On Mon, 16 Jul 2007 13:03:29 -0700, wrote:

My central Air Conditioner has problem with leaking water on the
floor. After inspection I found the water seems from the conjunction
betweek the plastic water pan and the threaded femal copper pipe
adaptor. The plastic water pan is inside the AC unit inside house.
The threaded femal copper part is for the connection to the drain
system to the outside. Since the gape between the above two mentioned
parts is lower and before outlet of the drain pipe, condensed water
all leaks through the gap to the floor, and not water really go
through to the drain system. I tested the drain pipe to the outside
is not clogged, and water will go through the pipe only when pouring a
lot of water suddenly inside the AC unit and the water level is higher
above the outlet of the drain pipe.

I guess when tightened the male pipe adaptor to the femal copper part,
the toque loose the copper part with built on the water pan, and made
a gap between the water pan and the copper pipe. Now my question is
how to fix it by myself? Is there any seal or glue for this purpose?
I asked the HomeDepot staff, and the J&Bweld was recommened. However,
this product takes about 5-8 hours to cure or dry. I really don't
have that long time to wait in this hot summer in Texas.

I think you do. You'll be lucky to fix this with just glue at all,
and 5 to 8 hours is not much.

Remember our soldiers in Iraq on patrol or even combat with full
battle gear in 130 degree weather (if not in July than in August.)

I read
instructions of other products, like Amazing GOOP Plumbing, AquaMend
(underwater repair epoxy putty stick), and SeamerMater (Professional
grade) for gutter, but I am not sure which one can really do the
work.

One says that it works underwater. Isn't that a tiebreaker? Does it
also stick to copper and ?aluminum?

Also, it is very hard to access the damaged area. There is no way to
separate the two mentioned part. The only thing I hope is I can use
my finger to put some kind of seal or glue along the conjunction to
stop the leaking.

I wouldn't try to separate them. Then you'll have problems holding
them together when gluing them.

Of course, the final way is to call an AC specialist to replace the
water pan, which probably will cost me several hundred dollars.

Please give me suggestions?

I've had the same problem, except that my outer pipe and coupling was
plastic. And the pan and the female part was metal. In the process
of trying to figure out why the water wasn't going down the pipe, I
unscrewed the plastic from the metal, and I couldnt screw it back in.
The threads were never the same, they never matched because half was
plastic and half metal, but somehow it was screwed in anyhow, with
little if any glue.

I'm pretty sure I used, and what I would recommend is PC-70. It
sticks to everythign, including glass. It's very strong, and in
another case, I was able to put it on something that was wet amd it
still dried. In that case I had just moved into a room in an apt.
with 2 roommates i soon found out were obnoxious, and I don't know if
they had complained to the ll or not, but the sink was dripping
constantly, or maybe running, and there was a small hole, getting
bigger, in the drain pipe beneath the sink. There probably was one
somewhere but I didn't see a valve to turn off the water to the sink.

PC-70 isn't as runny as JB-weld, so it will stay in place after only
about 10 minutes after it has been mixed, althouhg follow the
insturctions to see how long you have to apply the stuff to the joint.
I think it is less than 10 minutes, maybe 5.

When I applied it to the leaking drain, it kept drooping and
separating from the drain, moreso than normal because it was wet and
wasn't "adhering". But I watched it probably for a half hour and
every time it sagged, I pushed it up to where it was and may have held
it in place most of the last 10 minutes. I only lived there about 3
months but I think it held all that time.

I would still turn off the AC, and dry it up as much as possible.


BTW, in my case which didn't have an identifiable leak as yours seems
to, this didn't solve my prolbem. The plastic pipe went out an inch, a
right angle to point down 2 inches, a right angle to point to the wall
20 inches or so, horizontally and I checked, then down to the floor 4
feet, across to near the sump 7 feet, out from the wall 2 feet, and a
right angle into the sump.

I blew through the pipe and it seemed fine. I flushed it with a
garden hose from the utiltiy sink and water poured out as fast as it
went in. But when I reattached it as above, the water in the AC
still ended up on the floor. Finally, I cut the thing and rearranged
i so it went out an inch from the AC and then down 2 feet instead of 2
inches. Everything else was the same, but after that it worked. I
still can't understand way.


Thanks
SZ