Condensation Emancipation
I know you’re thinking more air conditioning lingo and what the heck is he talking about this time? I’m talking about your condensate drain pan and piping. The air in your house, office or business is recirculated through the air conditioner. When the air conditioner is running, the recirculated air passes through the evaporator coil. The recirculated air is usually between seventy and eighty degrees and in a perfect world the temperature of your evaporator coil should be thirty five degrees. When the warm air hits the evaporator coil, the moisture in the air condenses into liquid water on the coil surface. This water is called condensate. The condensate water drips down into a pan, out the air conditioner and is piped away.
The only time you learn about this is when your condensate drain is clogged and its either getting the ceiling or carpet wet. A condensate overflow always leaves an unsightly stain that is difficult to remove.
There have been many attempts to alleviate this problem by air conditioning technicians in the past. The old school way is to install a pan underneath your air conditioner in order to collect any water from a clogged drain. This does not work well. The pan just keeps filling up with water until it gets stagnant and stinky and then you have a whole host of other problems to deal with.
Take a look at the picture below. You’ve probably seen a pipe like this sticking down from the ceiling or out the side of a building. This is called a secondary or overflow drain pipe and reroutes the water in case your drain gets clogged. The idea is that if and when someone sees water dripping that they will investigate and eventually call for service. This is also not the most reliable solution.
I recommend the condensate overflow switch. A lot of the newer units come with this as an option or as a main feature. If not, we can easily install one in the field. The condensate overflow switch is a sensor that mounts to the top of the drain pan inside your air conditioner. If water touches the sensor, it shuts the unit down. Your office becomes hot and stuffy and you call for service. This way there are no ceiling stains or carpet stains or buckets on the ground. It’s simple and easy to install. Depending on the application, the cost to install one of these is as low as $300.
You should also be having your air conditioner regularly maintained. During maintenance check ups, we always “clear the drain line” to make sure you won’t be having this problem
Call today for your maintenance check up and condensate overflow sensor! Keep those nasty stains and smelly water away!
858-581-6868
Belt Maintenance Saves You Money
Lighting is the number one energy user in commercial buildings. Unbeknownst to many, HVAC motors are the second biggest energy user in commercial buildings. Let’s take a typical air handler with a 20 horsepower motor running at full load at $.10/KWh. This little unit that is stuck in the guts of the building that no one seems to know where it is or what it does costs approximately $14,000 a year to operate. Did that get your attention? Now, you want to know where it is and what it does and why its costing so much money.
Without reinventing the wheel(couldn’t help myself), what kinds of things can we do to mitigate these costs? For starters, we’re going to assume the engineers designed the system properly. Secondly, we’re going to pass on upgrading the motors to hi-efficiency because that’s expensive right now. We’re going to look at the fan belts, sheaves and blower wheels.
When it comes to the fan belts, we’re going to replace any wrapped v-belts with raw edge v-belts. This simple change out will gain you 3-5% in efficiency. The belt needs to have the proper tension. You need to have 1/4″ play per foot length of belt between the motor sheave and blower pulley. Improper belt tensioning will lose you anywhere from 10 to 15% in efficiency. If you under tension belts, you will be replacing belts more frequently than necessary. If you overtighten belts, you damage the shaft and bearings. SOS service technicians are skilled and trained at adjusting the belt to the proper tension.
Believe it or not, the sheaves, which are made of steel, will wear down over time from the friction and heat from the fan belt. Worn and grooved sheaves do not hold the belt in place properly, contribute to uneven loading and slippage which translates into inefficiency and reduced horsepower. Regular maintenance inspections can help spot these problem areas where you can plan and shcedule repairs and replacements.
Lastly, there is the blower wheel itself. Blower wheels are prime areas for build up of dirt and dust. A simple cleaning of the blower will increase air flows back up to original design standards.
As you can see, simple regular maintenance can save you money overtime. Call today and get signed up for a maintenance contract!
858-581-6868
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