Said It Here

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.

  1. 1
    contacting a landlord
  2. 2
    checking if water is draining outside
  3. 3
    Checking and removing the drain line
  4. 4
    Wet-vacging out the unit and condensate outlet hole
  5. 5
    Planning to replace the seal around the access panel
  6. 6
    Considering hiring a technician to diagnose and fix

In their words

Unedited, most upvoted first, 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 ↗

Randyyz · r/hvacadvice · 2 upvotes

Okay, we were concerned the gunk was some kind of build up.source ↗

Randyyz · r/hvacadvice · 1 upvotes

Noticed water pooling under the compressor side a few days ago.source ↗

Past few nights I’ve smelled a feint mildew smell when the unit cycles on.source ↗

bfd_fapit · r/hvacadvice · 1 upvotes

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised