AC Leaking Water
Nine times out of ten, a Dallas air conditioner dripping water indoors comes down to one thing - the condensate drain line has clogged and the water is backing up over the pan instead of draining outside.
Where the water shows up tells you a lot. Water pooling under the indoor air handler, or dripping from a small pipe near your roofline outside, points to a blocked primary drain forcing the overflow. Water that appears only after the system has run a while, alongside frost or ice on the copper lines, points instead to a coil that froze and is now thawing. And a steady leak from a unit sitting below its drain point - in a closet or garage - often means the condensate pump that's supposed to lift the water out has quit.
Clearing a clogged drain is one of the least expensive service calls there is, which is the best-case outcome here. It gets more involved if the drain pan has rusted through and needs replacing, or if a condensate pump has failed. The leak that costs the most isn't really about the water at all: when the water is coming from a frozen coil caused by low refrigerant, the puddle is just the cheap symptom of a leak-repair decision - and on an older R-22 system, that decision leans toward weighing a new unit.
Our attics work against these drains. A Dallas attic runs brutally hot and humid all summer, and that's ideal for the algae and biofilm that clog condensate lines - it's why the same line clogs again year after year if nothing changes. Mineral-heavy North Texas water can leave scale in pans and pumps that use it. And because expansive clay soil shifts foundations and the framing above them, an air handler can settle slightly out of level over the years, so its pan no longer drains the way it was set to.
How we pin it down
- Trace where the water is coming from - primary pan, secondary line, or pump
- Flush the condensate drain line and clear the clog
- Check the drain pan for rust, cracks, and proper level
- Test the float safety switch that should catch an overflow
- Verify the condensate pump runs on below-grade units
- Inspect the coil for ice and check airflow and refrigerant
Related services
Frequently asked questions
Water's dripping from a pipe outside near my roof - is something wrong?
That's usually your secondary, or emergency, drain line, and water coming out of it is a deliberate warning: your primary drain is blocked and the system has switched to its backup path. It isn't an emergency the moment you see it, but it means the main drain needs clearing before the backup fails too. Worth booking soon.
Why does my drain clog again every single summer?
Because a hot, humid Dallas attic regrows the algae and sludge that block the line season after season. Clearing it fixes today's leak, but if the same conditions return - and here they do - it can clog again. We flush the line fully and can talk through simple steps that slow the buildup down.
Could our hard North Texas water be part of the problem?
It can play a role where tap water touches the system, like a condensate pump reservoir or a humidifier, leaving mineral scale that gums up floats and pumps. The drain clogs themselves are mostly algae and dust rather than minerals, but we check the pan and any pump for scale as part of the visit.
Is a leak a cheap fix or a sign of something bigger?
Most leaks are the cheap end - a clogged drain we flush and you're done. It only signals something bigger when the water is really a frozen coil thawing, because that traces back to airflow or a refrigerant leak. We confirm which it is so you're not paying to mop up a symptom while the real cause keeps going.
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