Thread: No condensate drain tray...

This condensate drain line appears to be hooked up to a plenum. There is no drain tray. This looks jury rigged to me. Any thoughts. ( you can also see a vent has fallen off).

Any thoughts?

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I can't tell much by your picture, but that looks like the bottom of a coil box with a primary and secondary drain line. It depends on where they go and other things not visible in your picture as to the defects.
Based on the vent pipe alone there is enough t call for repair. Vent pipes or ducts should not be attached with duct tape, which leads to the observation of a substandard amateurish installation that needs to be corrected by a qualified professional.

There needs to be a pan/tray under the unit with a drain line run to a place it can be seen if it starts dripping.

Duct tape does not work on ductwork.

That pretty much confirms what I was thinking. Thank you.

Originally Posted by Phillip Smith

There needs to be a pan/tray under the unit with a drain line run to a place it can be seen if it starts dripping.

Depends.

There 'should be' for common sense's sake, but is there 'required to be'? No.

From the 2006 IRC.
- M1411.3.1 Auxiliary and secondary drain systems. In addition to the requirements of Section M1411.3, a secondary drain or auxiliary drain pan shall be required for each cooling or evaporator coil where damage to any building components will occur as a result of overflow from the equipment drain pan or stoppage in the condensate drain piping. Such piping shall maintain a minimum horizontal slope in the direction of discharge of not less than 1/8 unit vertical in 12 units horizontal (1-percent slope). Drain piping shall be a minimum of 3/4-inch (19 mm) nominal pipe size. One of the following methods shall be used:

- - 1. An auxiliary drain pan with a separate drain shall be installed under the coils on which condensation will occur. The auxiliary pan drain shall discharge to a conspicuous point of disposal to alert occupants in the event of a stoppage of the primary drain. The pan shall have a minimum depth of 1.5 inches (38 mm), shall not be less than 3 inches (76 mm) larger than the unit or the coil dimensions in width and length and shall be constructed of corrosion-resistant material. Metallic pans shall have a minimum thickness of not less than 0.0276-inch (0.7 mm) galvanized sheet metal. Nonmetallic pans shall have a minimum thickness of not less than 0.0625 inch (1.6 mm).
- - 2. A separate overflow drain line shall be connected to the drain pan provided with the equipment. This overflow drain shall discharge to a conspicuous point of disposal to alert occupants in the event of a stoppage of the primary drain. The overflow drain line shall connect to the drain pan at a higher level than the primary drain connection.
- - 3. An auxiliary drain pan without a separate drain line shall be installed under the coils on which condensate will occur. This pan shall be equipped with a water level detection device conforming to UL 508 that will shut off the equipment served prior to overflow of the pan. The auxiliary drain pan shall be constructed in accordance with Item 1 of this section.
- - 4. A water level detection device conforming to UL 508 shall be provided that will shut off the equipment served in the event that the primary drain is blocked. The device shall be installed in the primary drain line, the overflow drain line or the equipment-supplied drain pan, located at a point higher than the primary drain line connection and below the overflow rim of such pan.

Confusing? To say the least. But Options 2. and 4. provide alternatives to the auxiliary drain pan.

I don't like it, but they have been changing the wording in the code to clarify that this is their intent.

My question is: Okay, so you do 2. or 4., what happens to an iced up coil when the unit shuts down for any reason, where does all that water go when that ice melts? Answer: It overflows and floods all over. Note: Unless there is an anti-freeze up switch installed which shuts the unit down before it freezes up - BUT - there is no requirement for that, just common sense, and yet there are two alternatives which are allowed to cause overflowing condensate because no auxiliary drain pan nor anti-freeze-up switch was present.

Dumb? Stupid? Cheap? Inconsiderate of occupants? Yeah, and many more terms can be applied to that too ... but one which cannot be applied to that is "required" - as in "auxiliary drain pan required".