Why do air conditioners drip?

BRY2K

Here is one explanation, star_gazer: You may notice sometime that water is dripping out of a tube in a place that it’s never dripped before, and it’s a pretty annoying thing and it may be getting your porch or door wet. Well, there’s a reason for that. It’s called the backup condensation line - backup condensation drip line. And when water is dripping from this tube in a very conspicuous place, it’s your alert to unclog the primary drip line. If your system is functioning properly, the condensation that’s building up on the condenser, which is 99% of the time in your attic, is coming out of the tube where it’s supposed to, which is a fairly inconspicuous place, normally it’s by the compressor outdoors. This is necessary because the water, the condensation building up in the unit, needs to go somewhere - otherwise it will damage your house. So when this backs up, it clogs up with algae, which is very common. Then the water starts to get diverted into a drip pan in the attic, and that’s what the other condensation line is letting you know - is that the water is then building up in that. http://www.expertvillage.com/video/241_air-conditioner-condensation.htm Jun 12 08, 11:29 AM

zbeckabee

Refrigeration air conditioning equipment usually reduces the humidity of the air processed by the system. The relatively cold (below the dewpoint) evaporator coil condenses water vapor from the processed air, (much like an ice cold drink will condense water on the outside of a glass), sending the water to a drain and removing water vapor from the cooled space and lowering the relative humidity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_conditioner#Humidity Jun 12 08, 11:32 AM