Why does nobody talk about using aquarium pumps for condensate lines

I used to fight with clogged drain pans every other week in Phoenix, but after I swapped in a $25 aquarium pump to push the water out on a 15 year old fridge, I haven't touched that unit in 6 months, has anyone else tried this on commercial coolers?

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claire_ramirez221mo ago

That’s a clever fix and I get why you tried it. My buddy runs a small deli and he had the same problem with his walk-in cooler constantly backing up. He spent months snaking the line and pouring bleach down it, but every two weeks it would clog again and he’d lose a few hours of work. Finally he got sick of it and rigged up a little aquarium pump like you mentioned, just to push the condensation out to a floor drain. He told me it’s been over a year now and he hasn’t touched the drip pan once. He said the only thing he had to watch was making sure the pump didn’t run dry, but that was about it. So yeah, I believe it works, especially for those tight spots where gravity just isn’t on your side.

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valwest1mo ago

gravity just isn't on your side" is basically the story of my kitchen, so yeah that pump sounds legit.

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