Do ductless mini splits emit dust, mold or other airborne particles?

[tucson]

Please see the next post below.

Thanks,

Sue

[tucson]

We're getting ready to have the indoor unit of our 6 year old Daikin FTXS18HVJU mini split professionally cleaned. It's on the wall near the ceiling directly above the spot where we spend most of our time and we have asthma and very bad allergies to dust, mold, pollen, etc. The dealer said these units are very difficult and time consuming to clean and should be done every 6 months. In addition, there's constant noise from the pump. The first one lasted 3 years and 3 years later, the replacement is on its way out. Total yearly cost for 2 cleaning and maintenance visits plus pump replacements comes out to $750.

Despite cleaning the filters monthly, they don't seem very effective since the coil and blower wheel are filthy, the pan's full of dried black flaky stuff and there's mold in the pump reservoir and tubing. Since it's so high up, we have to move the furniture and get on a ladder to clean the filters.

My question is, what's going to be blowing into the room during cleaning? Dust? Mold? Other airborne particles? Cleaning chemicals? Anything else? And what about in between the 6 month cleanings? Since the evaporator coil, blower and condensate pan are right above our heads and not accessible by us, I don't see how we can possibly keep them clean.

Thanks for your help.

Sue

[The Viking]

Hi Sue and welcome to the forum,

The whole idea of preventive maintenance is to keep your unit clean and in good working order.

What you are describing is what we expect to find in units that haven't been serviced for quite some time. If this really is what it looks like after just 6 months then you will need more frequent services (shorter interval between services, perhaps as little as every other month, especially if you are asthmatic).

Condensate pumps; there are lots of different types on the market, some are quieter than others, some requires parts changed at regular intervals but all are cleanable and all are expected to last for years.

But to answer your question; From what you are describing your unit needs a deep clean at this stage. In real life that means taking the indoor unit apart and clean all the surfaces with specialist chemicals, ensuring all the dust and mould/black stuff is removed. Yes, this could mean that loose dust and mould spores is freed and circulated in to the room but no more so than when you are hoovering. When the engineer clean the unit the fan should be turned off and (s)he will use a hoover to remove loose dust, then most parts incl. fan scroll and condensate pan can be taken outside for a proper clean using chemicals. When the evaporator coil is cleaned it is common practice to have a plastic sheet hung around/under the unit to collect dirt and chemicals dripping from the unit and funnel it in to a bucket.

[tucson]

Hi Viking,

The Daikin is 6 years old, 1.5 tons and heats and cools a 150 SF room that's open to the kitchen which is handled along with the rest of our 1100 SF house by a 4 ton gas pack on the roof.

The original installer told us the only maintenance required on the indoor unit would be cleaning the filters monthly so that's all we've done. We were shocked to find out how dirty it is inside and what maintenance it really needs. Also, the way the Daikin is put together, to get to the blower wheel and pan, they would have to pump it down and remove the coil, electrical box and motors. Instead, what they're proposing to do for $200 each time is to leave the unit intact on the wall and clean it in place. For comparison, it only costs $184 a year to clean and maintain the 4 ton gas pack while the total for the 1.5 ton Daikin is $750.

I don't understand how they can really get it clean that way. Wouldn't spraying liquid into the right side of the blower wheel get the electrical components wet? How can they clean the entire pan or the back half of the coil?

Thanks for your help,

Sue

[Magoo]

Hi Sue.
generally the filters in a split system are seriously low grade, generally called lint filters. Good for catchng large particulates. depending on air quality in your area, I would be up grading filter media material.
That black stuff are spores,bugs. becomes obvious wth seasonal change from cooling to heating, and that musty smell.

[tucson]

Thanks Magoo. Is that a retrofit? The filter is very thin and there's not much room in the wall mount indoor unit.

Sue

[al]

I wonder would it be easier to upgrade the filters in the gas pack. The duct less unit is only recirculating air already in the room, any dirt it catches is already present in the room, cleaning the room air would be more effective than trying to upgrade filters. Units installed in kitchen areas in my experience require cleaning about 4 times a year, I use this product which allows a pump action sprayer to be used on the indoor fan and coil.

http://www.advancedengineering.co.uk...eaning-covers/

[tucson]

Hi Al, I didn't think of an air cleaner, have to look into that. We do have room for a 4" filter in the gas pack return so I'll look into that too.

The cleaning cover is very interesting. Is that something we could do ourselves or should we call a technician? We have a pump sprayer but don't know if the electrical box is waterproof and won't get wet when spraying deep into the blower wheel. Also don't know what chemicals are safe for our Daiking coil and blower.

Thanks,

Sue

[Magoo]

Hi Sue,
I have seen in a/c wholesalers an aerosole spray can product that is used for vehicle a/c systems. Spray away with a/c running and all the junk flies out discharge, could be messy, most likely available on line ebay etc., regular filter media is available in rolls buy it by the meter, grey looking fluffy stuff just attach to existing filter frame and wash regularly.
Good idea from Al for filtering gas unit air flow as well.
If you have kitchen and shower come toilet extract, the combined effect is alot of outside air is sucked into living area including all the junk in the air with it. Possibly a balance air vent and filter included would reduce contamination. balance vent and filter could be installed into ceiling space, or an outside wall , window in bathroom where ever. Simple and a do it yourself thing. Grilles and filters are easily purchased on line.

[al]

Hi Sue

You could try it your self but for the initial clean i would get the ac company to do it, watch them closely and you will see it is fairly straight forward. the electrical boxes are not sealed against water but the temperature probes on the coil would be ok. It is preferable to remove the drip tray for proper flushing, then you can clean the fan blades easily with a pump sprayer (garden weed killer type), as i say earlier, address the air cleanliness and this would only need to be done once a year if at all.

[vikky1971]

Hi Sue,
The fibres that gets trapped in the cooling coils holds the condensed water even after the air conditioner stops. These fibres gets past the filter. Some Ultra fine fibres and dust gets past the cooling coils and accumulate in the condensing water tray and when air conditioner stops the water evaporates and manifests itself as dark green-black colour, due to algae and fungus formation. This fungus which breeds on the wet fibres will aggravate asthma. Fungus emits spores to germinate and are allergens. So filters, cooling fins and tray needs to be cleaned on regular basis. In case you have cotton bed cushion that also needs to be vacuumed every 15days, the vacuum cleaner should have a hepa filter to filter the exhausted air, this will trap majority of the microbes responsible for asthma. If possible keep the bed cushion and the pillows in sunlight( extreme UV) once a month, the UV Ray's from sun will kill all the allergens. This will control the asthma. Common cold also aggravates asthma.
Wear dust mask and with the aid of long handle paint brush one can remove all the dirt deposited on the A/C blower(make sure power plug of the air conditioner is removed) vanes. The fibres deposited on the cooling fins can be removed with the aid of fine bristled wire brush only. Please be careful not to touch the cooling tubes. You can access the condensation water tray if you can remove the indoor unit's front cover, plastic. By watching some YouTube videos on it same can be done. Once front cover is removed take a bottle sprayer, fill it with dettol or mild bleach water ( use eye protection) and spray on the fins, this will kill all the moulds, bacteria and algae growth. Please donot spray on any electrical wiring or the power card. After 15~20 minutes again spray with fresh water to get rid of chemical and start assembling everything and use the air conditioner after 2~3 hours. This time will make sure no water carry over. Hope this article is of some use to you.

[tucson]

Thanks Magoo, Al and Vikky. We're going to give it a try ourselves so wish us luck.

Magoo, I can't figure out what you mean by "If you have kitchen and shower come toilet extract, the combined effect is alot of outside air is sucked into living area including all the junk in the air with it." Didn't know about balance vents so will have to look into that.

We'd like to get it cleaned professionally but unfortunately, everything is attached to the drip tray on this model. To get the blower wheel out they would have to pump out the ***** and remove the coil and pretty much every other part. They want $800 to do it that way and the guy said for $200 more I could get a whole new unit.

So we'll see how clean we can get it ourselves. We're going to take off the cover and the vanes and hang plastic all around. We got an aerosol coil cleaner that is approved by Daikin for this unit. The guys at the HVAC store said to spray it on the coil and blower wheel and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then we'll rinse with water from the pump sprayer and be careful not to spray the blower bearing or the electrical. Then let it dry for a couple of days before turning it back on.

We did get a 4" Merv 8 filter for the gas pack so hopefully that will help and we'll look into an air cleaner for the room with the Daikin. Thanks again everybody for your help. I'll let you know how it goes.

Sue

[r.bartlett]

lack of ventilation often makes things worse. I would investigate a heat recovery unit to give forced ventilation to the house.

You should be able to drop the drip tray and clean most come apart but can be fiddly
IMG_20160430_085511948_HDR.jpg

[airtrackinc]

Flush the evaporator coils
Clean and disinfect the condensate drain
Check and clean barrel fan
Clean and test thermostat
Check electrical connections
Flush condenser coils
Check for refrigerant leaks

[tucson]

Hi R Bartlett, Thanks for the photo, I love photos. What model is that? I wish our drip tray was accessible like that.

The house is old and drafty so I don't think we're lacking ventilation or maybe I'm not understanding you.

[tucson]

Good news, after spraying the coil and the fan, most of the dirt sprayed off with water! Qtips and a tiny brush took care of the rest. Rectorseal Clean N Safe is amazing stuff!

The drip pan is a different story since everything is bolted to it and it can't be removed without removing the ***** and dismantling the entire unit. Most of the stuff washed out but it's not 100% clean.

Does anybody know if those tablets that are made to go in the pan do any cleaning or if they kill algae or fungus? A bunch of them are on Daikin's Aluminum Coil Cleaning Approved Cleaner's List. I'd love to use bleach or dettol but they're not in this technical publication.

We're going to wait a few days before turning the unit on to make sure it's completely dry.

Thanks again for everybody's help. Hopefully we'll be cooling again in a few days.

Sue

[tucson]

Thanks airtrackinc! We've done the coil and fan and this will help us get someone to finish the job.

Sue

[back2space]

My advice to you on this would be to drop in a small bleach tablet or baby sterilysing tablet in the drain pan at the the opposite end of the pan to where the drain connector is. This way when the tablet gets wet it will dissolve and clean the drain and anything further down the line. Also this will remove smells as well.

Our bedroom unit was horrendous, the fan was all blocked up with dirt and dust that had literally turned to mud. This unit needed its filters cleaning every month because it would clog with deodorant dust. This was in the first 2 years of having the unit so I cleaned all my units fan scroll wheels at the same time in the house.

At the same time we also had a positive input ventilation system put into the house that has lowered dust levels and provided more fresh air into the house. The units are cleaner now and the fans dont appear to clog as much.

[vikky1971]

If one wants to get a perfect job to be done then his personal involvement is required otherwise one has to renew the unit after few years

[tucson]

Hi back2space, I will look into the positive input ventilation system. Never heard of that. Sounds like a great addition.

I'll look into those tablets. I didn't know about them.

Thanks!

Sue

[tucson]

Thanks Vikky, if the installer hadn't told us that filter cleaning is all that would ever be needed to keep the unit clean, we would have been on top of it. Thanks to you and the others on this forum, we now understand more how the unit works and how to keep it clean.

[back2space]

You can't beat fresh air in a house as it removes allergens and the type of dust that can build up on the fan blades.

[tucson]

Good news, we turned the unit back on and it's cooling fine. Thanks for all of your help! Check out my new thread to hear about our other problem.

Sue

[back2space]

Hi back2space, I will look into the positive input ventilation system. Never heard of that. Sounds like a great addition.

I'll look into those tablets. I didn't know about them.

Thanks!

Sue

These are the tablets, https://www.amazon.co.uk/CLEANING-CO.../dp/B00BOSENOG our £1 shops sell them over here but you can buy them online they are about the size of a £1 coin maybe a little smaller. One at each end of the drain pan and they keep the unit fresh and the drains sanitised.

[tucson]

Hi back2space, thanks for the link! Those look great and I would love to be able to use them. However, I'm not sure if I can.

Ace Chemicals has an announcement on their website that “Daikin/Amana/Goodman have tested and deemed (specific coil cleaners) as safe for use to clean aluminum evaporator coils and (specific pan treatments) for use as a Drain Pan Treatments. This information is noted in Daikin technical publication TP-109A and is on the manufacturer’s website”.

The technical publication says these are "the only approved cleaners recommended to clean evaporator coils. Any cleaner not contained in the above chart should not be used."

http://www.atlanticchemical.com/down...p?f=tp-109.pdf

Bleach tablets aren't on the list so unless I'm misinterpreting the bulletin, they're not approved.

Sue

[back2space]

Sue, I think I might have confused things here. Use proper coil cleaner on the coils but for the drain tray drop a bleach tablet either side. It doesn't touch the coils and is safe for plastics. They do similar ones for air con yet charge twice the price. Hope that clarifies things.

[tucson]

Thanks back2space. The technical pub also has a list of approved pan treatments and bleach tablets aren't included on that list.

Thanks for all your help.

Sue

[back2space]

Your welcome. They will prob contain the same chemicals but upto you.