Leaking air conditioners (AC) are a common problem in many Malaysian households and if left unchecked, it can become a real headache to manage down the road.
That seemingly harmless amount of small droplets trickling from your AC might turn into a large puddle of water one day if you don’t service and maintain your AC regularly.
While poor servicing intervals is one of the main causes for this problem, there are a few other factors that lead to leaking ACs.
Here are some of the other causes of this annoying but easily-solved household problem.
Malfunctioning drainage
As the AC cools the humid air in your room, it also causes some moisture to form due to condensation.
The moisture that forms is collected and flows out through a small drainage pipe from the unit to an outlet, which is usually positioned outside your home.
However, if the drainage system gets disconnected, clogged or spoilt, that moisture-turned-water will have nowhere else to go but back into your room.
Tilted AC blower unit
For an AC blower unit (the indoor unit) to function properly, it must be mounted with a slight backward tilt towards the wall (for wall-mounted units). This is to ensure that the condensed water flows properly towards the drainage pipe.
Over time, the mounting bracket may shift or worse still, the unit might have accidentally moved during a service. Sometimes, they’re not even installed well to begin with.
All these may cause the condensed moisture to flow down from your unit and onto the floor below.
Dust buildup and mildew growth
This is the most common problem for most AC units that are not serviced and maintained regularly.
The presence of dust and mildew will clog the air filter and drainage system if it is not cleaned properly and frequently.
Clogging in this area will cause water from the condensed moisture to flow out through other areas, often times ending up on the floor or your bed.
Dirty filters and coils
During cooling, warm air flows through the AC’s air filter and through a series of cooled coils. However, dust buildup on the filters and cooling coils will slow down the air flow.
As the buildup increases, ice can form around the filter or coils. When the unit is switched off, the ice will melt and cause water to drip from your indoor unit.
Air leakage or poor insulation
It is important to make sure the pipe that carries the liquid refrigerant from the outside compressor to the coils is insulated well.
If those pipes are not properly sealed, or you have a refrigerant leak, then a lot of condensation can form on the pipes or AC unit, which then leads to leakage.
As a result, you will see water droplets clinging onto the AC unit, before it eventually drips down onto the floor. This air leakage can be prevented with regular servicing.
In this day and age, AC units are essential, so having a leaking AC can be incredibly disruptive to your daily routine especially during this pandemic when you’re constantly at home.
However, they are also relatively easy to fix, as long as you hire a specialist who can figure out the problem, and do the necessary repairs.
Regular servicing is important to keep your AC unit in good working condition, so you should not put it off for months (or years!).
This article originally appeared on Recommend.my.
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