AC condensate pan

Product Overview

Condensate is mild compared with many industrial fluids, but its effect on metal over time is easy to underestimate: a drain pan sits wet for hours during every cooling cycle, dries partially between cycles, and repeats that pattern thousands of times over a system's service life. That wet-dry cycling, not a single exposure event, is what eventually breaks down inadequate coatings and finds the weak point in a poorly sealed seam.

We design condensate pans around that reality. Material selection weighs the expected humidity and operating hours of the installation: galvanized steel with a good corrosion-resistant coating performs well in typical indoor, moderate-humidity installations, while 304 stainless steel is the stronger choice for high-humidity climates, coastal installations, or equipment expected to run near-continuously. Gauge thickness is selected so the pan resists denting and flexing during installation and service, since flexing at a seam accelerates coating breakdown at that point even if the rest of the pan is well protected.

Seam and corner construction follows the same principle: we weld stainless steel seams for a fully sealed joint, and use a folded-and-sealed construction validated for water-tightness on galvanized pans, since a seam that relies purely on sealant tends to be the first point of failure once the sealant ages and hardens over repeated wet-dry cycles. We also confirm pan slope toward the drain outlet, since standing condensate in a low spot accelerates localized corrosion compared with a pan that drains fully between cycles.

For OEM customers, we can recommend material and gauge combinations based on the target climate and expected service life for a new equipment platform, and for replacement orders, we can often suggest a material upgrade over the original pan that failed, without changing the pan's fit, to extend the replacement's service life beyond what the original part achieved.