Skillful Heat Pump Repair in Boones Creek, TN Stopped the Continued Flooding of a Customer's Finished Basement

We received a call from a customer in Boones Creek, TN in need of a heat pump repair. She stated that their first floor HVAC unit was leaking water and had gotten into their finished living space in the basement where it was located. The water had made its way onto their carpet in the basement and up into their doors and trim. We advised the customer to turn off their system so that the water issue would stop getting worse.

When we arrived, we looked at the type of system they had servicing their first floor. It was a dual fuel heat pump with a propane furnace. We went into their basement and checked out the water issue. The discharge line for the condensate pump had clogged and the pump was running continuously trying to expel the water. Since the water could not exit through the discharge line it had overflowed the pump and gotten all over their basement’s finished living space.

The HVAC unit lacked any type of water safety devices. The condensate pump float switch was never wired into the system which is why the unit did not shut down when the discharge line of the condensate pump clogged up. If the float switch for the pump would have been wired into the HVAC unit’s low voltage circuit, it would have shut the unit off before the water ever entered the finished living space. The unit also did not sit inside an emergency pan, there were no float switches on the evaporator coil, and there also wasn’t a wet switch for added protection against water.

The discharge line was buried in the finished ceiling of the basement and we could not find the termination point. It appeared the drain line terminated into the sewer pipes which is not a good idea. Even though the discharge line for the condensate pump was buried in the finished ceiling we were still able to clear the blockage in the line. We took the pump apart and cleaned the inside of it to remove the zoogleal buildup and other debris. We ran 1 gallon of foaming cleaner through the pump and out the discharge line. We followed the cleaner with 3 gallons of drain tab treated water to further remove any buildup inside the discharge line. Finally, we ran 2 gallons of clean tap water to further flush the line out.

We made a recommendation to install an emergency pan under the furnace and coil with a float switch and wet switch inside of it, we recommended a main line float switch and auxiliary drain float switch for the evaporator coil, and we also recommended moving the pump into the emergency pan and wiring the condensate pump float switch up as well. We also recommended relocating the discharge line termination point to the outside of the home utilizing a slush run versus terminating into a sewer line as that is never a good idea. The customer did not want to spend the kind of money needed in order to make their HVAC unit impervious to water issues. Redundant back ups when it comes to water protection are a good idea when trying to protect your home. The customer decided on the minimum cost route and went with a CS2 auxiliary drain float switch to add some water protection to the evaporator coil drain and decided to wire the condensate pump float switch up as well. This route does not give them any freeze protection, redundant backups, or protection if their condensing propane furnace has a drainage issue, but some protection is obviously better than none.

We installed the CS2 auxiliary drain float switch and the condensate pump float switch. We wired them into the low voltage circuit on the HVAC unit and tied them in series so that if either one of them trips, it will shut the HVAC unit down to prevent any water issues from getting worse. We fired the system up in cooling mode to verify proper operation and performed a temperature split check on the system. We offered to check other components on the system while we were there and to also check their 2nd floor unit in the attic for adequate water safety devices, but the customer declined further services due to their budget.

If you reside within our service area of Northeast Tennessee and are in need of a heat pump repair, please feel free to call us. If you would like to add additional water protection devices to your HVAC system in order to prevent potential property damage to your home, we are the company to call. We don’t take shortcuts, we believe in redundant safety devices, we give you the facts, and allow you to make informed decisions based upon those facts. Stay safe and best wishes.

Location: Boones Creek, TN