Indoor coil smell solution?

[lolcakes]

Hello there!

During our routine service in an estate agents office, there is always one wall mount unit that smells terrible (a musty/mouldy smell).

We've tried God knows how many different coil cleaners over the duration of our visits to shift this smell but it keep's coming back. We've cleaned the drain pan etc. numerous times in hope that that was the cause of the smell, but it keeps coming back.

We've cleaned everything we can on the unit, and we are stumped as to what can shift the smell.

Any tricks of the trade that anyone else has picked up and can offer advice on?

We have considered using diluted bleach/Dettol mould and mildew removal spray on the coil, but are holding back because it's in someone's office that's is in constant use and aren't sure just how long the smell of bleach will last (and yes, the occupier WILL moan :confused:). If someone's tried it, advice would be appreciated.

Another method we've considered, as old-school-house-cleaning as it sounds, is 50/50 white vinegar and water in the coil. Anyone tried it?

All help is appreciated, thanks :D

[tonyhavcr]

The best way to eliminate a mold or mildew odor is to bring the humidity below 50 with a dehumidifier that will put the mold into a "hibernation" state. This humidity level does not kill the mold, but it stops it from growing and "breathing" that gives off the mycotoxins that we smell. The mold can start to "breathe" again if the humidity level goes above 50 for more than about 72 hours, so constant dehumidifying is necessary.

uv light works well for too this.

http://www.allergyconsumerreview.com/remove-mold-odor.html

http://www.negativeiongenerators.com/ultraviolet.html

[lolcakes]

Thanks for the quick reply.

The room isn't what I'd consider "damp" enough for something like a dehumidifier. Radiator in the room, double glazed window etc. and there are 4 other wall mounts in the same sort of environment on the floor that don't suffer from the same problem.

As for the UV light, it would be slightly out of budget for them :P

[brunstar]

the best way that they can cure this would be instead of turning the system off after a day of cooling run the system on fan only for a couple of hours a day and then this will dry out the coil and should eliminate the must smell of condensate build up on the coil..

[lolcakes]

Actually you just reminded me, the guy who's room it is mentioned on Friday that he hasn't used it since the Summer last year (despite being a heat pump aswell), so not being used over the winter would contribute to the smell.

But again, no matter what coil cleaner we've used, it just mask's the smell for a week or so. Also doesn't help that there aren't any whole saler's near where we are to get anything else to try.

We're due back in on Monday to finish the service so I'm pulling at straws to try and find a fix for the problem at long last!

[brunstar]

yeah, try and find out where the condensate drain is piped into also.

[lolcakes]

It's a gravity drain that just goes outside next to the condenser.

[prajkumar333]

hi hello friends did you see where is drain line is connected if the drainline is connected with toilet, bathroom flowdrop connection, if flowdrop is not proper, smell may be come

[tonyhavcr]

If you google uv you will find lower cost one's out there.

They do make a odder neutralizer that I used works well but will need to be replaced every 6 mo. or so will add up over time.

[brunstar]

try and get the customer to run the system on fan only for 1 week and see how it goes.
Has the fan scroll been taken out and washed as this will have a build up on it also..

[Andy AC]

Has the fan scroll got any build up of dirt on it?, you can clean the coil as much as you like but if the blades are smelly, it won't help.

Andy

[arzuamir]

After your cleaning of Coil, Blower & Drain tray Tell Your Custemer to Do'nt use any kind of Air freshners in the Room for a week.

[eggs]

Dettol and water works.

Apparently the smell is something to do with perfume...

In all seriousness, I now install wall mounts and under ceiling units slightly off level, sloping towards the drain exit, only very slightly, but still off level. You would never notice on a passing bus. (I always explain to the client before hand in case they have extra sharp eagle eyes)

Since I stated doing this I have never had a problem with smelly wall mount coil. This suggest that it is a build up of water that is allowed to go a bit stagnant thus promoting dodgy bacteria to grow on the coil.

If anyone has found a solution for cassettes, please let me know.

Eggs

[sadiq]

hello, try to fix u trap in condensate water drain line to avoid outside smell enter in room.

[Gary]

hello, try to fix u trap in condensate water drain line to avoid outside smell enter in room.

In addition, drain traps help keep the pan emptied.

[nike123]

If anyone has found a solution for cassettes, please let me know.


Regular (3 months interval in cooling) dosing of these:

http://www.azpartsmaster.com/Products/Actabs-Jr-Tablets__A71100.aspx

after torough clean up with this:
Clean-n-safe (http://www.rectorseal.com/files/67/dscleannsafe.pdf)

and after disinfection with this:
Coil desinfectant
(http://www.rectorseal.com/files/317/coildisinfectant.pdf)
It works always!

[regcooldude]

hi, just to add that the product i have used and find better than most is called clean & safe. most wholesalers stock it i think, rpw definatly do.

[dannycool]

Pump it down, drop the indoor unit and get it back to your yard/workshop and strip it down and give it a deep cleaning with a disinfectant then give it a day or two to dry out properly.

Danny

PS Dont forget to cap the pipework off to make sure there is no water ingress

[bob roberts]

I worked for a company that 'treated' their RAC coils that was supposed to prevent corrosion of the coil We found that these 'treated' coils seemed to hold smells and released them when the cooling stopped and the coil was drying out (IE the water evaporating)
We tried everything including stripping down and steam cleaning. Our only solution was to change the evaporator coil. This treatment gave the aluminium coils a tanned look, as opposed to the normal aluminium look.
This was back in the sixties. Sorry too long ago for me to remember the name of the treatment.

[Shibhrac]

Try to to scan the whole indoor unit's parts if nothing is a strange. Plug the drain completlly and see if any progress is made in this direction.

[Magoo]

And all the estate agents are female, guess what, after the perfume has evaporated. What is left. fan## smells. Suggest total santizing of A/c units and after that more fresh air introduction and positve pressurization.
Had similar problem years ago. Also suggested they showered more regular, and install bidets[ those washer things for lower bits and peices ]

[Makeit go Right]

eeeek! Magoo has gone there!:eek:

Phew! None of us want to talk about this aspect - dangerous.

From another view of things, all this returning to site and mega cleans etc, and back again. If the FCU is still available from suppliers, just swap it and walk away. (expensive maintenance pricing but would be worth thinking about for a job where you keep going back and customer upset and nothing works and .... better things to do in life, eh?

[bob roberts]

I worked for a company that 'treated' their RAC coils that was supposed to prevent corrosion of the coil We found that these 'treated' coils seemed to hold smells and released them when the cooling stopped and the coil was drying out (IE the water evaporating)
We tried everything including stripping down and steam cleaning. Our only solution was to change the evaporator coil. This treatment gave the aluminium coils a tanned look, as opposed to the normal aluminium look.
This was back in the sixties. Sorry too long ago for me to remember the name of the treatment.


The treatment was called passivation, the company stopped using it whan this problem was found .

[back2space]

I have this problem with my bedroom unit, it seems when the unit sucks in deodorant or aftershave smells or simply stale air from the bedroom at night it stinks the next day.

At the moment it smells of sour milk when first switched on, they were only serviced 3 months ago.

[Magoo]

Smells come from bacteria, those bug things. Fermenting away in your a/c.

[Frikkie]

Install a small ozone generator/air deodorizer that runs at the same time as the Air conditioner.