OT - A/C Question Should I clean it with Skimmate?

[fazgood]

I know there are a couple of A/C Heating guru's on here. I have a question for you. A few years back we got a new AC/Heating system by carrier. It has a variable speed DC motor and for some reason the guy kept telling me that I should leave the fan on circulate ALL of the time. Well, the wife had a point that it blew cold air in winter and damp air in summer so I put it back to automatic last summer. Since then, when you fire up the AC after its been off a few days it smells REALLY musty. I mean like awful really nasty musty. I took the panel off to see if the A coli was full of fungus but it looks clean as the day it was put in. The drain is clear and there was no standing water in it. The filter gets cleaned once a month, its one of those Honeywell bug-zapper things and I just can’t figure out what is causing it. Is there something you can treat it with to get rid of the smell? I thought about dousing it with skimmate because even that will smell better. Odd thing is that it never happens with the heater.

Any ideas?

Faz

 

[levon15]

Do you already has the A/C on or are you just getting ready before the masses?

 

[fazgood]

"Do you already has the A/C on or are you just getting ready before the masses?"

Just getting ready. It started doing it last year and having kids with alergies, I am sure it will have to go on soon.

Faz

 

[Nanook]

I think that is pretty common with AC units but you better check with CapnUnderwear to be sure:lol:

 

[kpc01]

this is also called "dirty sock syndrome" basically what you are smelling is that fungus/stuff you see on the acoil coming out of being dormant. During the winter there is no food for it(dark/wet/dust) so it goes dormant, then when you kick on the a/c it comes back out and gives you that nice smell. First thing to do would be have an A/C tech clean your A coil with coil cleaner/comb or whatever he chooses to use. To prevent this from happening you can have a UV-Light installed. When installed just above the a-coil it will prevent these bacteria/fungi from growing again and will keep your a coil clean. I'm sure Capo has even more advice. I work for a hvac manufacturer that makes hvac stuff and IAQ stuff(uv lights, air cleaners, humidifiers etc) but don't typically install it.

 

[fazgood]

The stuff growing in there makes sence. Even last summer if we turned it off a few days it would do it. The UV was an option that we opted out of, I thought this could be added fairly easily, just drill a hole in the ACoil? I mean, by the ACoil. I chose not to get it due to the recurring cost to replace it. Can you recommend a place in town to get one? A bit of Googleing came up with using "Exodor" as well. All I could find on that is hand disinfector and toilet disinfector. Is there a product made for ACoils?

Sounds like this is a common problem with a lot of the newer systems.

Thanks

Faz

 

[Reggae Fish]

PM Capo...He will be able to help

 

[capncapo]

Do you have a humidifier?

Do you get the same smell if you run the fan only?

Many techs will recommend that you run the blower constantly in order to keep air from stratifying. That's the same reason why ceiling fans are recommended. I've never seen or heard of it causing any problems.

I have to wonder about your statement concerning the fan circulating humid air in summer. If it is, there has to be a source of the moisture that it circulates. Normally, running the blower will dry the coil in no time.

 

[dbuesking]

If you can get to the coil fairly easily then get a spray bottle with some self rinsing evap coil cleaner and spray that sucker down. Then repeat at the end of summer. That should get rid of the smell. Also make sure the coil has enough pitch so the condensate drains quickly.

 

[fazgood]

Thanks for the info gents.

Capo, I do have a humidifier and I have replaced the pad and cleaned the housing several times. Before the new system that seemed to help with the kids alergies. I also flip the damper to bypass air recirculatoin in the summer and turn off the humidistat.

If we run just the fan the smell will go away after a few hours. During hte summer when we use it constantly it is not a problem, just when it has been off a few days.

If we leave the fan running continuously during really humid periods, it will have a damp smell coming out of the vents for a minute or so ten it goes away. Its not the same musty sock smell mentioned above.

The coil is easy to get to and last year I checked and it seems to drain nicely as there was no standing water. From the part that i can see it looks like brand new but I would guess you can't see the bacteria/mold that smells.

I did some reading and some people say you can spray it down with a 50% water and 50% disinfecting dish soap mix. DOes this sounds resonable or should I just pick up a gallon of the Acoil cleaner. None of the ones I saw online seemed to state that they disinfected.


Not going to be using it for a few days now, may even have to turn the heat back on...

Thanks

Faz

 

[capncapo]

The soap will probably work as well as anything to kill anything that may be growing.

My only reservation is that while it may eliminate the symptoms, it may not eliminate the cause of the problem. I seriously doubt that the problem started because you ran your blower when the A/C wasn't running.

 

[fazgood]

Capo "I seriously doubt that the problem started because you ran your blower when the A/C wasn't running."

I think the original problem started when I DIDn't listen to what the tech said. I stopped running the fan all the time and then it started to have this problem. When I let the fan run 24/7 I guess it would dry out the Acoil. When I set the fan to auto is when it started to smell.

Any thoughts as to the cause of the problem?

Thanks,

Faz

 

[clutch]

you need a hrv hehe but you can put a couple of OZ of javex in the A/C coil drain pan (Kill any bacteria). Does your drain from the A coil go to the sewer? if so check the trap maybe your getting sewr gas..