[@Mark.Watson]

Why was the pipe blocked? I see the insulation that came out, but that was probably in the pan.

[@Austin23191]

Look into the Diversitech WS-1 wet switch. It has worked out really well for us and trips after just a few drips of water.

[@robalexander7348]

Well Ted, lets hope that cures their water problem 🤔 Au

[@tonymartin9271]

Had that same float stick on me a couple weeks ago... water damage to the ceiling as well. I won't use them anymore

[@mcroley591]

It’s irresponsible for a contractor to not install a separate drain for the overflow pan. Relying on a pan switch is just crazy.

[@boeing757pilot]

Why aren't two switches installed for redundancy? Seems like cheap insurance...

[@joemcfarland3491]

I think that's why I like the SS-2 Float switch.

[@azcatfan3544]

Why isn’t it code to have a backup drain out of the pan if put in an attic? Would have saved thousands of dollars.

[@chesstime356]

Nice video man as always

[@anthonybuonagurio-gl9bg]

I would hold who ever put the overflow switch accountable for the damage. Never tested the switch. And an outsidec drain without a screen over the end to prevent anything from crawling into it and closing the line.

[@kyle_187]

Whats the name of that metal thing you put at the end of the tubing? Need to get one for my setup lol

[@gvnumber3200]

Curious if Mr. Cook pays for the damage,due to the failed float-switch…..or is he not responsible because the Homeowner didn’t maintain the Primary Drain Line?

[@TedCookHVAC]

Yes I will pay for the repairs.

[@tomshelnutt2256]

Quit using those switches a couple years ago because of so many failures. Plus there are better switches at half the price

[@montanadan2524]

So did you have to repair the damage as your equipment was at fault?

[@markcotter2355]

dang drain problems. I dislike that kind of problem. had one yesterday and it was the evaporator pan inside the air handler broken pan. Then a piece of debris got in the secondary drain pipe and it overfilled like that one.

[@Hvacnc]

What wet vac hose can I use ( have the Milwaukee pack out edition ) and the end is too big for the green adapter

[@w5cdt]

The entire condensate drain system is not engineered for reliability. They all stink. We should be able to do better.

[@gregpaterson330]

Could you set a camera outside at the drain and see on your phone if it’s flowing

[@AMDRADEONRUBY]

A furnace place is in the basement...

[@tacocin]

Been there. Not pretty. Did you find anything interesting in the old float switch?

[@zackmax7184]

As Steve Lav says, they .might have a Leaka Momma.

[@dadefope80]

"She's a leeka mamma, She's a leeka!"

[@MKOMKONNNN]

ole chliren with caulk palyin like ole times oh my make my heart heart run warm america style get out the marbles

[@sziltner]

So, was the float switch plugged?

[@KevinDexterBarnes]

Dude y were u playing with the gunk?

[@Look_What_You_Did]

0:17 Defaced flag on the lawn. "Sorry we are booked up. Call back in a week and we will see if we can get you on the schedule"

[@gerardomireles122]

Helicopter 🚁

[@gocubsgo5055]

Preventative Maintenance

[@kevincampbell7276]

Hey just letting you know that PVC glue you use is really good stuff just in a few seconds it's dry and in 1 minute it is solid as concrete you have good taste