Hello, we have a 18K BTU window AC unit that I have mounted thru a wall in our screen/Florida room down here in Florida. This thing has a terrible smell. A few months ago I took it out of the wall and removed the cover and cleaned the coils using coil cleaner I bought from home depot, I used a hose with low flow to wash the foam cleaner away as well as the inside of the unit (avoiding anything electrical), the AC was better for a while but now the smell is back. We regularly clean the filter. I asked my wife to describe what the odor smells like and she said it smells like rotten feet !!

I did a search online about this and someone suggested using some HVAC mold cleaner/remover.

Anyone have any other ideas or suggestions? I can remove the unit again it's pretty easy (other than weighing a ton !) since it has a cage that stays mounted and the unit just slides out of it.


Thanks

With a properly working drain, you may still have some algae problems if you shut the unit down for a couple of days. Any remaining water can start growing.
I use an evaporative cooler here in Las Vegas, and if you shut it down for two days you will know why they call it a "Swamp Cooler" - it smells like a rotten swamp.

So after you make sure the drains are working... Polyquat. This is a non foaming algaecide you can buy at the pool store. Many brands & names. The 60% stuff is about 25 bucks a quart. Otherwise known as Benzalkonium chloride. Dilute it 32:1 in a pump sprayer, and spray the evaporator with it while running the fan on low speed. This will kill all the stuff living in the crevices of the evaporator & air path.

If you plan to shut the unit down for a couple of days, pull the filter & give it a spray before you do.

B.



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"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."
~ Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi, An Autobiography, M. K. Gandhi, page 446.