Fixing home AC Drip Pan without removal



Condensor coils sitting on a Carrier Weathermaker 8000 unit. No way to remove cracked drip pan without removing the entire coil assembly after evacuating and disconnecting the refrigeration lines. Mighty costly activity. Will try to seal the crack in-situ without taking drip pan out. Other complication is proximity of the unit to the gas water heater. Optimally, the water heater would have to be removed to allow side access to the location of the crack on the back left corner as pictured. However, decided to prepare and pour sealant from either the top or the bottom access to the side and hope it follows the slope into the crack.

 



Plast-aid product sold online direct from company for about $25 including USPS shipping.

Unpackaged product. The left bottle is a white powder. Maybe the initiator. The dark bottle to the right is a liquid. According to MSDS its a methyl metacrylate. This polymerizes once mixed with the powder to form the sealant.

The powder bottle.

Constituents mixed up in a beaker. About 40mL was prepared to liquid constituency before being poured into the drip pan. The longer you stir the more viscous the mixture becomes. Added about 20mL of powder and enough liquid to make 40mL total. Stirred for about 5 min before pouring. NOTE: Before pouring in the pastic drip pan rinsed the area of the crack with lots of acetone to prep and remove debris and used compressed air from a compressor to dry area and remove additional debris.

Bottom view of the metal portion of the drip pan showing the sealant coming through the crack. Plastic pan sits inside a metal pan which is rusted due to the leak from the crack in the plastic pan.

Top view of the sealant in the plastic tray pan puddled around the crack.

Another top view of the plastic tray pan showing the solidified sealant.

Someone pointed out the acrylic nail product from "Kiss products" has the same constituent as the Plast-aid and for less money. Need to verify. Purity and other constituents may be an issue. Liquid monomer bottle on the left and the powder on the right.