Furnace humidifier leaking water down the sheet metal
Water can trickle down the exterior sheet metal of a furnace humidifier even when the unit is relatively new and the pan isn't leaking. This uncontained moisture often causes a musty, stale smell to spread through the home's air vents. Since the exact source of the leak is difficult to identify, homeowners typically have to call an HVAC professional for repairs.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Checking if the humidifier pad is installed correctly and the drain is clear.Did this help you?
- 2Removing the cover while running to see if water is bypassing the pad.Did this help you?
- 3Using two wrenches to remove the water feed pipe and carefully bending it slightly down so the metal ring sits flat.Did this help you?
- 4Shutting off the water supply to the humidifier and abandoning itDid this help you?
- 5Replacing the humidifier water pad and cleaning out the drain tubeDid this help you?
- 6Calling a professional HVAC technicianDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Lately though, I’ve noticed a musty, stale smell in the house - especially in our son’s room, which has several air vents/registers.”source ↗
“Can someone tell me what I’m looking at and what I should tell the HVAC folks that I will absolutely be calling tomorrow?”source ↗
“Just turned it on the other day and when on every so often trickle of water coming down the sheet metal. Pan is not leaking humidifier is only 3 years old.”source ↗
“I had this issue with a similar humidifier recently.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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