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I took the cover off to look at things.
I looked at the white thing. There are three hoses going to it, and underneath, there is one coming out, which connects to the hose that runs to the floor drain. The small hose had a tear. I sealed it with electrical tape, but that didn't change anything. I disconnected the big hose to the front, and water came pouting out. I had to get a bucket, and it looked like there was about half a gallon inside!
I removed the lower panel so I could see the whole thing, and it was labeled "condensation trap". I found a video which showed how to clean it out. After disconnecting two of the three hoses, the guy put another hose on it and blew through it to dislodge some crud. I tried that, but used compressed air. Nothing. I removed the third hose and took the whole thing out. I tried air again then I took it to the sink to try wash it out. Nothing. I found some wire that was flexible enough to go inside, and poked it enough to let water through. That seemed to clear it enough.
So I reconnected everything and turned it all back on. When I came back to my computer, my browser still showed the video, so I decided to watch a few more. I found out that the condensation trap needs water in it, and without that water as a trap (hence the name, "condensation trap") water won't drain, and will back up into the pressure switch, damaging it. So I had to open it back up and put some water in it. The guy on the video didn't mention that (he wasn't an expert, just a homeowner), and since he didn't remove the trap, it looks like his retained its water. So I'm glad I figured that out, or sometime later this winter, we probably would have had another shutdown.
Although now that I think about it, that half gallon of water that was backed up inside... I wonder where it went. Did it get into the pressure sensor?
.
I looked at the white thing. There are three hoses going to it, and underneath, there is one coming out, which connects to the hose that runs to the floor drain. The small hose had a tear. I sealed it with electrical tape, but that didn't change anything. I disconnected the big hose to the front, and water came pouting out. I had to get a bucket, and it looked like there was about half a gallon inside!
I removed the lower panel so I could see the whole thing, and it was labeled "condensation trap". I found a video which showed how to clean it out. After disconnecting two of the three hoses, the guy put another hose on it and blew through it to dislodge some crud. I tried that, but used compressed air. Nothing. I removed the third hose and took the whole thing out. I tried air again then I took it to the sink to try wash it out. Nothing. I found some wire that was flexible enough to go inside, and poked it enough to let water through. That seemed to clear it enough.
So I reconnected everything and turned it all back on. When I came back to my computer, my browser still showed the video, so I decided to watch a few more. I found out that the condensation trap needs water in it, and without that water as a trap (hence the name, "condensation trap") water won't drain, and will back up into the pressure switch, damaging it. So I had to open it back up and put some water in it. The guy on the video didn't mention that (he wasn't an expert, just a homeowner), and since he didn't remove the trap, it looks like his retained its water. So I'm glad I figured that out, or sometime later this winter, we probably would have had another shutdown.
Although now that I think about it, that half gallon of water that was backed up inside... I wonder where it went. Did it get into the pressure sensor?
.
