AC/Furnace Condensate Pump

[Dennis The B]

Had a slight scare this afternoon. I noticed that water was overflowing from the condensate pump on the AC/furnace unit. Brand is a Hartell KT-15-1UL. It's been on the furnace since it was installed in 1999.

I shut down the AC and removed the pump from its bracket. I took off the top of the pump, and got down to the motor sitting atop the unit. No damage to the unit or wiring. I took the unit, ran clean water into the tank and rinsed several times until the water came out clear. What flushed out of the tank could be classified as biological warfare. I also cleaned the furnace output tubing, but it was very clean.

I replaced the output tubing, and its running fine now. It comes on, when there's water in the tank, and shuts off after it empties the tank.

However, since the unit is 16 years old, I'm going to replace it, but not until it fails. I'll probably replace it with another Hartell.

Does anyone else have experience with the longevity of condensate pumps? Just curious as to the life expectancy of them. They don't look like they're under a lot of stress.

 

[Drm50]

Tip on con pumps

To avoid this "algee" build up in your pump give it 1/4 cup of
bleach on a cycle after it just pumped. Being mostly on AC
season give it shot 1st AC month, and one 1/2 thru AC season.
I manage about 60 properties, this works for me. I have had no trouble other than this. Some of these pumps have been in for
25+ years. I can see no difference in the brands. This information
is based on S Ohio, you may have to do it more often further
south. Right now I can still see the holes in the humidity were I
walked 1/2 hour ago.

 

[Marine Corps Air]

Dennis,

I do have experience in this area. Our home was built in 2004 and I'm not sure that the previous owners ever attempted to clean the two condensation pumps that we have in the basement. I agree with you - when I first removed the top section for the first cleaning a few years ago it appeared that the EPA Haz Mat team should do the work!

However, I don't have the same brand that you do. Both of mine are made by the Little Giant Company. I've called their Customer Service twice and they are outstanding. Here's the one that we have: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Little-Giant-VCMA-20ULS-Condensate-Removal/dp/B000SM342Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1437231177&sr=1-1&keywords=condensate+pump&pebp=1437231179179&perid=1JF05491WK7PZQ43R6ZJ"]Amazon.com: Little Giant 554425 VCMA-20ULS Condensate Removal 1/30 HP Pump with Safety Switch: Home Improvement@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Jo5yNmXuL.@@AMEPARAM@@31Jo5yNmXuL[/ame]

I believe that CS said that these pumps will lift water up to eight feet, which is about the height of our ceiling in the basement. My original thought was to use bleach, but CS said that the bleach might damage the seals, mechanism, etc. They recommended running a gallon of vinegar & water through the pump every month in a 50:50 solution. I believe that the stagnation problem is in the winter months when there is no condensation to be pumped and the un-pumped water sits in the bottom reservoir for several months.

Have you contacted the manufacturer and asked them what solution is recommended to remove the accumulation?

Dennis - I believe that this is the hyperlink to the owners manual. http://www.sylvane.com/media/documents/products/hartell-k15-condensate-pump-instructions.pdf

The company recommends a solution of warm water and mild soap to flush the unit and commercially available algaecide to remove the algae.

 

[Dennis The B]

Thanks, guys.

I'll get some algaecide the next time I'm at Home Depot. I have some white vinegar that's especially for cleaning our coffee maker. It should do fine for the maintenance, until I get the algaecide.

Bill, thanks for the link to the instructions.

 

[msinc]

Mine is 15 years old and I just got done yesterday with giving it a good cleaning. It should be done once a year but I have let mine go for two. I use purple power type cleaner to do the job and have since it was new. If it aint been hurt by the stuff yet after 15 years I consider it safe or O.K. to use. Here is two tips that I have discovered regarding the cleaning or routine maintenance of the pump...first I always remove the little one way valve on the top and make sure I clean it out good and that it holds back pressure and does not leak back down slow. Not important if you don't have a fairly high initial lift, but mine pumps it to the 9 foot ceiling and then another 60 feet to the outside. If that little one way valve leaks back then the pump has to run way more than necessary and it will wear out quicker than normal. This last tiem I had trouble getting it to stop leaking and had to finally clean it out by running that real strong drain cleaner thru it. Blow back thru it to test if it is working right. Next, I highly suggest taking the entire drain line from the air handler to the pump off the unit and make sure you get that cleaned out good as well. Pay special attention to where it screws into the air handler as the entry hole in the tray gets clogged up bad too. I have had to use drain cleaner on this as well and given what came out of it, it's a wonder it drained at all. They make that little trap piece out of clear plastic so you can easily see if it is getting full of junk, but mine is the solid white PVC. I just clean it every year too. I would not count on some magic chemical to just dump in the pump and hope it dissolves all the pudding...that will do nothing for the drain line from the air handler. It's really not that hard to simply clean it good with cleaning spray like 409 or the purple stuff and it's not as if it needs to be done very often.