I have a roof mounted A/C Unit, something along the lines of a 2 ton kenmore i think? Not very old, maybe 3-4 yrs.

This last week ive noticed its dripping out water more than usual. The weather has been pretty humid, but i dont think it should be doing this much? Its enough to wet the roof, run down and drip on the ground a few drop a second..

Is this something wrong or is it pretty normal for them to let off that much water?

 

a a/c is nothing more than a dehumidifier, that what it was orignal designed for. i would go up and check your drains. if you have a roof mounted package unit [as in all in one] it will have 2 drains one is to drain the pan and the other is a overflow if the pan drain stopped up. but if the drains just go out onto the roof it sound like it is working fine.

 

Yep! when the conditions get just right, roofmount and window type A/C units drip quite a bit of condensate over the side. Many units have a "slinger" type of a condenser fan that is used to pick up the puddled condensed water from the evaporator side and slings it onto the hot condenser coils. That helps take care of two problems... It helps keep the condensed water from accumulating and dripping over the side, plus it helps the condenser dump more heat by being sprinkled with water that evaporates carrying even more heat away than being dry.
Many times down here in the Gulf Coast area, especially at night, the humidity gets so high that even with the slinger fan, the water simply doesn't evaporate well on the condenser and the excess has to go somewhere.
Many times, you can hear what sounds like "churning water" especially when the fan speed is on low and the unit cycles on-and-off.
In short, it's operating as designed..
Its not a problem except when the water doesn't drain away correctly and it leaks back into the room from an A/C that is not leveled, sealed or installed correctly...
Some people put a bucket underneath to catch the water to water their sensitive plants with... It's soft water with no minerals.. (maybe some algae and room dirt but plants don't mind that)


K.

 

Thanks! Ill go check for any sort of drain pans or access doors if there are any. All i remember now is a pcv tube angled out the side. Youre probably right though, about it being just normal, as it just started with the humidity skyrocketed for the monsoon season here.

Just worried about the roof staying permanently wet, especially around such a heavy chunk of metal sittin on top of it.

Thanks for the replys,

 

If it does have a PVC tube sticking out the side or bottom, the excess water BETTER be dripping from that rather than from the full evaporator pan! If it is coming from inside and not the overflow tube, better take a look.. you may have a plug of algae/dirt that has stopped up the drain line.
Some permanent installations have a dedicated drain line into your sewer system for disposal of the condensate(city bldg codes).. Some even have condensate pumps to pump the water overhead to a drain(my 2nd story A/C does).

K.

 

Yes, when i was up there last it was coming from the tube. Thanks,