Blocked drain line
Dust, mold slime and sometimes insects build up in the tray outlet and the hose. The tray fills and overflows, usually dripping from the bottom edge or the left or right corner of the unit.
Air conditioning · Drips, puddles and drain problems
Air conditioner leaking water: causes, urgency and repair
An air conditioner leaking water indoors almost always has a drain problem: a clogged condensate line, a hose with the wrong slope, or a coil that froze because of dirty filters and is now melting. A technician finds the cause and clears or reroutes the drain. The price depends on what is blocked and where the hose runs, and you get it after sending photos. Book by call, text or WhatsApp.
- Indoor drips, puddles and wet walls
- Drain lines rerouted away from neighbors
- Help with leaks after a new installation
- Coordination with you and your landlord in English
Right now
First steps when water starts dripping
Condensate is ordinary water, but it lands in bad places: on laminate, on sockets, on the wall below.
If your air conditioner is dripping inside, switch it off with the remote so it stops producing condensate, put a towel and a bowl under the drip and move electronics out of the way. Take photos of the unit, the wet patch and the outside end of the drain hose, then send them to us for a diagnosis.
- 1
Stop the water source
Turn the unit off. A split unit on a humid July day can produce several liters of water, and all of it has to go somewhere.
- 2
Catch and protect
A bowl, a folded towel or a plastic sheet on the floor saves wooden floors and rugs. Move a laptop, a TV or a power strip that sits below the unit.
- 3
Keep away from wet electrics
If water has reached a socket or an extension lead, do not touch it with wet hands. Switch that circuit off at the breaker if the panel is dry and easy to reach.
- 4
Document it
Photos with a timestamp help when you talk to your landlord or a downstairs neighbor later.
Inside the flat
Why water drips from the indoor unit
The indoor coil pulls moisture out of the air. It collects in a tray and should flow away through a thin hose. A leak means that path has failed.
Wrong slope
Condensate flows by gravity, so the hose must fall all the way to the outside. A hose that rises behind the unit, sags in a loop or is squeezed flat inside the wall holds water until it backs up.
Dirty filter, then ice
Clogged filters starve the coil of warm air, and it freezes. When the compressor pauses, the ice melts faster than the tray can drain, and water pours out at once.
Unit not level
A bracket that has shifted, or a unit mounted with a tilt away from the drain side, sends water to the wrong end of the tray.
Cracked tray or loose joint
The joint where the hose meets the tray can pull loose, especially after someone moved or repainted around the unit.
Very humid weather
On sticky days the unit makes much more water. A drain that coped in May can overflow in August if it was already half blocked.
Washing the mesh filters is the one fix you can safely try yourself, and it helps with the ice problem. Clearing the tray and flushing the hose involves opening the casing near live parts, so that belongs to the technician, usually as part of an AC cleaning visit. If ice keeps forming even with clean filters, the refrigerant may be low, and our AC not cooling guide explains the related symptoms.
Read the signs
Where the water shows up and what it tells you
The place and the timing of a leak point to the cause more reliably than the amount.
| Where and when | Likely cause | How urgent |
|---|---|---|
| Steady drip from the bottom of the indoor unit | Blocked tray outlet or hose | Soon, within days |
| Sudden gush after the unit stops | Iced coil melting, often dirty filters | Soon, and wash filters now |
| Wet wall under the pipe hole | Hose joint inside the wall or backward slope | Soon, before plaster and paint suffer |
| Water spits out with the airflow | Tray full, fan throwing droplets | Soon |
| Leak started days after installation | Hose not connected, unit not level, slope wrong | Call the installer |
| Water reaches a socket or cable | Any of the above | Urgent, switch off power safely |
| Drips from the outdoor unit or hose end outside | Normal condensate or winter defrost water | Usually not a fault |
| Water falls on a lower balcony or the facade | Hose ends in open air | Not dangerous, but fix it for good relations |
Outside
Water from the outdoor unit is usually normal
Many newcomers see a puddle under the outdoor unit and assume the whole system is failing. It usually is not.
In cooling mode the drain hose from the indoor unit normally ends outside, often right next to the outdoor unit, so dripping there simply means the drain works. In winter, when a split unit heats the flat, the outdoor coil gets cold and collects frost. Every so often the unit runs a defrost cycle: the outdoor fan stops, you may hear a whoosh, see some steam and find water or even a small sheet of ice below the unit. That is also normal behavior.
When outdoor water is not normal
- An oily film on the pipes or on the ground below the valves, which can point to a refrigerant leak.
- Ice that covers the whole outdoor unit and never clears, even after defrost cycles.
- Water inside the electrical box or dripping from the cable entry.
- A hissing sound near the pipe connections while the unit runs.
In any of these cases, switch the unit off and describe what you see. Do not touch the valves or open the cover.
Building life
Dripping onto the neighbors' balcony or the facade
In many Tbilisi blocks the drain hose just pokes out of the wall and lets water fall wherever gravity takes it.
On a hot day that steady drip lands on the balcony, laundry or window ledge of the flat below, or runs down the facade and leaves a dark streak and, over time, flaking plaster. In Vera, Sololaki and other older districts with narrow streets, the water may even fall onto the pavement or a cafe terrace. Complaints often reach the building administrator or the residents' association before they reach you.
Ways to reroute the drain
- Extending the hose down to the nearest rainwater pipe, fixed neatly along the wall.
- Connecting the drain inside the flat to a sink or bath waste line through a trap, so no sewer smell comes back.
- Fitting a small condensate pump when the unit sits below the point where the water has to go.
- Moving the outlet so it drips into a planter, a gutter or a spot that does not bother anyone.
Work on the facade may need agreement with the building administration, and in a rental the landlord should approve changes to walls or pipes. Tell us who you have already talked to and share photos of the wall outside, so the technician can judge access. Connecting to a waste pipe sometimes overlaps with plumbing, which our plumber in Tbilisi page covers.
New unit
Leaks right after an installation
A brand new unit that drips within the first days usually points to how it was fitted, not to a faulty machine.
Typical mistakes are a drain hose that was never pushed onto the tray outlet, a hole through the wall drilled with the slope going inward, a hose trapped under the unit's back plate, foam sealant that squeezed the hose shut, or a unit mounted slightly tilted. Pipe insulation that was not taped properly can also drip condensation along the copper lines. If the installer was someone else, contact them first and send the photos. If you bought the unit and just want someone to put it right, we can look at it, and our air conditioner installation page shows what a correct drain route looks like.
New-build flats in white frame condition often get their air conditioners fitted before the final plaster and flooring. Check the drain during the first hot week, while fixing it is still cheap and the new finishes are not yet damaged.
Damage control
Protecting floors and electrics, and when it is urgent
Most AC leaks are slow, but some need attention the same day.
Split units are very often mounted directly above a socket, a router or a TV, so even a modest drip can reach something electrical. Laminate and parquet swell at the edges when water sits on them for days, and wet plaster behind a unit grows mold quickly in a warm flat. If the floor has already lifted, our flooring page (in Georgian) covers repairs. A slow drip into a wall cavity can also appear as a stain on the ceiling of the flat below.
Treat it as urgent when
- water touches a socket, a cable, a power strip or an appliance;
- a neighbor reports water coming through their ceiling;
- the leak is a continuous stream rather than an occasional drop;
- you cannot switch the unit off because the remote or the unit does not respond.
If the wet ceiling or wall is nowhere near the air conditioner, the source may be a pipe rather than the unit, and water leak detection is the better starting point. For any other AC fault, see the air conditioner repair hub. Urgent visits are confirmed on the call.
Sparks, smoke or a burning smell from a wet socket or the unit: switch off at the breaker only if you can do so safely, leave the room and call 112.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to keep using an AC that drips a little?
Not for long. A small drip means the drain is partly blocked, and it tends to get worse in humid weather. Switch it off if water is anywhere near electrics, and book a check.
Why does my air conditioner leak only at night or after it switches off?
That often points to ice on the coil melting when the compressor stops. Dirty filters are the usual reason, and low refrigerant is the other one.
Water drips from the outdoor unit. Should I worry?
Usually not. The outside end of the drain and the winter defrost cycle both release water there. Worry only about oily residue, hissing or ice that never clears.
My downstairs neighbor complains about drips on their balcony. What can be done?
The drain hose can be extended to a rainwater pipe, connected to an indoor waste line through a trap, or fitted with a small pump. Agree the route with your landlord and, for the facade, with the building administration.
Can I clear the drain hose myself?
We do not recommend it. Reaching the tray means opening the unit near live parts, and pushing wire into the hose can pierce it inside the wall. Washing the filters is fine.
The unit is new and already leaking. Is it faulty?
Almost always it is an installation detail such as slope, level or a loose hose. Contact the installer first, and if that is not possible, send us photos of the unit and the outside wall.
Who pays when the AC in my rental floods the floor?
That is between you and your landlord. Photos of the leak, the damage and the date you reported it make the conversation much easier.
Contact
Send photos of the leak
One photo of the drip and one of the hose outside are often enough to tell what is wrong.
Send a short description
Tell us where the water appears, whether it reaches electrics or a neighbor, and your district.
Next step
Stop the drip for good
Send a couple of photos and we will tell you the likely cause and the next step.