Considering its warm climate, AC maintenance on Maui has become a priority in many residents because this means that their AC has to work harder. Air conditioners do more than just cool your homes. They also remove moisture from your indoor air. As your cooling system collects warm, moist indoor air to replace it with cooler and drier air, moisture builds up in the condensate drip and then flows into a drain line tube. Eventually, this tube becomes clogged, and clogged drain tubes are a common problem that any air conditioning repair company in Maui attends to.
How Troublesome Clogs Form
Your air conditioner sucks everything in your air, including dust particles and bacteria. All of these nasty things collect into the condensate pan with water. Then this dirty water travels to the drain line where it deposits all the dirt. The AC drain line then becomes a haven for algae and mold. In time, all that gunk builds up and clogs the tube. To complicate matters, if the tip of the drain line is situated in a dusty place, dirt will eventually collect at the tip. Worse, bugs can nest in that inviting hole, too!
Inspecting a Clog
A clogged drain line may go undetected if you don’t do a routine inspection and AC maintenance on Maui or if your air conditioning system is old. Newer ACs have air handlers that stop working when the condensate pan is full, and more advanced units have features that directly notify you through text or email when the drip pan is too full. A cooling system that randomly stops working may be an annoyance, but you’re better off having this interruption than letting the drip pan overflow without you noticing until water damage becomes evident in your ceiling -- in which case, you’ll have to turn off your AC anyway.
Removing the Clog
Clearing the AC drain line of a clog may seem a simple job, but homeowners who have tried the DIY approach know the steep challenge. For starters, you need at least a vacuum cleaner and an air compressor. That’s easy. What makes the job difficult is the location of the air handler. If it’s in the attic, it means crawling into a small area. A lot of people can’t do this, and it’s one of the jobs that preoccupies HVAC technicians who do AC maintenance on Maui.
You may also clear the clog on your own if you know where the condensate pan is. It’s usually down the bottom of the air handler. Gently take the pan out. If it’s full of water, suction the water out using a wet vac. Then wash the pan using hot water and soap to eliminate the crud.
Your next task is to unclog the drain line. You can vacuum the line from the end of the pipe. Seal the end of the pipe and the end of the vacuum hose with a rag or a cloth; wrap the rag around the edges tightly. All you need is about six seconds of suction. That should be enough to remove the clog. You can also use an air compressor to force air into the pipe.
Once the clog is removed, pour about a gallon of white vinegar into the tube. The acid in vinegar kills mold and algae and dissolves stubborn dirt on the inner walls of the pipe.
Clogged drain lines are common in Maui and elsewhere in Hawaii. If you need air conditioning repair and AC maintenance on Maui, call Pacific Air Conditioner at 808-244-0161.