Water condensing on pipes before reaching HVAC evaporator coils?

July 1, 2018 8:38 PM

I just had a new heat pump installed up on the roof of my building and have cold air again! Hooray! However, while changing the filter I notice there is water condensation near the evaporator coil in the ceiling bit inside my apartment... and it doesn't all fall into the drain pain. Is the drain pain simply misaligned somehow? Here are two pics to give an idea of whats going on. I'm sure I'll have someone out to look at the evaporator coil but if anyone has guidance on what to expect, that would be excellent..
posted by Justinian to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

Response by poster: Note the water droplet with the arrow labelled "BAD" on the second pic. Those droplets fall onto the metal cover which you open to access the whole shebang in the ceiling. Over time they have slightly corroded it. And while a lot of the water droplets fall into the drain pain in the first pic some obviously hit and/or are absorbed into the wall next to the little pipes.

Sorry for the intense jargon like "little pipes" and "whole shebang", I hope I am not being technical.
posted by Justinian at 8:40 PM on July 1, 2018

Best answer: Cold water pipes returning from the condenser should be covered in insulation to keep that from happening, especially if the drips may find their way out of the cooling air manifold. The installation looks a bit slapdash. You could add some pipe insulation yourself or call the installer and rag them out for a bad job.
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:31 AM on July 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Dangit I asked my dad what he thought since he likes to feel useful and he said they probably needed to be insulated so this doesn't happen. Now his head will get too big.

Thanks. It does look slapdash. Sadly, the installation of the evaporator coil and connections was done when the building was built which was 11 years ago. The guys I had out only replaced the big unit on the roof so they aren't responsible for this. Guess it's time for another service call to add insulation.
posted by Justinian at 4:42 PM on July 2, 2018

Response by poster: best answer for you seanmpuckett
posted by Justinian at 4:43 PM on July 2, 2018