After wrecking my 2nd elbow, figured I'd better ask the experts

[Duckbutter]

It's just tough to get started. It's not a part number issue. I've seen people mess with this for long periods of time. You have to hold your tongue right and use the right cuss words.

I've perfected this technique with an entire new language comprised of groans/grunts and bizarre sound effects.

 

[Rickyman]

Had some issues with my central air. Eventually figured out the condensation drip line was plugged up. Unfortunately when it was installed they put no easy way in to actually clean it, so I ended up cutting it off all the way up to the "what I thought" was a standard 3/4 inch elbow that came out of the furnace.

View attachment 30004

So I went to Home Depot and bought a 3/4" elbow took it home and tried to put it on and wrecked it. Went back and bought another one and was more careful but still wrecked it. Tried putting this one back on and it goes in perfectly. Looking at the 2 elbows, it looks like this one is a slightly different size. Here is the exact part from the old elbow.
View attachment 30005

So what exactly am I looking for? The Home Depot one won't work. Where should I be looking for the correct elbow?

Thanks so much

Post a picture of what you’re working on, you may not need to use a threaded street 90°. You might be able to thread in a regular pvc male adapter and transition to pvc pipe before making a 90. Threaded 90°’s are tougher to get in straight. Sometimes you can put the fitting to the hole and turn left until you feel it thunk and then turn right to thread it in.

 

[GregInCos]

Well I ended up getting some sandpaper. Eventually figured out it was stripping out in the same spot every time because it would hit the edge of the iron and it could not go in further because it was too large. Sanded a bit off slowly for quite awhile and eventually got 4 turns on it and seeing no water leakage.

Either way was not an issue of not starting it right, it was just too large like that picture shows. Also confirmed one of the items I had had the same part number as the picture above.

I've not actually put the drainage line together yet because I'm still getting some dripping inside the unit. But beginning to wonder if the bit of dripping I'm getting inside is because I've not installed the line with the v trap yet.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Twowaxhack]

You can’t run the unit without a trap, it’ll blow the condensate out of the drip pan and leak......

 

[breplum]

Also to note, I see this so often it is ridiculous: All A/C condensate need to be trapped so air doesn't just blow out of the unit.
The trap is typically as per mfr and typically that would be 4" leg on the drop then two inch piece horiz and then 2" back up into a tee. The tee is for air vent if the run is over five feet, and can be used to fill the trap in winter if it dries out.
ALSO, the second drain beside the main drain on a A/C condenser is for the overflow. It must run similarly out with a trap or have a alarm wired via the control to shut down if the secondary drain is has water, indicating that the primary drain is clogged.
Also, you can buy pre-made 3/4" PVC traps.

 

[Twowaxhack]

The air doesn’t blow out, the unit sucks in air from the untrapped condensate line and the unit sucks water out of the drip pan back onto the coils then it drips out of the bottom of the unit.

 

[Twowaxhack]

@breplum do you work on HVAC ?

if not then I understand......if so and you’re interested in why a unit needs a trap, read this link in it’s entirety.

https://www.texasinspector.com/files/condensatetraps.pdf

 

[JG plumbing]

Condensate drains and suck or blow it depends on how the unit is oriented and there are all different ways to orient them based on performance or size restrictions.

Some units come with the trap installed from the factory internally or some ship with the trap loose inside the unit and it's your job to find it and pipe it accordingly.

The message is read the instructions and know what your working on.

 

[GregInCos]

Thanks for all for the help on this. I ordered a Rectorseal trap kit so I can easily see and clean any plug in the future, and would love to know if anyone sees any issues.

Here is how the old condensation line was set up. The HVAC tech who'd come out said it would never pass code today.
Coming out of the ac condenser drip. The T was not there before, the pipe was just longer.


Then below they set it up like this. Do note though the pipe ran to the floor before and there was virtually no slope unless the floor is not level. So after the trap, it then sat on the floor from there to the drain.


Here is the new one. First coming out of the ac condensate:


Then with the new Trap and quite a bit more slope. That is 4 inches off the floor and it is only just over 7 feet to the drain.

See anything that is a problem? Thanks again.

 

[JG plumbing]

Normally the trap is up high. Go two posts up. Two wax posted a link to some info on these.

 

[GregInCos]

I still had some internal drippage in the furnace with the trap at the bottom, so I moved it up to near where it drains. It now looks like this.



And a closeup of where it comes out of the drain pan


It seems like the dripping has stopped finally inside the furnace. My filter is no longer getting wet and am not getting a puddle at the bottom anytime I run it for longer than an hour a day.

Any suggestions? Feels more exposed now, but it's actually working so far.

Thanks.

 

[JG plumbing]

Just more pipe support. Other than that looks good. Every 4'pvc should be supported.

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

Hello everyone. I just thought I'd add an additional question to this thread rather than start a new one:

The Rectorseal condensate trap installed on my system never had a plug or covering on the black piece of PVC where the cleanout brush is installed. Should the open pipe be capped or not? Thanks!