Thread: heat pump spewing water

On an inspection that I did this morning on a house that had been vacant since August, water was spitting out the sides of this packaged heat pump, and a layer of ice had formed on the roof surface from the spillage. The unit had not been on. I tested the heat pump and it seemed to work fine. Any thoughts as to what the water eruption could be?

Similar Threads:

• condensate pump drainage
• Sewage ejection pump-GFCI?
• Mismatched Lennox heat pump and high temp diffs
• Heat Pump?
• Magic Heat

Heat pumps will frost in cold weather and therefore need to defrost.
The ice (frost) that melts off the coil has to go somewhere.
Your picture are not clear but I would see if that explanation fits before pursuing other potential problems. The simple answer is usually the right one.

The unit had been on and iced up. Someone had left it running in the cold. It was more tan likely one big chunk of ice.

Ted,

Bet it looked like this one.

Rick

I had a double system where both the air handlers were in a second floor closet. Someone had left the air on during one of the past cold spells we had. The evaporator coils had about 2 inches of ice on both sides. I was actually a nice guy and turned the heat on and as they were melting I was picking slabs of ice out so it would not melt don onto the floor and start dripping through the ceiling down below. Both AC condensers had 6 inch balls of ice around the suction line connection at the condensers.

Here is a pic of what this unit looked like...

Isn't the drain line suppose to catch the melt water? Perhaps the drain line/pan is clogged?

The water was spewing out of the top and sides of the unit.

Ted...you say that it was left on and iced up. Aren't heat pumps supposed to be able to run in cold weather? This one supplies heat to the house.

That looks like this style of unit with the coils above the compressor and the defrost water will just flow to the outside of the unit like rain.

A little closer view.

very good info...thanks guys!