Flushing an AC Drain Pipe Clog

[@A48L16S091366]

Pumping the drain pan out via the condensate drain line sure beats manhandling a wet vac full of water out of somebody's attic. I'm old but still learning new things. Thanks.

[@db4239]

Glad that attic wasn't too hot on a Friday early evening, thanks for sharing another great video.

[@johan2sr]

Your video saved me some money. I wasn’t sure why my furnace was leaking and after watching this, I was able to fix a clog. Greatly appreciate you sharing your knowledge and creating this video.

[@TedCookHVAC]

Excellent!

[@mikecyriacks7360]

I’m an installer in the pan handle here in Florida. Really enjoy the videos sir remind me a lot of my Boss appreciate the knowledge I receive from the both of you. Stay safe and keep these sweet vids coming!

[@THETIMINATORTHETOOLMAN]

That’s a great tool to have. It lets you connect to almost any vacuum My coworker likes how you can see the sludge coming through

[@kierstonvasser8032]

First off thanks for making these great educational videos I have been in this field for 6 years and these videos still help me out when I get stuck on a unit out in the field. I would love to work up under you for 2 weeks and to learn more from you you don't have to pay me any money I just want the knowledge LOL thanks for your videos and thanks for being so detailed they really do help some of us HVAC techs out.

[@YukonHawk1]

What a great collaboration with the three of you on the pump hose attachment. Love it.

[@AaronPowellvox]

I bought one of those water transfer pumps after seeing your videos. I love it. Thanks for making videos. It’s nice to see what other techs come up with.

[@chuckquinn8026]

Sweet new suction flange setup! 👍👍

[@ItsVUSTER]

What's up OG! Keep the work flowing old head. Appreciate the work over the years. We youngings love to see it.

[@briancencelewski55]

Awesome video Ted!!! I’m a Service Tech up here in South Bend Indiana and I have to tell you you have the best HVAC CHANNEL out there!!!!! Would love to come down there to South Carolina and join you for dinner and your favorite restaurant and hear some of your stories brother!!! Maybe someday!!!! Have a great day Ted!!!!

[@HVACingMyWay]

I love that little tool for the vacuum first time I saw you use it I immediately ordered one and it has paid for itself time and time again.

[@christopherbrooks3438]

What is that tool called?

[@dgc940]

Another thing I noticed is your secondary or emergency drain pans on some of your jobs have a float interrupt switch. We used to always have a pan with a drain and tried to exit it over something like a kitchen window so owner would see it dripping and know the coil pain drain was stopped.

[@TheFatesLieutenant]

Steve Lavimoniere, Anti DIY HVAC, HVAC Guy and HVACR Videos - across the country and all very interesting! Thanks for all you do (and I think it's great the interactions between the different KZbinrs!).

[@iFix43]

Great video…..never a dull moment as a hvac technician

[@rruizproductions]

I keep a 1/4 in replacement drain snake handy to clear out drains and they work very well. I use it manually and give it a few forceful shoves to clear out the debris. Great videos!

[@jeffreyjohn2037]

If you install a wye inline, you can insert the plastic tubing beyond the fitting, preventing a backflow into the pan. Thanks.

[@stevenlapham5254]

I'm gonna copy cat your pump intake... I never would have thought of adapting the flange!! Good thinking!!

[@howiewilliams7378]

I for one would love a video on how your pump attachment was made. I also would love to know where tou got the attachments for your drain vac sydtem. I have both tools.

[@OnusBones]

The vacuum attachment is called DIYVAC, and you'll find it on A..n.

[@gonojo]

Love your video! Can you tell us what parts you used to make that hose attachment tool?

[@williamd8886]

I am a senior citizen with two units in my attic. Climbing up and down the ladder is becoming a challenge for me and I prefer using a shop vac on the outside lines once per year. I live in AZ and I experienced a line stoppage on one of my units last summer. I paid a Contractor to service once per year, however, the tech did not flush the lines and I had to pay out of pocket to have the tech use a compressed hand held device to clear the lines. So, I will use the shop vac once a year from which I no longer have to be climbing ladders at my age. What are your recommendations?

[@brnmcc01]

That's my favorite method to clear a clogged drain, find the end of it and connect a vacuum. I don't have a MIlwaukee, just a 2.5 gallon ShopVac, works good but have to run an extension cord. Bit of a PITA but thankfully don't have to use very often. Air handlers in an attic I think would be better served by installing a condensate pump. I've found over the years they're very reliable. The problem is the long complex path the PVC takes from the attic way out to the condensing units. By using a condensate pump very close to the air handler, could connect both the coil drain, and the pan drain to it. And then use the wires on the condensate pump to interrupt the yellow wire, or in case of a 2 stage system could just interrupt the red (constant 24 volt) wire so then the homeowner would know something is wrong when the system shuts down completely or thermostat goes blank.

[@SheilaSpencer1]

Great video! I would agree with you that Steve has created a lot of cool tool mods!

[@donniebrassco2070]

Steve Lav is a flippin genius. Between you two great guys... young techs can learn so much. Thanks Ted.

[@georgen.8027]

You can make a vacuum bottle out of an old 2L coke bottle or a big-mouth gallon water bottle (better). Detach the drain line attachment from your vacuum and put it in bottle right to the bottom, then put the vacuum hose (or a smaller length of hose attached to it) into the bottle about 4 inches. Seal the top of the bottle with your hand and turn on the vacuum. All the drain line crap will flow into the clear bottle so you can see it.

[@harryl7946]

I think you do good work! My air handler is in the upstairs hall closet so no hot attic here!! 😊I feel for you durning those hot summers. 😢

[@donaldturner1360]

I do mine slightly different, I have the same Milwaukee vacuum and I use a old condensate pump I got from replacing on a service call. Once my drain is flush I connect my condensate pump to the drain line and plug it into power & vacuum the water out the pan once the vacuum is full I take the top of my condensate pump and put it in my vacuum, Sending all the water i recently vacuumed in the drain line to outside. Hopefully this helps some of my fellow techs

[@ionymous6733]

when you were emptying the tray with the milwaukee pump, most water was going out the drain pipe but the little coming out of the secondary was going back into the tray, so why not just let the pump keep going?

[@whiskeycast3785]

"This is a vent not a clean out" proceeds to use the event as a clean out 😂

[@vernonmason5592]

Why is there no float switch on the trap? Mine has a float switch on the trap and them one on the pan like on this video.

[@ThePerfectSeason1972]

Did an awesome job!

[@thetombaxter]

Why didn't the pan drain into the drain line as it was surely designed to do?

[@christopherort2889]

Cool video. They really need a better setup for that drain pan.

[@flyingjeff1984]

Ted, thanks for returning the call today. Most unexpected. What's your favorite charity?

[@Austin23191]

I've also used nu-brite to clear a drain. About half a liter followed by 1.5 gallons of water cleaned that drain really good

[@FrazierMtnCheese]

Thanks for the tips. Nice invention.

[@daviddaniel2198]

I’m going to buy a 100ft hose and hook it up to my shop vac while have one end in the drip pan and the other outside to the shop vac. I’ll suck it out that way

[@franciscoroman9927]

Hey really like your videos. I’m not a pro but I do not notice any primer before putting glue on the pvc drain lines

[@twobeerjohn]

How do we keep the sludge from building up? Thanks!

[@raymondlabarre7783]

What attachment goes with that diyvac to fit Milwaukee shop vac.? It doesn’t fit mine by itself

[@stevenjakowski5585]

I have a bigger shop vac that I'll hook up outside and leave on. I'll cut the drain inside loose and in about 1-2 minutes that secondary pan is clear. I'll hook everything back up then I'm through inside. I like the Milwaukee pump idea though.

[@hellraizer44]

Last time I shop vac my AC drain pipe I found 2 dead geckos. I assume they were the cause of the blockage. Since then I put a little wire mesh on the drain pipe and all around the house like gutters, dryer vent etc.

[@garyindiana2127]

Why not put the float in the secondary overflow, minute primary gets backed up system cuts and you don't have to worry about all that water. seen it done a bunch here in socal

[@Richard-qg7sz]

Steve, Michael and Tom = Geniuses.

[@tedsmith5058]

Hello from the great state of Michigan

[@carolynrowlett7713]

If you are getting rush from your pvc pics going down the side of your house. It is bugs coming in to my house what to do.

[@bettysue52]

I'm pretty old but I gotta do this today. Is there a name for the adapter to pipe you have or did you make that yourself?

[@Mark.Watson]

13:00 I wonder why they didn't run the overflow drain outside. Maybe due to air handler location?

[@josephmandes4764]

Where’d you get that vacuum attachment? Or did you make it yourself? New to the channel

[@TedCookHVAC]

It is on Amazon search for DIY vac attachment

[@JMHVAC502]

I would have just left the pump on. Worse thing that happens is it comes back out the secondary and back into the secondary pan... It would have eventually drained

[@John-dp3ln]

Nice job. Obvious that you care!

[@sku32956]

I just had a house AC that needed a capacitor and ,one pound of 410 on a 5 year old Goodman cost $529.00 is that cost high down south in your neck of the woods ?

[@TedCookHVAC]

Dispatch/diagnostic=105.00 Dual run cap = 125.00 1 pound 410a = 100.00 Total repair = 330.00

[@Theoldchum]

Make a clamp with needle nose vice grips and a couple of pieces of hose over the jaws and put it over the out flow hose to adjust down your pump volume.

[@mprrx]

So my question is, the emergency pan, if water, the water is going nowhere, therefore the shut off thingi shall shutoff and then proceed to drain manually with a vac?

[@CraigArndt]

Enjoy your videos.

[@sknight0391]

MONEY SHOT!!! 💦💦💦💦💦💦

[@sknight0391]

Give that man a circus peanut! 😎👍😎👍😎👍

[@AntonioGarcia-of2cc]

I have an in-ground drain would it still work

[@toolfanatic]

The cowboy 🤠 is back at it again, great innovation 💡, my hats off 👏 for you gentlemen.

[@db869]

“Stevie Wonder could have seen it” 🤣😂🤣😂 Would it have been helpful to cut the black drain line so it was above ground level, similar to the white PVC drain line? It seems like it would help keep bugs and dirt out of the end.

[@pauldavis62]

Good video and invention. However, you don't need magnets. The pans I've seen are aluminum, which in non-magnetic

[@CARLOSJUSINO-uq9pi]

Thank you for the video.

[@411sponge72]

Just curious what that gelatinous material is?

[@patriziaterry2257]

God bless you I'm an old lady on a fixed income you save me 200 dollars

[@kerrywitherspoon1257]

What. Model. Is millwakie pump. Looks impresive

[@paulravitsky2898]

Most likely 2771-xx. That's what model I have.

[@wackypocket]

my father carried a bottle of nitrogen and a rubber air nozzle with him for this, he would hook the vacuum up outside, and blast the inside with nitrogen to clear it. done in 10 minutes

[@bcarter1430]

What's that adapter on the vac you are using

[@D_A_M-091]

Look out for that ant

[@wlms04]

I wonder if instead of the coupling to go from the small clear tubing to the PVC vent, you could just shove the tubing down the drain towards where it drains outside so it would take a while for it to come back out the secondary. Not sure, just a thought. Steve Lavs attachment is great. Love the videos.

[@AaronPowellvox]

If you do that the water will come back up and you have to hold it.

[@harryl7946]

I think you are onto something here!!

[@dianeboswell3041]

What to do if thete is not aclen out line inside on ac.?

[@JFranzen3]

Easy service calls are best calls

[@scottmaz4063]

Great video get on home

[@jdretiree2433]

I wonder why the homeowner never put down some plywood or sheathing to walk on up to the air handler. Couldn't cost that much and keep from having to walk on the rafters and maybe slipping and going through the ceiling.

[@davewil3]

Should have taken a minute on the drain line for the second unit!

[@aaronbrown3573]

Cool channel

[@rossshipley4686]

Wished u would have lowered ur camera in order to see the pile setup

[@charlesharris4021]

Good Job

[@russelhancock5718]

I hope that You don't find any more Snakes in a unit.

[@caru3257]

I had to unclog a drain line on Thursday. Nitrogen 2, clogged lines 0.

[@JP-tu6fd]

Poor job You added a vent Why you havent elevated the drain pipe out side rather than its lies down on floor

[@rangepro]

Well Done! >>>>>>you are a credit to your company!!

[@OnusBones]

He OWNS the company! But yeah, and I like how he and Steve get along.

[@jameswalton3035]

I have a 2.5 ton trane air conditioning unit it won’t keep up with my 1400 square foot house it’s 2 years old unit

[@dgc940]

You know I agree with pretty much everything you think and do. Some commenters are going to just gripe and have a better answer dont sweat it. I didnt work today too hot and off mondays so watched some your videos. Man some of the old wore out units you help people with just to help them lots people would just walk away. funny the lady that helicoptered you on the start capacitor sure didnt hover over you on return trip and under house lol. I am a diyer! Installed all my HVAC and rewired whole house but no way I could do worse than the knob n tube that was in it lol again! But! worked for a AC company when a kid back in 80-84 doing rough ins and change outs. Also a 36 year marine mechanic too though.

[@squadman3376]

Easy money Mc Giver !! Steve Wonder could have seen that !!..HA HA.

[@abunchahooey]

Great video. Thanks, Stevie! 😂 😂

[@Eddy63]

Nice little invention ... Get a patent ... Thx for sharing ...

[@matthewhoffman9242]

Is there something that can be done by the home owner to treat and keep a clog from happening ? Like a bit of bleach down the drain pipe or something

[@AaronPowellvox]

They could add vinegar to the drain line and they could periodically hook a wet vac up to their line to pull the sludge out. I don’t recommend bleach because it is very corrosive.

[@thinkabout602]

that would do it

[@harryl7946]

We used to place algae tabs in the drain pan to keep the #%@^ down. It worked too!

[@kevinibanez2651]

Would you be willing to do a tutorial on how you set up that transfer pump set up?

[@aschiavello07]

Nice when you don't hit a snag I'm sure?

[@stephwaylonwells3218]

👍

[@johnwalker890]

Good job Ted.

[@williamserver4332]

Great video

[@edwardkuntush9339]

Nice job Ted hope you have a good weekend

[@RayRay-nb7tn]

Why not put a pvc ball valve on the secondary drain pan and run it outside or tie into the main drain just before it goes dn the wall and outside. Then when done close vavle, when pan fills up float shuts off and unit stops. Then when tech needs to empty secondary pan open vavle and let water drain out. I did this a few weeks ago on a customer and then tested it and it worked no problems at all. I vacuum out drain lines with a massive clog and and a cracked secondary pan. I have heard back from customer with no leaks and unit running like a charm.

[@Ozzie4Para]

So the customer has a drain pan under the air handler but doesn't have any piping for any water that does in to the pan. How dumb is that??????

[@adamcraig1568]

That pump is a game changer

[@Hvac-dude]

Hey Ted what are those things called that u attached to your transfer pump

[@jasontaylor9871]

Don't you love it when they take 10 minutes and $40 to put a platform in front of the air handler! And the overflow pan has a fitting on it! Why didn't they pipe it into the drain?

[@ishalljr]

Where can we purchase Steve's/ y'all invention? Or what are the part names?

[@rogerherrington5543]

My upstairs ac drain line runs into a upstairs vent line.is that ok?

[@providentpathfinders219]

Plastic ball valve in-line on the pump. cheap solution to flow control.