Air conditioning vent dripping water!

[MasterPlumbersKeymaster]

i recently walked into my laundry room and discovered water dripping through the Air conditioning vent in
the ceiling.. (yes dripping not condensation)..thinking it was a leaky toilet in the master bathroom directly above the laundryroom I called a plumber to check and change the seal. he did and 3 days later there I walked into a small puddle of water on the laundryroom floor and when I climbed the ladder there is a ring of significant moisture around the vent… I have a very bad feeling about this and plan to call the same plumber in the
morning.. I had just washed my hair, taken a long shower and cleaned the 2 toilets upstairs .. I waited a fe
minutes then flushed one by one and turned on individual taps/showers etc… and no leaking, but there is no mistaking that moisture around the vent.. I cant pull the vent off to see how much water damage there is.. any thoughts on what this could be or what questions to be sure to ask my plumber when he comes back to inspect the damage?

[SylvanLMPParticipant]

1-Check the ambient relative humidity. Laundry rooms are notorious for heavy concentrations of moisture build up especially without outside air vents to get rid of this build up of excessive humidity

2- Check your filters both on the AC units and the drier flue piping discharge.

3- Think about a dehumidifier in your basement/laundry room area

4- When was this flue pipe vacuumed out?

Now for a point of information RE: plumbers and “leaks

A lot of leaks can take days to locate the source even months in some instances

Unless the leak is from a water supply line they are hard to find often we use trial and error.

For example if I were to THINK it was your toilet I would ask you not to use this one toilet for several days and then see it the leak stops.

This “leak” could be just simply the toilet tank loosing water slightly and the condensate forming on the out side of this tank is making its way to the floor below through some hair line crack in the grouting behind the bowl.

The plumber is not in your home 24-7 and therefore he must rely on you also to be on the look out when this occurs.

I have found 97% of the time the house wife has a darn good indication of which fixture is causing this problem.

All it takes is trial and error and keeping the frustration to a minimum. GOOD LUCK

[daveroconnParticipant]

I have seen attic mounted air handler’s leak this way. Check to see if your house has a newer split air conditioning system. If you do, find out where your air handler is? The air handler is a device that is in direct contact with the air circulating through your home and it is where the air is chilled.

The compressor for the system will be mounted on the roof or on a pad next to the home. Find the air handler and check the pan area for the leak.

When you chill air you are drying it out. This moisture needs to drain to the outside of your home. If this drain or the pan that it is accumulating this moisture is leaking it can be extremely difficult to find because it usually only happens when the system is dealing with very humid air.

Good luck

[Author]

Posts