P-traps are designed to prevent air from being drawn up the drain of your air conditioner which can stop condensate drainage.

How To Install A P Trap

When installing a P trap in a condensate drain line for your air conditioning system it is important to follow some basic practices to avoid potential problems and achieve proper drainage.

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Refrigerant (Freon Gas) is not poison in the sense that you will get sick if you are in a room and a piece of refrigeration or air conditioning equipment leaks and you inhale some. Ventilate the room and have the leak repaired. Service technicians have been exposed to refrigerants for years without ill effects. This only applies to refrigerants that the average person could be exposed to during the course of their daily activities.

It is important to install a P trap so that the inlet side of the trap is about one pipe diameter higher than the condensate trap outlet. If the p-trap outlet is too high the drain line will not work properly.

P trap Definition

A P trap is a device used to prevent the escape of gases from sewer systems or used on air conditioning equipment to prevent condensate from the ac unit from over flowing the evaporator drain pan.

On many air conditioning systems, a negative pressure is created inside the air handler. Without a condensate trap, ac condensation can be prevented from draining through the air conditioner drain because air is being drawn in through the drain opening.

A P trap collects condensate from the drain pan in the trap and prevents air from being drawn in through the drain opening. Even if the air conditioner drains into a condensate pump you still should have a p trap installed at the drain pan outlet.



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