In a town with summers as hot as Rocky River, OH, anything out of the ordinary with your air conditioner needs to be carefully noted. That can include anything from odd noises to spikes in your bill, but should be dealt with quickly, since it usually signals a problem that can result in a breakdown if you’re not careful. Among the potential signs of trouble are sounds of dripping water or actual puddles forming around the base of the system. Initially, this may not be much cause for alarm—water drips from car air conditioners, after all, and that’s not usually a problem. In the home, however, it needs to be dealt with quickly by a professional service.
Why It’s a Problem
Water is created as a natural byproduct of the air conditioning process, since ambient moisture in the air will condense into liquid drops when you cool it. In and of itself, that’s not an issue, but since air conditioners usually involve electrical circuits and wires, the water can easily cause a short and turn a simple repair into a very expensive replacement.
The Causes
In order to prevent a short, air conditioners have drip pans and drip lines to catch the condensate and safely remove it from the system. If dripping water has become a problem,. it’s usually because the pan has sprung a leak or is misaligned, or there’s a clog in the drain somewhere. Sometimes it can be caused by other issues, such as ice forming on the coils as a result of a refrigerant leak. Some air conditioners have sensors that will automatically detect such problems and shut the system down. This is a benefit because it alerts you to the issue and can spare you an electrical short, though it still leaves you without air conditioning until the problem is fixed.
Call Westland Heating and Air to fix water leaks in your air conditioner.
