I Made My AC Condensate Drain Much More Functional

Рет қаралды 7,952

Skill Savvy DIY

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 58

@jimmyrebel2010 14 күн бұрын

Thumbs up for using trig to determine your pipe lengths😄 I'm going to replicate this setup

@jefftee448 5 күн бұрын

Yea, seriously....motivating me to brush up on all that math I self proclaimed to be so good at and put it to real world use!

@garytingler3222 8 ай бұрын

Good information Rus. My unit is over 20 years old and the installer did not put a trap in the system. He did a crappie job on the plumbing anyway. I do need to rework it. Thanks for the instructions !!!

@SkillSavvyDIY 8 ай бұрын

I could tell I had better air flow the second I turned my AC back on. Losing air out the drain pipe or worst yet sucking air in if it's a negative pressure system is not a good thing. Thanks for watching Gary! Just keep in mind that if you do add a trap, it will be more likely to clog up in time. That's why I did what I did with adding a water hose connection, cause I know I will need it, but my plans are to flush it out once a year while doing preventive maintenance on my AC unit.

@luis1250 4 ай бұрын

I've done hvac for 4 years and this is the most professional condensate drain I've seen

@SkillSavvyDIY 4 ай бұрын

Thank you! Most HVAC companies would not go to this extreme but since it is my own equipment, I wanted to make it user friendly. Thanks for watching, I appreciate it!

@Mike-us5wg 2 ай бұрын

I did something similar to mine but you took it to a whole 'nother level. I will be making the additions. Great idea.

@SkillSavvyDIY 2 ай бұрын

Excellent!

@gharv1313 8 ай бұрын

Another interesting DIY Rus, Awesome stuff , hope to see another installment real soon. Cheers brother 🍻

@SkillSavvyDIY 8 ай бұрын

Thanks Bat, I appreciate you checking the video out!

@jerrylockhart3069 3 ай бұрын

All brand new tools❤

@SkillSavvyDIY 3 ай бұрын

Yeah I had to buy a lot of tools when I started this channel back in February. I have owned so many tools over the years and have no idea where they all went. I suspect my two sons had something to do with their disappearance haha

@teryniafielder7230 8 ай бұрын

Well, I am glad you know about this stuff. It is a unique design, but it works!

@SkillSavvyDIY 8 ай бұрын

The biggest advantage to me, is I can feel the difference in the house by recovering the air I was losing to the outside, plus much easier and faster to clean out in the future.

@Mankitchenrecipes 8 ай бұрын

Looks like you put a lot of thought into that modification, Rus. And I'm certain it will/is working better than before!👍

@SkillSavvyDIY 8 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching Keven!

@jamilajefferson1100 7 ай бұрын

Love this!!!!! Having some drainage issues in my hvac no one can figure out. This is really helpful

@SkillSavvyDIY 7 ай бұрын

Glad it helped!

@darwinawardcommittee 5 ай бұрын

You, Sir, are a genius.

@cindel8486 5 ай бұрын

Prior to doing all this work, especially installing the safety shut off switch; are you shutting off just the AC unit from the thermostat itself OR are you shutting it off from the circuit breaker box? BTW: I am SO impressed by your trap set up!!!! And impressed with how much detail of work you are putting in to make sure the different degrees and slants are close to perfect and correctly set to make this system operational!!!! WOW!!! I am totally going to copy what you are doing here!!! Thank you SO much for creating this for DIY home owners such as myself to be able to learn. I used to be a surgical dental assistant for 12 years and now am a certified bike mechanic as well as full time ebike and gas bike commuter. I work on all my own bikes including my gasbike as well as for others and am a big time bike enthusiast so doing things like this is totally up my alley! I’m even encouraging and am getting everything together so that my husband and I can do the oil change on his truck. Thanks again SO much!

@SkillSavvyDIY 5 ай бұрын

My furnace is actually plugged into a receptacle on the wall beside the unit. I unplugged it to kill all the power to the furnace including the low voltage that goes through the thermostat. You're welcome and glad you found the video to be beneficial.

@frankmarullo228 8 ай бұрын

Another good video Rus. THANK you Frank from Montana.....

@SkillSavvyDIY 8 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching Frank, I appreciate it!

@michaelbaumgardner2530 8 ай бұрын

The manifold makes perfect sense,you don't see that often.

@SkillSavvyDIY 8 ай бұрын

Yeah works great, thanks checking the video out!

@DeadBrokeBBQ 8 ай бұрын

Heck ya!!! 100% bring your tools up here in July!! Wait till you see mine we did in the studio!!!! hahahaha Great video Rus!

@SkillSavvyDIY 8 ай бұрын

Thanks Jeff! I should have done this a long time ago. I could actually tell the difference when I walked inside!

@LouisS-cs7bh 2 ай бұрын

My primary condensate line connects to the drain line in the bathroom. I’m wondering if your water setup would work with this setup? Secondary pan/ line goes outside. Thanks for your videos!!

@SkillSavvyDIY 2 ай бұрын

I'm sure there is away to incorporate a water flush setup. Yeah, it's a common setup for the secondary line to go outside. When water comes out of that line, you know your primary is stopped up and the secondary is then your only line of defense from getting water into your house, attic or garage depending on where the inside unit is located.

@krb365 Ай бұрын

I thought you looked familiar! From crawfish boil to this? Subscribed! I would love if you link the parts to the quick disconnect and its pvc attachment.

@SkillSavvyDIY Ай бұрын

Welcome to my diy channel and thanks for subscribing. I purchased most everything from Lowes

@prahe86 6 ай бұрын

Thank you very much for this detailed video. We followed your instructions and it works like a charm 😊

@SkillSavvyDIY 6 ай бұрын

Glad it helped! Thanks for the feedback!

@treyabrown 2 ай бұрын

My garden hose quick connects don't seal. How are you sealing that hose connection when the garden hose is detached? With my quick disconnect this setup is effectively creating a vent before the p trap.

@SkillSavvyDIY 2 ай бұрын

The quick disconnect has a brass cap that seals the disconnect on my setup. I used a coupling that has a quick disconnect on one side and a female hose connector on the other side. The brass cap screws into the female hose connector and seals off because of the flat washer, and the disconnect has an o ring on it. The coupling pulls right off like any other quick disconnect when I need to flush the line.

@treyabrown 2 ай бұрын

@@SkillSavvyDIY thanks for the reply! I was able to find a brass plug for the quick connect.

@Trumpetmaster77 8 ай бұрын

Rus! great work again! You need to be an A/C instructor! That drawing in the beginning looked like a smoker! LOL JK, Now I know what I'm looking at when I see my unit! Thanks for sharing!

@SkillSavvyDIY 8 ай бұрын

You’re welcome Luis and lol at the smoker drawing haha! I can tell you run a BBQ channel

@WpC-i3v 2 ай бұрын

This video is a testament ti why a student should pay attention to the teachers of math classes…

@apeel2008 5 ай бұрын

I am going to build one of these myself. Thanks for the video! I do have a question regarding positive vs negative pressure systems. Mine is a combined HVAC/Furnace in the attic and I have been told that it is a positive pressure system. There is a small trap (not as deep as the one you show) at the exit of the Coil Exchanger and there is an uncapped vent / clean out pipe rising up next to exchanger and before the trap (ie. drain water passes out of the exchanger, past the uncapped vent into the trap out of the trap to the drain line which ends just like yours does, without a 4-6" rise on the outside). However, the vent next to the exchanger is left UNCAPPED and I can feel air passing out of it when the compressor is on. Should this be capped or left uncapped? When I install the type of p-trap you show here, there are caps on both pipes leading up from the trap. Should both be capped? or both be uncapped during normal operation. Or should the one closest to the exchanger be uncapped and the other one capped, or vis-versa? Hope my equation is clear! Clearly I am a NOOB but I believe I can do what you are showing in your video. Just not sure if your system was a Positive or Negative pressure system and which caps to use when it is a Positive pressure system like mine? Update to my question: At the very end of the video you mentioned your setup was also a furnace, so I am thinking it is also a POSITIVE pressure system like mine. In which case I should cap or turn-off the valve going into the 1st vent of the trap and uncap (ie. open the valve) after the trap. Is that correct?

@SkillSavvyDIY 5 ай бұрын

The vent for the drain line should be just past the trap heading downstream and the clean out should be just ahead of the trap or I should say between the unit and the trap. If the shallow trap you have is holding water then you should not be feeling air coming out of the vent, but you would feel air coming out of the clean out if the cap is off. You need to only remove the cap from the clean out while actually using it to clear a clog in the line then put the cap back on. The vent line always stays open since the water in the trap will prevent air from blowing through plus it can’t drain properly if it’s not open. Similar to drains in your home. They have to have vents. I personally don’t care for those type of traps but if it’s holding water then it’s doing its job. Hope this helps

@apeel2008 5 ай бұрын

@@SkillSavvyDIY VERY HELPFUL. Now I understand. Thank you!

@kirkmeeks8397 4 ай бұрын

I had to rework my drain line as well. Are you supposed to insulate the tubing on the Rectorseal "P" trap? I have not and I am getting a lot of condensate at the bottom of the "P" trap.

@SkillSavvyDIY 4 ай бұрын

If your condensate drain is in the attic then you will definitely want to insulate the drain line up to and a little past the p trap. I didn't insulate mine because it's in my garage, but insulating tightly will prevent the condensation.

@kirkmeeks8397 3 ай бұрын

@@SkillSavvyDIY Yes, mine is in the attic. I was not sure because if there was a plug in the "P" trap tubing I would not be able to see it. Thank you.

@kiethlowry2862 2 ай бұрын

I never seen an air handler with a pee trap here in Florida is the pee trap a code requirement?

@SkillSavvyDIY 2 ай бұрын

Yes it is a code requirement in Florida and most everywhere for the AC condensate drain to be trapped for the reasons I mentioned in this video. There are a couple of traps such as P trap, U trap and commonly used is a bend trap.

@TexasEngineer Ай бұрын

It is not “code” requirement. It is an equipment requirement. Evaporators that create a vacuum at the drain will not drain properly with an inrush of air. The internal pan will fill and overflow and cause a mess. Units with positive pressure can just vent air to the outside and no one cares if you pay to air condition the world. A general rule is gas heaters are placed before the condenser and have positive pressure evaporators. And heat pumps and electric heat are negative pressure. You don’t want your heating equipment having cold moist air blowing over it, they rust. It can be a code requirement if you are draining to a sewer pipe to prevent sewer gas from entering the air handler.