**Posted on General Board, but thought might get better responses here**

So we noticed yesterday that our A/C unit was leaking a crazy amount of water. Soaked through part of the wall and all on the carpet floor in the hall where the unit is. (We live in a 1-story house and the unit is in a closet in the hallway)

Figuring it was the condensate line backing up, I poured some bleach into the line. Not sure if that worked or cleared any blockage, but unit is no longer leaking as of now. My question though is about my condensate line. It apparently drains into the 2nd bathroom drain line, so its not visible. That vertical pipe section is not capped, should it be? This is where I poured the bleach in. I can't figure out if there should be a cap over that pipe or not, or what the purpose even is of it.



Also, is there supposed to be that U-trap in the pipe?? Seems like a great place for a clog to happen and back the line up. Final question is about the coils....here is a picture of the coils from underneath the handler unit. Seems pretty dusty/dirty. Can I take a vacuum brush and try to clean those coils, or is it not necessary?

The P trap is to keep air from leaking out of the maintenance stub.

The bleach thing should be normal maintenance in the summer. Just pour in a cup when you change your filter.

It can sometimes clog up where the pipe first comes out of the cabinet. If that happens the bleach may not help. Although, on your kind of vertical unit you may be able to take off the cover and get to that side of the coil (couldn't tell from the picture.) Basically there is a drain pan in the unit under the evaporator that catches the water and routes it to the pipe.

You may also want to investigate a float cutoff switch to prevent that from happening again. For closet apps like yours, they would put the float switch on the other hole, where the secondary drain would normally go. It would make the unit turn off and prompt you to investigate - before water goes everywhere.

I do have one of those float switches installed but I guess its not working. That's the wire coming out of the closed pipe next to the primary drain connection

Yes that is what that should be. Probably time for a tune up to check those things.

Looks like the float switch is sealed shut to me. You should be able to pull that totally out, at least thats how mine works. Maybe there are different kinds, somebody else probably knows better than me.

No, I can pull that whole piece out. Got a little black wheel in it that sits horizontally and can rise up or down.