drain hole in window AC

[yycwrangler]

Hi everyone

Just working on installing my AC like flboy. frame is cut out and now I need to make sure the condensation doesn't run inside my trailer..Will run a tubing down to the floor and out of a small hole.

Problem is I can't find a hole in the ac where the condensation runs out..Any thoughts..have had it running for some time hoping to see some fluid but Alberta is somewhat of a dry province and no runoff yet
This my ac unit. http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/noma- ... 5232p.html

Thoughts

Cheers
Al

[Padilen]

If it's a newer unit, they don't have a drain. If it works like my portable and a slightly used window unit. It uses some of the condensation to cool. I believe it's a coil but not sure. If there is excess water, it slings outside with the hot air. I believe Don drilled a hole and modified his to drain. I'd PM him for details. I will read my thread as he sent me the details there, I don't remember if that part was included.
With the recall on my portable and posting with McDave and FLboy(Don) is how I learned what irritated me about a window unit. Sling sling sling noise bothered me.

Just looked through my thread I don't have it but I know it's been posted.

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[working on it]

• Some A/C units use up most, or all, of the condensation water produced by the cooling process, to cool the hot condenser for better performance. I use several different window A/C units at home, and some drip water in abundance, others do not. My two Frigidaire 15100 btu units practically gush water from the rear, my Frigidaire 10000 btu unit produces little excess (you can hear the water slinging inside the unit), and the LG 8000 btu unit uses up all the water, while self-cooling. My TTT uses a LG 5000 btu unit (LW5012J), that also uses all the condensate, and never has produced excess. I built a drain/drip pan in my galley,just in case it would have excess drainage, but hasn't needed it yet (I hadn't tested before I constructed the drain pan and hose, but it is also used in my exhaust duct system, anyway). I chose the trailers' A/C because I knew the LG wouldn't create a messy excess (my large Frigidaires do), so I chose it. Mine had a sealed pan under it, while its' sister model utilized a drain.

• 

  Drip pan and stand.png (612.54 KiB) Viewed 4010 times

  red=drain/drip pan; blue=drain hose to ground

• 

  drain pan variations.png (185.07 KiB) Viewed 4010 times

  practically identical, but one has no need for a drain hole
• There are many other models out there, some with drains and others without, but if your A/C is internally-mounted, like my trailer's unit, then a drainage system might be needed, in case of excessive water, beyond what the unit needs for self-cooling.

• 

  reason for no drain hole.PNG (66.14 KiB) Viewed 4010 times

  copied off the internet

[lrrowe]

My 5000 BTU does not have a drain hole and no condensation comes out of it.

[NO David!]

I drilled my drain pan since my entire unit sits inside the trailer. Hard to see in the picture but I mounted a cpvc 1/2" 90 degree flange fitting, capped one end, and put a 45 on the other so I could put the drain line out to exit the trailer through the partially opened door. Mine too was designed to evaporate the condensation, but I didn't want the excess water to slosh out when traveling, and I also didn't want the pinging noise going on all the time. Seems to cool just fine. I also have a short pipe/cap setup to plug it when I remove the drain pipe. One time I forgot to remove the plug, wondered what that pinging noise was, swapped plug for drain pipe, ran a river of water out then.





I drilled through the inside of the 90, exiting the flat between the ears, automotive gasket sealer, self tapping screws, mounted to the low point on the A/C drain pan in line with the hole I had already drilled, presto.

[lrrowe]

I drilled my drain pan since my entire unit sits inside the trailer. Hard to see in the picture but I mounted a cpvc 1/2" 90 degree flange fitting, capped one end, and put a 45 on the other so I could put the drain line out to exit the trailer through the partially opened door. Mine too was designed to evaporate the condensation, but I didn't want the excess water to slosh out when traveling, and I also didn't want the pinging noise going on all the time. Seems to cool just fine. I also have a short pipe/cap setup to plug it when I remove the drain pipe. One time I forgot to remove the plug, wondered what that pinging noise was, swapped plug for drain pipe, ran a river of water out then.





I drilled through the inside of the 90, exiting the flat between the ears, automotive gasket sealer, self tapping screws, mounted to the low point on the A/C drain pan in line with the hole I had already drilled, presto.

No David, your AC placement is very similar to mine. I have an aluminum catch pan under it and would add a tube should there ever be water in it. But to date, there has been none.

[Shadow Catcher]

Many are slingers, the fan hitting the condensate and blowing it out through the coil. I hate the sound so drilled a drain hole, be careful where you drill it however!

[Redneck Packrat]

We cool the house with window units, and two of them are on the north wall of the house. (No sun to speak of.) About 3 years ago I replaced all the ancient units with new Frigidaires, 8k in the front room where we have the computers and desks, 11k in the oversize bedroom...both of these in the north-facing wall.... and a huge one in the living room that cools the rest of the house.

First off, this cut about 30% off our electric bill the first full summer month with 'em. They're all slingers, though. I don't like the sound, sounds kinda like something fell into the fan. What I like even less is that, in our humidity, they start slinging water almost immediately after being turned on and splatter it everywhere like a shaggy dog coming out of a pool. This water gets all over the side of the house and started turning the area around the a/c green. Now, I like "different", but a furry house is NOT a good "different".

So I found a low spot and drilled 'em all with about a 1/4" hole. Be sure and use a cordless drill you don't like all that much because it's gonna get wet. Did not hurt the efficiency much, if at all. Over the last couple years, our electric usage has averaged that same 30% reduction, even after the drilling. And my house is staying the correct color now!

I have one more Frigidaire 8k that I'm going to mount in the trailer, it'll get drilled too. And I really like the flanged elbow solution to getting a drain line attached to it! I'd been constipating on how to do that ....Thanks for posting your solution, NO David!

[working on it]

We cool the house with window units, and two of them are on the north wall of the house. (No sun to speak of.) About 3 years ago I replaced all the ancient units with new Frigidaires, 8k in the front room where we have the computers and desks, 11k in the oversize bedroom...both of these in the north-facing wall.... and a huge one in the living room that cools the rest of the house.

First off, this cut about 30% off our electric bill the first full summer month with 'em. They're all slingers, though. I don't like the sound, sounds kinda like something fell into the fan. What I like even less is that, in our humidity, they start slinging water almost immediately after being turned on and splatter it everywhere like a shaggy dog coming out of a pool. This water gets all over the side of the house and started turning the area around the a/c green...

So I found a low spot and drilled 'em all with about a 1/4" hole. Be sure and use a cordless drill you don't like all that much because it's gonna get wet. Did not hurt the efficiency much, if at all. Over the last couple years, our electric usage has averaged that same 30% reduction, even after the drilling....

• As I've stated in various threads, I love my window units. When my house's central air/heat failed, years ago, I talked my wife into not replacing it, and we started using A/C window units, arranged in "zoned" areas, and electric space heaters, arranged the same way. We experimented for awhile, and found the right settings for our A/C units (8k, 10k, and two 15.1k BTU units) that cooled the house better than before, and for 1/3 the bill (our ducting leaked out both heated and cooled air, that's why we got such dramatic improvements in efficiency; I sealed off the old ducts).
• I admit, I am biased toward A/C window units, as I have always liked them for many (nostalgic) reasons. But, I did gain real efficiency in my home's HVAC situation, when I "zoned out", using separate units, all around the house. And, I agree that the Frigidaires do produce a lot of excess condensation, and overflow the drip pan underneath; our two 15.1 k btu units (in the central living areas) have put out so much water that they've stained/damaged the deck under them, but they've never had any moisture project into the house, nor do they make any pinging or water sounds. The 10k btu Frigidaire (in the master bedroom) does make a gurgling sound when shutting off, but not for long, and no moisture comes out into the room. On a side note: all the Frigidaires are set to run on a remote temperature sensor, and periodically blow cooled air into the rooms, in between compressor cycles; perhaps this excess water needs to be retained in the pan for this reason- cool water to produce the cooled air- (there are no drain holes/plugs on any of mine).
• If others don't wish for excess water drainage, nor for a pinging or gurgling water sound inside their A/C window units, then I would recommend a LG unit. Both the 8k unit in my wife's home office, and the 5k unit in my trailer, have no excess water (they seem to use it all up), and cool very well. IMHO

[flboy]

Like others have done, you can drill an put in a 1/4 hose to your pan. That is what I did. Just find where the condensation drains from the evaporator and drill there being sure to clear everything. Newer window units fling the condense onto the condenser coils to aid in cooling and have no drain.

Flinging water on the condenser coils is a great idea for dryer climates where it evaporates quickly and there is less condense to start with, but in Florida, it does not evaporate fast enough due to the humidity being higher which is a double strike. Most window units are hanging out windows with a slight tilt, so in that case, they just overflow and drain outside. I put the hole in the side of the pan with a 1/4 hose barbed type fitting.

I also hated the sound of the water being flung around... but that is just me.

[McDave]

Bunch o' Flinger Haters,...It's just so sad. Let's try a little exercise to expand our horizons, shall we? Yes, let's. OK...
Picture yourself in a calm, quiet, perfectly cooled room. Your thirst quenched by the sweet wetness of iced tea with a lemon twist. Bare feet raised gently as you lay back in your recliner and close your eyes. All the world's problems just run off of you, like water off a duck's *ss. A sweet smile of satisfaction takes over and relaxation comes like a wave over your entire body. That feels nice.. life is good, no, wait, Life is great. Suddenly, there is a "ping" in the distance, and then another, and another. Each ping taking you further and further into a blissful state of satisfaction, because you know that it means the systems are operating as designed and each drop of water that is slung is taking away the unwanted heat and saving you energy and money. Soon that "Pinging" sound becomes music to you ears, a gentle reminder that all is right with the world... Ahhhhh, Nirvana at last. Ping...Ping.. Feels better, Yes? What's that you say? Can't get no pinging, can't get no satisfaction.. Hmmm, something must be wrong. The system was designed to fling water and make a pinging noise, yet I can't get no ping.....The system is not working as designed! I am losing efficiency and money at an alarming rate! GOT TO GET THAT PING!
Sorry folk's, You can't get that ping, if you ain't got that fling. Doo wop, doo wop, doo wop.

just sayin'

McDave

[Redneck Packrat]

C'mon, dude, you might as well be on a whole nuther planet from us here on the Gulf coast! You are somewhere that the humidity only has two digits

The ping from the fling, to me, gives me visions of water being slung through the vents of the case and onto the wall, and possibly INTO the wall

It just ain't right to have a tray full of water suspended over a hole in your wall!

I get it, that it's offering evaporative cooling to the condenser. But just as with a swamp cooler, evaporative cooling just doesn't provide much absolute value when the humidity is >80%

And just walking by one of those flinger a/c's here on the coast will soak ya when it's running.

[flboy]

Bingo... and then the the pan overflows anyhow. If the annoying flinging and evaporating was doing its job here in the humid south, it would stay ahead of the game. It doesn't. Just the way it is. :-) No problem.. adapt and move on. The AC is working just fine with the drain. Cold air blowing... dripping out the bottom.

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