I use either white vinegar or diluted bleach in that order of preference. I give the homeowner a part-time job. I tell them to get a little funnel and show them where to put it at whatever intervals needed.

 

I've tried the vinegar application with many customers but I'm positive they don't dont do it (unless I see a bottle of white distilled vinegar near the furnace) and have also have them an option to use a little bleach, but they would have to fill he pump multiple times with a few gallons of hot water to flush the bleach from the pump. If I find vinegar in the pump after they call with a condensate overflow issue chances are they never were addding itl!(just like when you find a clean brand new air filter in the furnace when you arrive for an operational issue).

I found out that If you see that clear jelly like material on a Humidifer pad it is a indication the humidifier running too much according to Aprialaire. I think it's BS because most only run when the heat is operating, and not humidifiying with fan when target is above current RH. The jelly material only occurs on pads not treated with anti-microbial chemicals like the wicking pads are. Something in the water is treating with the aluminum according to AA again. I end up going from a blue orifice 5qt/he to yellow 2.5 and hour and its been helping so far.:.

 

We use Little Giant condensate pumps which seem to work pretty well for us. I have come across the problem you speak of, but that only seems to be on the pumps that havn't been cleaned in a long while and usually after cleaning they seem to be fine for a good amount of time.

 

We clean the pumps every time we perform maint which is 6 month intervals, but this is occurring about 3 months after the maintenance was performed, which includes a new #35 hum pad if they have a humidifier.

We install carrier branded hymidiifers which are Aprilaire but the interesting thing is that the orifice size from the extract same aprilaire model is small, especially pertaining to the large by pass or AA600 model/large bypass. I started switching over the carriers to the yellow orfice whichis 2.5qt and hour vs blue which is 5qts and hour. AA said the pad should dry between cycles you get that gel like substance on the pad which I think is the cause of the issue. It's a nightmare of call back for stupid BS....do everyrhibf by the book and I only get trouble. I didn't realize that large fan powered or aa700 models couldn't be used on horizontal installs. I don't see that in carriers literature.....doesn't make any sense. I hope people start using steam hums only and ditch the evaporative type hums. I think it's worth every penny. Maintenance on them is a breeze as well.

Don't they even make a specific tablet for condensate pumps? Besides the blue diversitech ones, which don't seem to do squat..

 

Bleach was what I originally used but it seemed to cause to many issues with rusting the hardware in the pumps even when I flushed the hell out of it. It did take a good amount to junk of of the tubing but nothing close to what the coil cleaner does. It night and day comparison with the coil cleaner. Just have to remember not to leave it in the tubing becAuse it will releas all the junk stuck to the walls and cause it to become plugged. I just add a small pour into the pump and then adds hot water until the pump activates and I get the cleaner all the way to the end of the tubing. I then wait for it to work on the debris that's adheared to the walls, about 10 minutes. Then flush the living hell out of the pump/tubing. Keeping filling it with hot water Over and over again. You will see the crap releasing from the walls as the pumps running. I've had brown/black colored vinyl tubing come completely clear almost brand new looking. I some times used a gallow gun and purge the tubing before I do the flush just to blow out any loose junk hung up just to prevent any clogging. Another tech I work with tried using my method but didn't flush the tubing after he ran the cleaner into the vinyl. As toucan imagine that week end I get a call about the pump leaking....or clogged condensate tubing! I took my gallo gun and purged from the pump to the sump put. I've never seen this amount of slime and condensate pump debris come out before. I had the sump end of the tubing inside a 2.5 gallon bucket and it filled it about 1/4 of the way up after two hits with the Gallo gun. I then flushed a lot of hot water thought he condensate pump and the tubing was spotless. I wish their were an easier method it for now this is the best method I've experimented with.

Bleach works well if their is a real light costing in the tubing from my experience. Once it gets loaded up bleach isn't worth the time. I also hate the smell of it for some reason.

I'm surprised no company has sold a condensate flush chemical specific for this task. It would definitely sell because juat about all my customers ask about cleaning the tubing out. No tablet is going to cure this problem. The tablets diversitech sells for its cp-22 pump are a joke. They don't keep any thing from growing on the pump or keep anything clean. For 10 bucks it's a complete was of time and money. I guess it make some people feel good when they add them to the tray thinking they a re helping prolong the pumps life and killing any growth.

If they made some type of filter, pr diverter, to prevent any thing from entering the tubing would be nice but I think it might cause more problems then preventing problems....I've been thinking of using 1/2 tubing vs 3/8 with the hartell pab3x-t pump (which is th best pump I can buy, In my opinion of course. All these new pumps are complete junk.

All of our new installs use the PAB3X-T pumps now. We had to many issues with every single other pump sold at the distributor.

The small resiviour pumps are a head ache. Customer ways complain about them turining on and off continuously especially when a humidifier is on the system. Humidifer pads and issue is an entire separate topic which is also been becoming a big problem. Thank god for aprilaires new steam humidifier. What a awesome piece of equipment. Not a single issue since starting to install them a year or two ago! Fingers crossed!!

Anyone know of a better condensate pump with float switch? Any input is welcomed. I am always eager to learn
About others methods and techniques!

Wow, sorry for the long reply

 

Bleach. Not only does it clean it out well, it also seems to have some sort of residual effect so it stays cleaner longer. Water it down a bit. 50/50 maybe.