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Apartment Living

Water dripping on my air conditioning unit

20 years ago

I live on the first floor and the neighbour on the fourth. The mistake I made was that I had my air conditioning unit installed directly underneath his/hers. So when his unit is operating, water discharged from it drips on to my unit and it makes such an annoying, continuous "tink, tink, tink" sound. What I do is I stick a square sponge sheet about 2 inches thick on top of mine using double sided tapes, covering it completely. It muffles the dripping sound but very late at night when it is quiet, I sometimes get awaken.

Apart from meeting and discussing about it with the said neighbour (this is the last resort) or have it removed or shifted so that it won't be directly underneath his, is there any better way of lessening the sound of the dripping water or diverting it? I can't think of a better material that can take dripping water quietly. The top of the unit is not easily reachable. I have to put out my left hand out of the window to be able to just barely touch the nearer end of the top since the window is secured by horizontal metals about 6 inches apart from each other.

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Comments (7)

SummerBreezeNY
20 years ago
Yes, a better material would be a thick piece (about 3 to 4 inches)of foam which can be bought at fabric stores or some art stores. Cut the foam to the exact measurement of the top of your A/C unit and make sure it covers the whole top. Then to make sure it does not blow off, wrap and secure a piece of string around it.

This is a common problem in apartment buildings. You can't expect your upstairs neighbor to move their unit because it drips. All A/C units are going to drip. What about when it rains outside? You are going to get a lot of "tinks" LOL.

I live in a duplex and my A/C unit upstairs drips right onto my A/C unit directly below. I know those "Tink" sounds. The foam padding works like a charm.
talley_sue_nyc
20 years ago
I ditto SummerBreezeNY: This is a common problem in apartment buildings. You can't expect your upstairs neighbor to move their unit because it drips. All A/C units are going to drip. What about when it rains outside? You are going to get a lot of "tinks".

You could move your unit, but when it rains, you'll hear it, too. Both our AC units make noise when it rains, but we don't have anyone dripping from above.

We took a nylon rag rug, folded it over to be the same size as the top of the AC unit, laid it on top, and wrapped a bungee cord around it. We used nylon, because it doesn't rot. It lasted us a long time. We also once used a vinyl doormat w/ a fiber top.

Bed Bath & Beyond last year carried a foam pad specifically for the top of the AC unit; I think it had a magnetic bottom, so it stayed in place.
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rays04
19 years ago
I use a product called Stopdrop -- a foam mat with a magnetic underside. It stops the Chinese torture and it stays in place without tape. But it costs about $20 a piece, I think, so your method is certainly cheaper!
lisa_bigpink_com
15 years ago
A neighbors unit drips onto my terrace right in front of the door so I get wet every time I go out. I'd like to divert the drip about six inches and have it drip away from the door and onto a plant. Any ideas how to do that? I've seen units that have a tube coming out of them but it doesn't look to me like theirs has anything like that.
talley_sue_nyc
15 years ago
You might be able to work w/ them to add a tube (Home Depot sells clear plastic tubing), or even a rope wick. You need something thick enough that it will fit into the hole on their unit

But you'd have to talk w/ them, probably. And get up there and measure it.
gardurnit
15 years ago
3 flights means the drips could end up anywhere with a bit
of a wind. But if they appear to be in the same spot
what you'd rather do is use a slanted piece of somthing.

This way when the drops hit they'll slide as they contact
the target rather than 'explode'. I can't be sure but
I'd bet $$ that it will be quieter just by changing the
angle from flat, where you get thunk thunk, to 45 degrees or greater. Where you'll probably not hear it.

goodluck.
DripDropStop
12 years ago
You Should try www.dripdropstop.com its the best solution!

Here is a link that might be useful: DripDropStop

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