Is air conditioner condensation normal or a leak?
Air conditioners naturally create moisture and water pooling around the unit during normal operation, but seeing it can cause confusion and worry about potential damage or mold. This uncertainty often leads homeowners and tenants to stress over whether routine buildup or a mildew smell indicates a serious problem.
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.
- 1contacting a landlordDid this help you?
- 2checking if water is draining outsideDid this help you?
- 3Checking and removing the drain lineDid this help you?
- 4Wet-vacging out the unit and condensate outlet holeDid this help you?
- 5Planning to replace the seal around the access panelDid this help you?
- 6Considering hiring a technician to diagnose and fixDid 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.
“We recently moved into a rental home and I’m sending this over to my landlord but I am curious as to what could be causing this. How concerned should I be?”source ↗
“Okay, we were concerned the gunk was some kind of build up.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 8Why is my air conditioner condensation pan overflowing?
- 4AC dripping water inside but drain pan not clogged
- 2Why is my converted freezer accumulating so much water inside?
- 3Why is my evaporator coil icing over?
- 11AC unit leaking water from top rubber seal
- 2Why does my evaporator coil drain outside instead of the bathroom?