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Topic Title: help with window AC unit
Created On Tue April 10, 2012 9:17 PM
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hardbody
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Joined: Nov 2003

Tue April 10, 2012 9:17 PM
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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

 
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HECAT
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Wed April 11, 2012 11:00 AM
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It works hard to dehumidify the Florida room and build a lot of condensation. Make sure there are plenty of places in the bottom of the unit for this water to drain out. If it sits there it will grow mold and stink. I have always carefully drilled extra drain holes in my past window shakers. In addition to the coil cleaners there are coil coatings designed to help prevent the mold growth on the evaporator.

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bohica2xo
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Wed April 11, 2012 11:15 PM
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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.

 
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NickD
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Thu April 12, 2012 6:18 AM
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Don't have the problem with my evaporator, yeah mounted in an air carrier, but gets awfully humid in Wisconsin as well. Just leave my blower running 24/7 at a very low speed.

Not only mold build up on the evaporator, but in the ducts and the rest of the home itself, constant air flow helps that considerably.

With our vehicles, think I finally trained my gals to switch off the compressor and move the blower to high speed about five minutes from home, won't die, but sure prevents mold build up there as well. Stepdaughter asked if she has to do that when stopping at a store, said no, just before the car is parked at night. Any window shaker I have seen so far, does have a low speed fan only setting.

 
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