I hear leaking in my furnace, is this normal?

Question

I have one of those combination heat/air conditioners and I had the air running for a little bit and then shut the thing off and for about 15 minutes I heard what sounded like water dripping inside of it, like the sound of water hitting metal, that high pingy sound. Is something wrong with it? Is this normal? The thing is 20 years old so I'm nervous that it's breaking.

Answer 1

Often times the drain tube becomes calcified a bit and will clog and the water will actually drip inside the unit itself . Its a pretty easy fix for a handyman to clean the clog. if you can find were the drain hose attaches and pull off,a coathanger or small drain cleaner willget that tiny  but stubborn clog right at that spot.

Answer 2

Sherry K you have a problem.  The sound is condensate water leaking instead of  running thru the drain as it should.  If you let this continue the new question you'll be posting is "why is my carpet wet?".  The condensate drain line needs to be cleaned out or maybe it could have come loose some how.  Get it checked as soon as possible but if you don't run the ac it won't leak.  Later.

Answer 3

well your unit should condensate. but is it leaking. look around for any signs of moisture on the walls, floor etc. if not you might be safe

Answer 4

The condensate pan could be plugged and overflowing or cracked and draining out the crack or maybe the coil was frozen and when the ice melted it didn't hit the pan.  20 years old?  Have it checked if theres water on the floor at the edges of the base of the furnace.