The drain pan is integral to evaporator coil with no relation to furnace. In most cases labor is near the same to replace pan or coil with pan and coils are not expensive,making coil replacement the common choice. If system has been trouble free ,cooling well and the condenser is compatible with R410 it would make sense replacing evap and furnace. On a side note,Goodman is bottom tier price but imo good value. R-22 in old system is worth several hundred dollars.

Thanks so much for the info. So you're saying I can replace the furnace (the current one is too old to secure replacement coil and pan) with one compatible with the York, which still has R-22 refrigerant? The York AC is trouble-free and is compatible with R-410 but, as I understand it, it's quite a job to change an AC over to a new refrigerant. 😊

I can't speak to the amount of trouble converting yours to R-410 but if you stay with 22 they can reuse what's in system but if a leak develops in the future 22 is very expensive.

While it's possible to get a crack in a drain pan it doesn't happen all that often. More often the drain becomes clogged, over flows the pan the HVAC company then uses this as an opportunity to sell you a whole new system.

Not saying this is or isn't the case, because if the drain pan is indeed cracked then that changes the parameters.

Why this may not be what it appears? Most HVAC companies are under pressure right now (2022) to sell equipment so they don't loose their dealer status. If they don't sell enough and they lose dealer status they then get cut off from the equipment they are trying to sell.

Nothing personal, just business. -- that is the line straight from the distributors.

Because drain clogs don't pay anywhere near what a full replacement does... they put in the new equipment, clear the drain clog and you never realize the potential of what might have been.

I see excuses even worse than this as to why you need to replace everything. While the furnace is old too, is that the only reason they are telling you to replace it?

The furnace isn't leaking, the evap coil to the AC is. But because the furnace is old we need to replace that too?

How did you come across this service provider?

I service the Katy, Texas area.

Get a couple more companies in to diagnose the issue. You can replace a coil, even on an old furnace!

Thanks, people, I will get a second opinion! 😊

The monsoon season is here again, but this time, it was made worse due to Hilary. The evaporator coil has started leaking badly, but the unit drain pipe that goes out the wall is bone dry. Could that pipe be clogged on the inside, causing the drain pan to overflow?

We got our home warranty company involved this time, so will be getting a second opinion soon.

"Could the pipe be clogged on the inside causing the drain pan to overflow?"

What do you think?

@klem1, it's clogged. @mike_home I looked through YouTube videos, but there are so many, can you recall which one featured the pan swap?

BTW, I just took a pic of the unit. Is the drain pan missing? 🤔

@mike_home I think this is the video you are referring to. Unfortunately, that unit is radically different from ours, we are still looking for the drain pan. 🧐

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrQBO0as3Z0

You already acknowledged that drain pans have a drain pipe connected, do you see a pipe connected anywhere in your picture? Michael I think you are just rattling our chain so I'm not going to have anything else to do with you.

@klem1 I'm sorry you feel that way. I'm just a homeowner and not an HVAC repairman, so I'm just trying to learn more about these systems. Given that the garage unit is both a furnace and AC, it makes solving the riddle more complicated.

Regarding the drain pipe, there is one outside the house close to the unit, and no, I cannot see that drain pipe connecting anywhere to the unit.

BTW, I just took a pic of the unit. Is the drain pan missing?

you took a picture of the furnace. It looks like a vertical application from the picture you provided. The evaporator coil in a vertical application sits on top the furnace.

3 equipment pieces: Furnace, Evap. Coil, AC condenser.

Your furnace is not a condensing furnace, you won't find a drain pipe connected to the furnace.

That’s not the video I found. If you have determined there is a clog and not a crack then why replace the drain pan?

Did you get a second opinion on the required repair?

@Austin Air Companie Thanks for the explanation, so the evaporator coil is at the top of the unit!

@mike_home The HVAC repairman last year told us the pan was cracked. Because the outside drain pipe is dry, we surmise that the water is not draining through the drain pipe (clogged drain pipes are frequently mentioned in YouTube videos due to dark water and mold) and leaking through the cracked pan into the garage.

Update: We opened the upper front panel, and we were able to look in. Although we couldn't see where the pan was cracked, as the HVAC repairman reported, it does show a lot of rust from the accumulated condensation. Also, we verified that the outside drain works by pouring some water into it, which means that the pan is not draining. See pic.

Michael, The furnace data plate tag picture you posted in the first post shows a 1989 manufacture date for the furnace.

The picture above with the coil and the drain pan shows a metal drain pan. What does metal do? Rust. Clearly visible in the picture above.

Metal pans get holes (condensate leaks) not cracks. Due to the age of the furnace, the AC could be just as old? 34 years is a long time in HVAC.

I don't know that a home warranty company would offer a fix to this or not. I think most would find some way to deny coverage so they can get out of it. Why home warranties and HVAC rarely go well with one another.

Most of the time to replace that pan would require refrigeration work to remove the coil to get at that pan. If the coil is even only 20 years young due to all the changes in coil sizes (physical size of the coil, not tonnage) finding a pan that will fit could be a big challenge.

Calling the manufacturer of this coil looking for a drain pan will most certainly get a round of laughter. They will say things like: we haven't made those pans in 15 years.

I suppose you could look for someone to make a custom pan, but pulling the coil doing the work will probably lead to a failure of the coil itself (freon leaks). Then the money you spent on a new custom drain pan is up in smoke.

The real path forward is to replace this system in my opinion, that is *if you determine the drain pan has a hole in it due to rust.*

Even if the drain pan is merely clogged, the age of the system tells me the path forward is replacement. Start saving up for it.

I service the Katy, Texas area.

Thanks for your superb analysis. We have come to the same conclusion as you. Choice Home Warranty wanted to send a fly-by-night HVAC company to review the system. We rejected their suggestion since we would pay $75 for that privilege. I know we have to replace the system and will do so in the spring. We will need to do some major planning to get it done:

1. Homeowners added shelves to the wall facing the HVAC, and I am pretty sure they will have to be removed to provide adequate access to the old unit (see pic).

2. Given the numerous leaks, we must check the existing framing for deterioration and rot with a water restoration company and reframe, if necessary.

3. We need to get competitive quotes from at least five installers for a new system. I have already started to do my own HVAC research to replace this five-ton unit with a highly efficient, modern one.

Suggestions are welcome.

Update: I had the furnace, AC condenser and evap coil replaced with an all-Goodman system. It was all done for nearly $4,000 less than my service company quoted me. Glad this chapter is closed. 😊