# Need answer fast, split AC throwing water inside, Covid risk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 28, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-split-ac-throwing-water-inside-covid-risk/913554 "2020-06-28T18:52:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-split-ac-throwing-water-inside-covid-risk/913554/1 "2020-06-28T18:52:45Z")
My split AC has been throwing water since yesterday. Since the outlet is pretty close to my bed, its been dripping some on the headboard and some drops fell on me. I cleaned it as much as I could and hopefully someone will be in to fix it soon. My worry is that the water drops might carry Covid? I have dried the headboard and sprayed disinfectant on it and the top of the bed sheets, but since some wafer fell on me (thats how I noticed in the first place) might be too late. What a stupid way to get Covid. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-split-ac-throwing-water-inside-covid-risk/913554/2 "2020-06-28T18:55:05Z")
Probably not Covid, but that is a great recipe for legionnaires disease. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-split-ac-throwing-water-inside-covid-risk/913554/3 "2020-06-28T20:57:03Z")
Has the AC unit been coughing or complaining of a sore throat? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-split-ac-throwing-water-inside-covid-risk/913554/4 "2020-06-28T21:08:01Z")
I believe we’re talking about a through the wall unit that should drain outside. Do you have the Make & Model #? Can you get them if you don’t? If you google the Make & Model, there should be some simple instructions for popping off the front cover, then checking & cleaning the drain. No reason to even be thinking COVID. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-split-ac-throwing-water-inside-covid-risk/913554/5 "2020-06-28T21:22:00Z")
Unless your AC has been going to social gatherings without wearing a mask and practicing social distancing, I think you are pretty safe. (How is this thread _not_ by you-know-who?) ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-split-ac-throwing-water-inside-covid-risk/913554/6 "2020-06-28T22:34:16Z")
_People_ can carry the virus that causes COVID. The viral particles can be carried in droplets exhaled by the infected person. Those droplets are potentially infectious. But there’s not really any way for viral particles to have infected your A/C unit. As **k9bfriender** points out, _bacterial_ infections _might_ be a potential risk with standing water, but what your A/C unit is spitting out at you is presumably just condensation. It’s unpleasant, and the damp could promote mold and mildew, which is a potentially hazardous to inhale, but there’s no risk for viral infection. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-split-ac-throwing-water-inside-covid-risk/913554/7 "2020-06-28T23:09:20Z")
Not really. Legionnaires disease generally requires warm water to thrive, like in commercial water-cooled A/C chillers. I’ve never heard of a case from a residential A/C, and there are **a lot** of those installed. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-split-ac-throwing-water-inside-covid-risk/913554/8 "2020-06-28T23:27:29Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > but what your A/C unit is spitting out at you is presumably just condensation. It’s unpleasant As @gdave said, your indoor unit is connected to the outside unit via refrigerant lines (cold in, warm out) that are sealed and electrical connections to power the control and fan. Condensation from the unit as it removes humidity from the air drains outside or to your plumbing. If it is backing up inside, the hose is blocked. You can unblock it typically by using a wire coat hanger or blowing compressed into it. As stated, if there is COVID it came from someone in the room with the AC. ---
**Author:** ![Snipe70e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/51bf81/32.png) [@Snipe70e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snipe70e)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-split-ac-throwing-water-inside-covid-risk/913554/9 "2020-06-29T00:26:40Z")
If it is only in warm water why are antibicteral tablets put in cold deck coils in commercial buildings. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-split-ac-throwing-water-inside-covid-risk/913554/10 "2020-06-29T00:56:22Z")
I think the issue is when the A/C turns off and the (wet) evaporator coil warms up. back in the day the coil used to be made of copper or brass, which has antimicrobial properties, but nowadays they’re all aluminum which is basically completely inert on the surface and can’t inhibit bacterial growth. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-split-ac-throwing-water-inside-covid-risk/913554/11 "2020-06-29T02:05:39Z")
Good to know. Most of the time when I hear about an outbreak, it has to do with AC or a fountain of some sort. I’m pretty sure there was a House episode where someone got it from a wall unit though, are you saying that I can’t trust fictional medical mystery shows for accurate epidemiological information? But, yes, it does seems as though I was incorrect, it does not appear as though household AC is a vector for legionella. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-split-ac-throwing-water-inside-covid-risk/913554/12 "2020-06-29T02:36:48Z")
The difference with “split units” is that in their case there is no **air** conduit as such into or out of the room – going through the wall to the machine closet in the case of central forced air, or to the outside in the case of a wall unit when the vent is open. So not likely to bring about CoVid or anything that was not brought into the room through the door or window. What happens in a case such as the OP is that the condensation drain channels are getting restricted (from dust or corrosion), or that insulation on some “cold” lines has deteriorated or broken allowing pipe to be exposed to air and form condensation in places where it does not fall into the drain. With a split unit this still can create accumulated water _inside the unit_, which is a risk for molds or bacteria depending on what is already in your environment, besides water accumulating or flowing over parts of the machinery where it is not supposed to, and maybe even leaking into the wall itself. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-split-ac-throwing-water-inside-covid-risk/913554/13 "2020-06-29T06:49:10Z")
And black mold-very nasty, as is Legionnaires Disease. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2020, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-split-ac-throwing-water-inside-covid-risk/913554/14 "2020-07-03T07:57:55Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > What happens in a case such as the OP is that the condensation drain channels are getting restricted (from dust or corrosion), or that insulation on some “cold” lines has deteriorated or broken allowing pipe to be exposed to air and form condensation in places where it does not fall into the drain. It was the dust in the drain channel. Fixed now. Been nearly a week and no Covid. 😉 Whats the incubation period for legionnaires disease? ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2020, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-split-ac-throwing-water-inside-covid-risk/913554/15 "2020-07-03T13:38:24Z")
Absolutely no covid risk if nobody else with covid has been in your room to spread droplets to the device. Even if somebody with covid had been in the room, there are a few reasons why it may be difficult for the device to spread it. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2020, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-split-ac-throwing-water-inside-covid-risk/913554/16 "2020-07-03T14:20:14Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Legionnaires disease generally requires warm water to thrive, like in commercial water-cooled A/C chillers. I’ve never heard of a case from a residential A/C, and there are **a lot** of those installed. There was the case of legionnaires disease from a water fountain in a hospital lobby. It was Wisconsin and I presume that it was not warm in the lobby like AC cooling towers. > **[Legionnaires' Disease Outbreak Linked to Hospital's Decorative Fountain](https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/view/legionnaires-disease-outbreak-linked-hospitals-decorative-fountain)** Having said that, I agree with you that it is highly unlikely to get it in AC condensate water.