House A.c. vent leaking water

[The motor guy]

It was raining last night and I woke up to a dripping sound in the bathroom. There was water dripping from the a.c. vent in the bathroom. This is a small rectangular vent that no air comes out of. I think it's just their for looks. What causes this? It hasn't done it since. Is it a good leak? I find it a little too convenient that not leaks out the vent. No sheetrock damage yet.

Haven't noticed water coming out of the secondary drain outside either.

 

[PimTac]

The drain for the condensation might be plugged so the water is dripping back through the vent.

 

[mx5miata]

If you have central air a vent that doesn't supply air is the return duct. So you have water dripping from the return duct? Too much moisture I'm sure with this heat its very humid you may have to raise the a.c. temp probably the cold air and hot air mixing at the ceiling is making the condensation.

How much water is there?

 

[mx5miata]

Also a good point.

 

[JLawrence08648]

Are you saying water is running from the heat/a.c. Duct vent? That rectangular piece of metal in every room? If so, you have a roof leak.

 

[The motor guy]

Just the one vent in the bathroom which happens to be about 3ft away from the main air return where you put the filter.

 

[meadows]

Is this a return or vent? We have so much humidity that it can drip if cold. Reach up and check if cold. The vent in my master bathroom is actually rusting because of the moisture in the air and the cold air that flows thru. These others may not realize how much humidity we have currently in our area.

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: mx5miata
If you have central air a vent that doesn't supply air is the return duct. So you have water dripping from the return duct? Too much moisture I'm sure with this heat its very humid you may have to raise the a.c. temp probably the cold air and hot air mixing at the ceiling is making the condensation.

How much water is there?


Enough to get the bathroom floor wet. Nothing that can't be soaked up by a big towel.

 

[emmett442]

There should never be an HVAC return in a bathroom. The rest of the house doesn't want to smell the giant dump you're taking while the system is running.

Are you sure you aren't talking about an exhaust fan? An exhaust fan will vent outside to a gable end wall or the roof. You probably have a flashing leak outside the building and it's traveling back down the pipe and into the bathroom.

After all, you say it leaks when it rains!

 

[funflyer]

Originally Posted By: emmett442
There should never be an HVAC return in a bathroom. The rest of the house doesn't want to smell the giant dump you're taking while the system is running.

Are you sure you aren't talking about an exhaust fan? An exhaust fan will vent outside to a gable end wall or the roof. You probably have a flashing leak outside the building and it's traveling back down the pipe and into the bathroom.

After all, you say it leaks when it rains!


That's what I'm thinking. Sounds like the vent cap for the exhaust fan is allowing water in when it rains.

 

[The motor guy]

Okay it's a normal vent, just not much air coming out. I guess it's a roof leak. I've never seen a roof leak that didn't ruin the ceiling.

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: funflyer
Originally Posted By: emmett442
There should never be an HVAC return in a bathroom. The rest of the house doesn't want to smell the giant dump you're taking while the system is running.

Are you sure you aren't talking about an exhaust fan? An exhaust fan will vent outside to a gable end wall or the roof. You probably have a flashing leak outside the building and it's traveling back down the pipe and into the bathroom.

After all, you say it leaks when it rains!


That's what I'm thinking. Sounds like the vent cap for the exhaust fan is allowing water in when it rains.






Just to clarify since my ignorance has confused some people. It's leaking from the regular ac vent, the vent that puts cool air out. The other vent for the exhaust fan is okay and isn't leaking. It's supposed to rain tonight, so I guess the only way is to go up into the attic and see.

 

[meadows]

Guess the builder made 5 mistakes when he built my house. All of my bathrooms have air conditioning vents.

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: meadows
Guess the builder made 5 mistakes when he built my house. All of my bathrooms have air conditioning vents.


The only return vent that I know of is the big grate that you change the filter out in. Unless i'm missing something.

 

[spasm3]

I have had the insulation deteriorate on the coolant lines and fall off. The lines in the hot attic then had condensation running off them and onto my sheet-rock ceiling. Check the insulation on the lines to the coil. Its surprising how much water can come from that. I had to buy new insulation for the lines.

 

[ls973800]

Originally Posted By: meadows
Guess the builder made 5 mistakes when he built my house. All of my bathrooms have air conditioning vents.


No, the builder did just fine as long as they are not return vents as mentioned earlier.

 

[The motor guy]

It rained real good again today, no leaking so I don't know.

 

[The motor guy]

Maybe it was raining at just the right angle that time.