Condensate Pump
Air conditioner condensate pumps are a convenient way to collect and dispose of the condensate produced by an air conditioning system when the air handler/cooling coil are located in a building location where the cooling condensate cannot be drained away by gravity. The most common situation to use a condensate pump is when the existing drainline has become compromised and is no longer effective routing the condensate to the outside.
The condensate pump itself is a small device with a small tank used to collect condensate water from the air conditioning system. Eventually, the accumulating liquid raises a float switch energizing the pump. The pump then runs until the level of liquid in the tank is substantially lowered. Some pumps contain a two-stage switch. As liquid rises to the trigger point of the first stage, the pump is activated. If the liquid continues to rise (perhaps because the pump has failed or its discharge is blocked), the second stage will be triggered. This stage may switch off the HVAC equipment (preventing the production of further condensate), trigger an alarm, or both.
