Condensate pump (& float switch)

A condensate pump is a small pump fitted to an air conditioner that has to push its condensate water up and out because the indoor unit sits *below* the drain point and can't drain by gravity — most common on concealed/ceiling units and low-mounted FCUs. It does the job that a plain gravity condensate drain does on a normal wall split. Paired with it is a float switch: a safety that senses the water level in the pump's little reservoir and, if the water rises too high (because the pump isn't clearing it), cuts power to the AC so the unit stops making water before it overflows and damages the ceiling. This is why a struggling pump often shows up as the *AC mysteriously switching itself off* — that's the float protecting you, not a breakdown. The genuinely dangerous failure is an overflow with no cut-out, which means the float safety itself has failed. Because a leaking concealed pump risks real water damage, sorting the pump, tubing and float is a professional plumbing-and-drainage job rather than a DIY poke.