Furnace: Air leaking out furnace, not thru vents

[mscottsmith]

Hello!

I have a Bryant gas furnace/electric air conditioner. I noticed today that the air conditioner was running for hours, but my house wasn't cooling down. When I put my hand over vents throughout my house, I didn't feel any air coming out. I tried holding up a piece of paper to the three air intake vents, and the paper wasn't drawn to them like it normally would be.

I went downstairs and noticed that air was blowing/leaking out the top of the furnace -- which it definitely does not normally do. The air was getting blown through a crack towards the top of the furnace, so the leak is from inside the unit, not from ducts above it, etc. Except for this leak, everything seemed to be working fine (blower going, etc.)

I remember noticing this exact problem a couple years ago, and I set up a service appointment, but then the problem disappeared after about a day and I canceled the service appointment.

I also had a problem about a year ago with the condensate pipe getting clogged, causing water to leak below the unit. I had that cleaned out and a valve installed so I can check/run water through the condensate pipe. I took a look at that just now and it doesn't seem to be clogged (although there is some gunk in it).

Can anyone shine some light on what the problem might be? I can't see anything obvious. I suppose the problem might go away as it did before, but at this point I'm really curious what's going on. Is there something in the Bryant furnace that could cause the air to be vented out the front instead of being pushed through the ductwork to the vents?

Thanks in advance for any tips.

- Scott

[Hube]

Sounds like an obstruction with-in. Have you checked (replaced ) the air filter? Also make sure the a/c Coil is clean and unobstructed. Hube

[imeduc]

Is there any ice on the big line there by the coil on the furnace. do you change your air filters every 30 to 90 days when the unit is running? I d go into it and check the A coil there on the furnace first and see if its clean then check the freon . ED

My mistakes dont define me they inform me.