Other side of the house attic. Primary drain runs directly out of the house. Secondary runs to a pan, and then out of the house. I would like it very much the primary was drained correctly somehow, rather than just out to the side of the house. -- droxford
If the air handler is in your attic, there should also be some vent pipes for your drains going through the attic. Should not be too much trouble to tap in. Perri
There are. But because the house is 40 years old, those pipes are cast iron, and no plumber will tap into 'em. -- droxford
OK. This is probably not an A1 plumber approved method, but it should work. The vent pipes have no pressure on them, they just allow air to enter your drain system. You could carefully drill a hole in the drain pipe large enough to allow your AC drain to be placed through it. You can then seal around the hole with plumbers putty to eliminate odors from entering your attic. If you do this very carefully, it should work. I would start by drilling a small hole and gradually make it bigger. Be sure to plan everything out and remember that water flows down hill! The drain must enter your vent pipe at a level lower than where it exits your A/C. If you have enough drop, put a trap in the line so odors from the vent pipe can't enter your A/C. Perri
That certainly is the gutsy thing to do. But, I have to confess - that scares me. If a pro doesn't have confidence in his ability to do it, I certainly don't. And what happens if I screw up? It's tempting, but scary! Is there no other way? -- droxford
Ok. A plumber won't do it because he would cut the vent pipe and install a TEE. The problem with this is once he cuts the pipe and if the pipe is in terrible shape, he may not find enough good pipe to make a joint. You on the otherhand, just want to carefully make a hole. The risk is that the pipe just crumbles away. If this happens, you will have to replace your pipes ( expensive, you are trying to avoid this). But the thing to remember is this pipe has no pressure on it, it will never be filled with water up in your attic. So if you can make a hole big enough to get your A/C drain in you are good to go. You can wrap it up in duct tape, plumbers putty, etc. just to seal off the sewer fumes. How bad are the pipes? Could you break one with your bare hands? I would carefully squeeze the pipe with some channel locks and see if it tries to crumble. If it gives, quit and wrap up the area with duct tape. If it is solid you are good to go. Anothe idea is to wrap up the area with duct tape BEFORE you drill the hole. This will tend to hold everything together when you are drilling. If you are not handy with tools, ask a friend for help. Reward him generously. Attics are hot this time of year!
AHHH! This sounds like good stuff! My pipes appear to be in excellent condition. I will try the channel locks on it just to make sure. I'm pretty handy with tools - just intimidated by areas where I'm anfamiliar. I've learned long ago that if you just go charging in without knowing what you're doing, you can royally screw things up, and I don't want to do that. -- droxford
