I have lived here in Oak Hollow Park for 20 years. My HVAC system is the original, so that makes it over 40 years old. A few contractors have come and gone, warning me that my HVAC system too old to last much longer. But with some upkeep and a few bandages, it keeps cooling our home. I share this new experience and hope my neighbors might benefit from my story.
The 40 year old condenser has a coupler missing ( they no longer sell this coupler), so we jump the wires past that missing part, and a few times, during consecutive hot summer days, the wiring overheats. We have replaced the wiring a few times and then condenser keeps running.
My biggest concern is the 40 year old drain lines. The main drain line in the attic empties outside next to the condenser, and when the main line gets clogged up, the secondary drain line drips into the pan, then the continues to drip by my front door.
When we see water by the front door, we know the main drain is clogged up. When that happens, I call my favorite “handyman, Roger, to bring his compressor and blow out debris from the main drain. After the main drain is cleared, within about an hour, all the water in the (attic) pan empties through the secondary drain, and the main drain drips like it is supposed to when the AC is running and the secondary drain quits dripping.
But recently, things did not go according to plan. The secondary drain did not stop dripping after an hour. In fact, four days after the main drain cleaning, both drains were dripping plenty. My handyman referred his friend, a “certified AC tech,” to come over and take a look at my problem.
This was a great referral. The AC guy opened the metal HVAC covers in the attic and found a small place where the two drains connect and used his nitrous oxide to blow out the debris. My AC is working great again, and the only dripping is through the main drain.
I was very happy as the Tech only charged me $40 for everything. Thank you AC tech, Ruben Zambrano.
I have learned even though I climb into the attic every month and pour hot water and vinegar into the main drain, “the old main AC line, still gets clogged up occasionally”.
