The condensate drain line is an important part of your air conditioning system. If this drain line gets clogged up your air conditioner will start to leak water inside your home. This guide will show you how to unclog your ac drain line with just a shop vac in just a few minutes.
Once the drain line for your ac is clogged, the backed-up water can cause extensive damage. This very easy to fix leak will need to be repaired as soon as possible. Luckily this is a really simple problem to fix!
The tools you will need are a Shop Vac (wet/dry vac) and either Duct tape or a towel. Once you have the required equipment the actual project is pretty easy.
Quick Guide
Below is a quick guide, if you continue reading after the quick guide I go over each step in detail.
Time needed: 30 minutes.
This can be done in three easy steps
- Turn your air conditioner off
Start by turning off the air conditioner using your breaker panel.
- Locate the AC Drain line
Either follow the line outside or look around outside for the drain line coming from your HVAC unit.
- Use your Shop Vac to remove the clog
Attach the end of your Shop vacuum hose to the end of your drain line and turn on the vacuum to suck the blockage out.
Turn off the air conditioner
First, turn off the AC unit at the thermostat. Turning the HVAC unit off at the thermostat will prevent it from potentially coming on while you are working on it. We definitely wouldn’t want that surprise while working on the unit.
After turning the unit off at the thermostat we need to turn the unit off at the Breaker panel. This will prevent any mistakes from causing damage to the unit because it will be shut off. If you ever work on your HVAC system I recommend turning it off at the breaker box.
Find the AC Drain line
Find the end of the AC Drain line located outside of your house. All Air Conditioners have an AC Drain line that runs from your air handler inside of your home to a drain location outside of your home. This AC Drain line is used to move water produced by your air conditioner outside.
If you are having trouble finding it try looking for a PVC pipe coming out of your house near the AC Unit.
Unclog the Drain
Check the end of the line
When you have found the end of the AC Drain line you can check for any blockages at the end of the line. If your line is at ground level, this is most likely where the clog is.
Get the Vacuum ready
Before we can use our wet/dry vacuum to vacuum up water we need to remove the filter. This keeps the filter from being damaged by the water we are going to suck up with the vacuum.
Connect the Vacuum to the drain line
Use either Duct tape or a cloth towel to connect the Shop-Vac hose to the end of the drain line. For the best results place the tip of the Shop-Vac to the end of the drain line before wrapping the connection. Once you have a firm seal (which may require using a hand to hold it if you use cloth) it is time to start vacuuming out the line.
Vacuum out the line
Turning the Shop-Vac on high for 10-30 seconds should be enough to clear your clogged drain line. Once you have turned the vacuum off, check inside the vacuum to see if you managed to clear the clog.
If the clog hasn’t been cleared try turning the vacuum on and off every 5 to 10 seconds. If this doesn’t clear the line, you may have to run a snake down the line.
You can test if you have cleared the clog by pouring water down the drain line access hole inside. If the water flows freely outside, you have cleared the line!
Once the line is clear, turn the air conditioner back on and see if it is still leaking. If the AC is still leaking and the line is clear, your coils may be dirty.
Once you have cleared your line, you may want to read our quick guide on how to prevent future clogs.
Here are a few FAQ
The water will overflow inside your home and cause damage.
No, you can easily unclog the drain line yourself. If you have trouble though you can hire a professional.
The water coming from your AC Drain line is actually condensation from the cooling cycle of your AC.
