A Friend's Series of Discussions on Air Conditioner Leakage

2025-04-27

Postscript: Handling air conditioner leakage may seem simple, but determining its causes and solving the problems can be extremely troublesome. Sometimes, it needs to be dealt with several times repeatedly, involving the disassembly of many parts. There are numerous "tricks" behind the causes, and it's not an easy task to handle. This friend is not only technically comprehensive but also highly proficient. The logic is clear, the analysis is thorough, detailed and specific, and every step is in place.

Due to installation or other reasons, the machine is not parallel from left to right. It has been found that some users who are not familiar with the internal structure of the air conditioner ask some newly engaged installation masters to install the machine at an angle, believing that it is easier for drainage. In fact, this view is incorrect. Excessive tilting will cause the water level at the water outlet to be higher than the highest water level of the water receiving pan, leading to water overflow. When dealing with the fault, start with the easier methods first. You can appropriately pad and raise the top of the lower end of the indoor unit hanging plate of the air conditioner, but it should not be higher than the hanging buckle to avoid falling.
② Pull out the buckle plate at the lower end of the indoor unit of the air conditioner, and fasten the bottom hanging buckle to the bottom surface of the indoor unit to lift the indoor unit.
③ Bend the iron hanging buckle at the top of the higher end of the indoor unit of the air conditioner a little outward and downward.
④ The above three methods are only suitable for machines with a tilt of 1-2 minutes. If the tilt is too large, the back plate needs to be re-nailed.
Due to installation calculation errors or other mistakes, the water tank of the indoor unit is lower than the wall outlet along the way. This situation occurs when the installation is carried out in other seasons or when the air conditioner is not in use, and it is only discovered when the cooling function is turned on. Some time ago, there was a machine where the leakage of the indoor unit was caused by an external line communication worker mistakenly raising the user's downpipe.
The indoor unit is installed horizontally from left to right but is overly separated and not parallel to the upper part of the wall.
The main reasons for this fault are that during installation, when encountering slag brick walls, earth brick walls, concrete walls, hollow bricks, thermal insulation walls, gypsum board walls, or when using short steel nail expansion screws, the installation of the iron sheet is not firm. Or, when disassembling the machine, the iron sheet at the top of the buckle plate is pulled out of shape, causing the iron sheet buckle plate of the upper part of the indoor unit to be far separated from the wall. Or, the user exerts excessive force during cleaning, causing the fixing to fall off, and the condensed water overflows from the front water tank.
This kind of fault requires reinstallation for handling.
The air is humid, the set temperature is too low, the indoor filter screen is severely blocked, or the indoor fan speed is slow. This situation occurs when the user has not cleaned the filter screen for a long time or due to other reasons, resulting in a slowdown of the indoor fan speed, causing the evaporator to frost or the surrounding casing to condense and drip water. Just find the cause and apply the appropriate solution.
Foreign objects block the indoor downpipe along the way. The root cause of this fault is that the user's machine operates in a dusty environment, and due to reasons such as not cleaning the filter screen for a long time, the filter screen being deformed, broken, pierced, or lost, dust passes through the filter screen and accumulates over time in some parts such as the downpipe of the evaporator water tank.
To deal with this type of fault, still use the method of starting with the easier ones first.
① The evacuation method has been a relatively effective and quick treatment method in years of maintenance applications. The method is to separate the drain pipe from the copper pipe or add a drain pipe to the end of the drain pipe, and then repeatedly raise it to fill the pipe with water, and quickly lower it until the water in the pipe sucks out the dirt in the pipe.
② The dredging method; if the outlet pipe of the indoor unit of the air conditioner goes out of the wall from the right-side joint, to check the blocked part, after the leakage starts, you can pull out the gray-white insulation pipe joint and the outer pipe dozens of centimeters away on the right side. If the water output is large, it proves that the blockage is caused by the rear section of the water pipe, resulting in the water tank being full and overflowing. Just dredge or replace it. If there is little water output, it proves that the water outlet is blocked. Just pass a soft electric wire through the pipe for dredging. The blowing method and the fluorine flushing method also have certain effects.
③ After the above methods are used, it can last for a while. You can also dredge from the inside out with a soft wire. However, if conditions permit, it is better to clean the indoor unit evaporator, water tank, etc. for a better effect.
The downpipe is pressed at the wall outlet part or flattened along the way. The main reason for this situation is the use of inferior soft corrugated pipes along the way, which mostly occurs when the installation master exerts excessive force during the corner trimming in the installation process, squeezing too tightly with the cable tie, or the water pipe leaning against a stressed place at the wall outlet, such as the bottom. The treatment method is to correct or replace it, and it is recommended to use a harder water pipe.
The downpipe is broken. The entire downpipe can be broken, which may be caused by rodent damage in the indoor and outdoor wall-penetrating passageway, excessive twisting angle during installation causing cracking, aging of the exposed part of the outdoor pipe, and quality problems of the entire pipe. It is recommended to fill the new pipe with water for testing. It is not surprising that there are one or two small holes on a downpipe bought a few years ago.
The sealing ring of the downpipe joint is aged or the joint is detached.
This situation occurs in some old models of machines that are several years old. If the joint is a screw-on type and the rubber inside is aged and cannot hold tightly, just replace the rubber flat washer. If there is no rubber, raw tape, glue, or even a discarded insulation pipe with a common corrugated pipe can be used for emergency substitution, but there will be condensed dew on the pipe. There is also a situation where the joint is accidentally loosened when changing the water outlet from left to right during the machine relocation process.
There are too many and too long bends in the downpipe. This situation occurs when the passageway between the indoor and outdoor areas is relatively long. During installation, it is recommended to fix the pipeline in sections, tilt and straighten it as much as possible, and do not let the water in the pipe block to generate air pressure and reduce the water flow speed.
The outdoor downpipe is inserted into the building drainage pipe, causing blockage. This situation is generally blocked at the end or the building drainage pipe itself is blocked, resulting in the entire machine being unable to drain water. Just dredge it.
The plug of the downpipe falls off. This situation occurs in some machines from earlier years. The water pipe can be arbitrarily switched from left to right according to the outlet direction. There is an outlet on each side of the back of the indoor unit. Under normal circumstances, one is connected to the water pipe and the other is plugged with a rubber stopper. When the rubber stopper falls off and is lost, water leakage will occur here.
The insulation of the refrigeration pipeline falls off. This situation occurs when the cable tie insulation pipe of the refrigeration pipeline ages and falls off, and it rarely occurs indoors. When encountering a humid climate environment, the moist air adheres to the copper pipe and condenses and drips water. Just install an insulation pipe. If the entire pipe with complete wrapping condenses, consider insulating the downpipe of the entire machine and use a thick insulation pipe for the copper pipe.
The main water tank cracks. The probability of this fault occurring is very low. Only one or two machines are encountered in many years. It is probably caused by the material quality or violent impact, and then it can be dealt with by gluing.
The back water tank is blocked. The back water tank is the water tank on the back of the back of the air conditioner, and this water tank has a very shallow tilt. During the installation process, when encountering powdery walls or when the user is doing decoration and wall slag and dust fall into the water tank, it will cause the water flow to change its path.
The passage between the back water tank and the main water tank is blocked. In other words, the water in the back water tank flows into the main water tank through the small holes in the plastic shell. Once the small holes at both ends are blocked by debris, water will overflow, and the dripping part is generally on the back wall. Just clean it.
The connection part between the water outlet of the back water tank and the main water tank is too dirty. This fault is relatively common. Although it seems that the water outlet is in the main water tank, the water will seep back through the dust. Just clean it to solve the problem.
The condenser fins are dirty and deformed. This situation occurs when the maintenance master or the user accidentally deforms the fins during the maintenance or cleaning process, and the fins are stained with dust, causing the original water flow trajectory to change. Just clean and correct it.
The baffle is unglued. There is a long plastic plate separately glued from the indoor wind wheel to the upper part to isolate the condensed water falling from the top. After many years, the glue comes off and it drips down, and the water leakage part occurs at the air outlet. If I'm not wrong, if it's not a whole, this should be a design problem.
The iron frames fixing the two sides of the evaporator are rusty.
This fault also occurs in some old Gree machines that are many years old. After the iron sheet rusts, it arches up and sticks to the outer plastic bracket, and the water changes its track along the rust marks and flows outside the casing.
The refrigerant is lacking, etc. After the refrigerant is lacking to a certain extent, ice cubes will form on the condenser, and the air conditioning effect is obviously poor. Occasionally, the impeller rubs against the ice or the ice cracks, making creaking and cracking sounds. After the machine stops, the phenomenon of ice melting and dripping water usually appears at the air outlet. Just find out the lack and add the refrigerant.