Bad news: The air handler had a puddle of water underneath it when I went downstairs Friday night to do a load of laundry.
Good news: It was a load of dirty towels.
I threw down some towels and shut off the AC. Water poured out from a drain and made more of a mess.
I spent an hour cleaning up and checking how fast the puddle replenished. Shutting off the AC drastically slowed the flow. I'd done a load of laundry earlier in the day, so I was reasonably sure I caught the problem in it's infant stages. Our air handler is in the basement and concrete is fine to get a little wet (versus and attic unit), so I decided to research and wait until morning to avoid emergency fees. My research offered a plethora of possible causes ranging from a clog to "you need a new air handler."
There was a small puddle 7 hours later when Shane woke me up, but no flood. I called a pair of services and the earliest appointment I could get without paying through the nose was Monday.
Staying inside all day and monitoring a leak didn't work well with Shane. I took him to Barnes and Nobles for a clearance sale and teacher appreciation, but we stumbled upon a Lego activity. I recognized one of the kids from Shane's wrestling program (His older brother was even wearing the shirt).
Random: Someone used Minecraft to make a complete visual companion to the Bible.
While we were out, a technician suddenly became available. Shane and I raced home for a $126 fifteen minute fix.
A clogged pipe at the trap was the issue. The technician listened to my story, looked around, and asked for a cup of water. He poured it in, the leak started again, and viola!
To be safe, he checked the pump (which he said I should clean) and drilled a hole in the insulation to help it to drain.
I held a cup to the whole and dumped it out sporadically to go easier on the towels. The draining and drying will probably continue for at least a couple of days, but disaster was averted.
