Drain only for HVAC condensate?

[Peter G. Siposs]

Note the P-trap on the far left which has a clear hose from the AC condensate. Is this ok? Seems to me the P-trap would evaporate during winter or non-AC use months and dry out and result in sewer gas smell in the house.

[Larry D. Kage]

The trap appears to stick out a ways unsecured but otherwise I don't see a problem.

[arussell]

Originally Posted by psiposs

Note the P-trap on the far left which has a clear hose from the AC condensate. Is this ok? Seems to me the P-trap would evaporate during winter or non-AC use months and dry out and result in sewer gas smell in the house.

Peter
A couple of things: 1) is there a humidifier on the unit? If so, then it's ok during winter use, the humidifier will keep the trap full of water, but 2) it's hard to tell from the pic but it appears the pipe is exiting the building. If that's the case then there is no issue with sewer gasses.

[Peter G. Siposs]

The black drain pipe is part of the main sewer system. I know this because behind this wall is a crawlspace where I could see the branch lines connecting to the main line.
I've heard if your put cooking oil in the trap it sits on the surface of the water and prevents evaporation but surely most home owners wouldn't do this. I'm just wondering if anybody else has seen this and if anybody knows if its considered 'code' or not even though we're not code inspectors.

[arussell]

Originally Posted by psiposs

The black drain pipe is part of the main sewer system. I know this because behind this wall is a crawlspace where I could see the branch lines connecting to the main line.
I've heard if your put cooking oil in the trap it sits on the surface of the water and prevents evaporation but surely most home owners wouldn't do this. I'm just wondering if anybody else has seen this and if anybody knows if its considered 'code' or not even though we're not code inspectors.

Pete
I wasn't sure if it was connected to the sewer line or not, thanks for clarifying. I'm not a plumber, but from what I know I'm pretty sure there's something in their codes that states any entrance to a waste pipe must have a trap and a frequent flow of water to keep the trap wet. That's why I asked if the HVAC unit had a humidifier or not.
Unless a licensed plumber replies you might want to make a quick call to the plumbing inspector of the local building dept. and ask the question.

[David A. Andersen]

This is a high efficiency furnace. It makes condensate year round!

[cbottger]

Originally Posted by psiposs

Note the P-trap on the far left which has a clear hose from the AC condensate. Is this ok? Seems to me the P-trap would evaporate during winter or non-AC use months and dry out and result in sewer gas smell in the house.

Ahhh my favorite subject just last week spent 1 hour in the phone with follow up e-mail to a CA doctor buying a home here that had a condensate issue on a 4 year old home. Was that a job talking mechanical to a doctor????

What I see in the pic is a high efficiency furnace makes its own water.

If a P-trap is considered as continuous flow (wet) the furnace and A-coil can be hard piped to a vent in the attic with P-trap. other wise it has to have an air gap (pipe within a pipe) 3/4 into 1 1/2 such as in a garage basement or hall closet.

On a conventional 80% furnace no water the p-trap does go dry in the heat mode unless as stated above a humidifier is in use but most of the time humidifiers do not work because of poor maintenance.

I do not like cooking oil in a P-trap can go rancid I perfer Baby oil smells good