What I learned about AC condensate (wet carpet)
March 28th, 2012, 8:33 PM
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What I learned about AC condensate (wet carpet)
I had an earlier post about wet carpet on the drivers side and have since learned that this is a common problem caused by AC condensate. You would think it would be mostly on the passenger side, but the configuation of the ducting must be such that it most often gets the driver side carpet wet.
In my case it was a minor blockage of the condensate drain pipe. It is difficult to find and even more difficult to reach. It CAN be seen (and worked on) from the engine compartment with difficulty. Finding it is about 70% of the fix. It is about 3/4 of the way down the firewall behind the engine, slightly to the left of center. In the right light you can see it by looking over the top of the engine. It sticks out from the firewall about 1/2" and is about 5/8" in diameter. You have to look through a mess of hoses and wiring but its there! A flashlight held in your left hand and slipped between the left side of the engine and the firewall (pointing right) will help.
Once you find it get a 2 ft piece of copper tubing about 5/16" OD. Find a small garden sprayer and fill with a 50/50 solution of bleach and water. Bend the tubing in such a way that you can feed it over the engine along the sight path to the drain and into the drain pipe about 2-3". Remove the spray nozzle from the sprayer and tape the end of the copper tubing to it or better yet join the two with a small section of vinyl tubing. Pump up the sprayer and inject a cup or two of the bleach solution into the condensate drain. Stop injecting and let the solution run out. Repeat till you run out of bleach solution. I used about 1/2 gallon of the solution total.
Next day after a 60 mile trip with the AC on, no wet carpet and the drain is dripping condensate again.
There is also a rubber elbow you can buy from Chevy parts for $7.50 (goes on the end of the drain pipe pointing down) that is supposed to keep highway wind pressure from backing condensate up in the drain pan. I will try to install that this weekend as insurance.
One more thing, if you haven't cleaned the cabin air filters (in the glove compartment) be sure to do it. Mine were LOADED with leaves, dust, etc. The fan was noisy but now is quite quiet. If you reach in the air duct to the far left (with the filters removed) you can feel the fan. Mine had leaves in the fan blades...quite a few.
Hope this helps others with the "wet carpet" problem.
Cheers
schuh
In my case it was a minor blockage of the condensate drain pipe. It is difficult to find and even more difficult to reach. It CAN be seen (and worked on) from the engine compartment with difficulty. Finding it is about 70% of the fix. It is about 3/4 of the way down the firewall behind the engine, slightly to the left of center. In the right light you can see it by looking over the top of the engine. It sticks out from the firewall about 1/2" and is about 5/8" in diameter. You have to look through a mess of hoses and wiring but its there! A flashlight held in your left hand and slipped between the left side of the engine and the firewall (pointing right) will help.
Once you find it get a 2 ft piece of copper tubing about 5/16" OD. Find a small garden sprayer and fill with a 50/50 solution of bleach and water. Bend the tubing in such a way that you can feed it over the engine along the sight path to the drain and into the drain pipe about 2-3". Remove the spray nozzle from the sprayer and tape the end of the copper tubing to it or better yet join the two with a small section of vinyl tubing. Pump up the sprayer and inject a cup or two of the bleach solution into the condensate drain. Stop injecting and let the solution run out. Repeat till you run out of bleach solution. I used about 1/2 gallon of the solution total.
Next day after a 60 mile trip with the AC on, no wet carpet and the drain is dripping condensate again.
There is also a rubber elbow you can buy from Chevy parts for $7.50 (goes on the end of the drain pipe pointing down) that is supposed to keep highway wind pressure from backing condensate up in the drain pan. I will try to install that this weekend as insurance.
One more thing, if you haven't cleaned the cabin air filters (in the glove compartment) be sure to do it. Mine were LOADED with leaves, dust, etc. The fan was noisy but now is quite quiet. If you reach in the air duct to the far left (with the filters removed) you can feel the fan. Mine had leaves in the fan blades...quite a few.
Hope this helps others with the "wet carpet" problem.
Cheers
schuh
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