# The a/c is leaking **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 9, 2016, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-c-is-leaking/759448 "2016-07-09T01:20:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-c-is-leaking/759448/1 "2016-07-09T01:20:55Z")
Last year I bought an LG Electronics 12,000 BTU portable air conditioner. It worked quite well last year. It cools the house well this year, too. But… Three days after the warranty expired, it’s dumping water on the floor. When I drain the reservoir, there’s only 70 or 75 ml in it. Much more water is leaking out of the bottom of the machine. I put some 2x6s in the bottom of a storage container and put the a/c on top of them so we can continue to use it. Where could this water be coming from? ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-c-is-leaking/759448/2 "2016-07-09T01:26:06Z")
Water is condensing out of the air but sounds like the drain line might be blocked. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-c-is-leaking/759448/3 "2016-07-09T01:28:51Z")
It hasn’t been that humid (compared to last year when it didn’t leak). What drain line? The drain on the back is not blocked. . ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-c-is-leaking/759448/4 "2016-07-09T01:36:40Z")
Maybe it’s rainwater … has it been storming of late where your at? ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-c-is-leaking/759448/5 "2016-07-09T01:47:06Z")
Water condenses out of the air onto the evaporator coil. In normal operation that water drips down and is collected somehow and routed to the collection tank. Presumably something is blocking that drainage pathway. The condensing water can wash off any dust that might have built up over the year and block the drain path, whether that is a tube or not. This allows the water to start to build up somewhere it wasn’t designed to build up and ultimately overflow where you don;t want the water to go. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-c-is-leaking/759448/6 "2016-07-09T02:14:46Z")
You may be seeing the “drop which broke the dam” - water had been pooling somewhere it wasn’t supposed to, creating a small pond. Eventually, that “pond” found a route to free air - and the route wasn’t the one the designers had in mind. Open it up, find the coil, and start looking for its _designed_ path to the reservoir. Then find the route is has found. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-c-is-leaking/759448/7 "2016-07-09T05:03:55Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > You may be seeing the “drop which broke the dam” - water had been pooling somewhere it wasn’t supposed to, creating a small pond. > Eventually, that “pond” found a route to free air - and the route wasn’t the one the designers had in mind. > Open it up, find the coil, and start looking for its _designed_ path to the reservoir. > Then find the route is has found. Agreed ---
**Author:** ![Me\_Billy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Me\_Billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Billy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-c-is-leaking/759448/8 "2016-07-09T14:39:27Z")
Read the instruction manual about cleaning it. Specifically about cleaning/replacing the air filter. Look for any drainage hoses/paths going to that pan. See they are not blocked with dirt/lint. Call the manufacturer and ask / look at their web page. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-c-is-leaking/759448/9 "2016-07-09T23:04:46Z")
I didn’t open it up, but I did put a hose on the reservoir drain and into a gallon Gatorade bottle. _So far_ the bottom of the tub is dry and the water is going into the jug. So far.