Mold In Home A/C Air Handler
BAMA
,
Monday, 9th of August 2010 07:28:01 AM
My wife and l purchased this used house about a month ago. Before the BAMA purchase the home inspector alerted me to a leak had been repaired hours Registered User before his inspection. The repair was at the elbow of a drainpipe coming Joined: Thursday, 10th of June 2010, 02:41:05 from the bottom of the air handler, going through the crawl space, and Posts: 376 exiting into an adjoining wall. After moving into the home, l began to Viewed 12338 times smell a damp smell coming through the air duct when the air conditioner
was in operation. In addition, all three of us have quite sensitive noses
and began to show signs that something was amiss,. l began to inspect,
looked into the crawl space and found no evidence of a current leak but
there was a lot of dust, dead cockroaches, and a similar damp smell. l
also took the panels off the air handler and noticed mold all over a
motor, which l suspect, is the blower and one side of the evaporation
coils. Since this is a 3-ton system (the a/c is a fifteen year old Ruud
and the air handler is an old Tempstar) in a roughly 2,100 sq/ft home in
Mississippi, l was seriously considering replacing this system in a couple
months. The system is cooling but does not cycle as often as l think it
should. l have been all over YAHOO! asking questions so l know many of you
are tired of reading my posts. l had planned to order a system from an
online company called Alpine and getting a contractor to install it. Now l
am assuming that my air conditioning ducts may need cleaning too and it may
be more prudent to pay retail with a local company that not only installs
systems but also cleans air ducts. In an effort to improve the air quality
a bit, l was thinking about getting a mask, shop vacuum, gloves, bleach and
water solution, sponge, and evaporator coil cleaner and cleaning the coils,
blower, and crawlspace until we are ready to replace the system. Am l
correct in my assumptions can anyone give me prudent advice?
Babooshka
,
Tuesday, 10th of August 2010 09:42:17 AM
Hi Professa, Babooshka Registered User Congrats on tackling this problem immediately! Mold that forms in a no Joined: Sunday, 16th of May 2010, 12:16:53 sunlight environment with a water source is 100% toxic 100% of the time. Posts: 1800 Is there any mold inside the walls? It might look like just black dust in Viewed 17728 times come cases. If so the dry wall will have to be replaced as well. And yes
ur ducts will have to be completely cleaned before running ur new A/C. Is
there any way you can live without A/C until you get it replaced? When the
spores break free from the mold source they travel through the air & will
be on everything & be everywhere? I would def use bleach (not diluted) &
spray everything that is black in ur A/C unit. Are you guys suffering any
headaches right now? if so its in my opinion the toxic mold. So yes do all
you can to eliminate the mold first & replace replace replace asap!
Don Qwerty
,
Wednesday, 11th of August 2010 12:54:27 PM
See if you can locate some Cal-Spray product of Nu-Calgon. You Don Qwerty want to use [evap foam no rinse] Once you've cleaned the evap coil the Registered User smell will be reduced dramatically. Then have a contractor install your Joined: Wednesday, 21st of April 2010, 03:09:50 system and clean the duct. Check out nucalgon.com Posts: 193 Viewed 12665 times
muffin top
,
Thursday, 12th of August 2010 10:35:12 PM
I agree with Smokey but I have to tell you that, because you're muffin top going to replace the unit soon, I'd just spray the moldy areas with a mold Registered User & mildew remover. Get inside the offending ducts as well by taking off Joined: Thursday, 27th of May 2010, 18:30:25 the registers & spraying around in there. If you want to use a 1/2 & 1/2 Posts: 971 bleach & water solution, use a pump sprayer. Be sure to kill the power to Viewed 9387 times the air handler & give it time to dry before you turn it back on. Then,
when you replace the unit, get a quote on replacing the duct work as well.
CHICA
,
Friday, 13th of August 2010 05:47:43 PM
you will receive the best answer from a HVAC (heat ventilation CHICA and air conditioning) contractor. Registered User Joined: Thursday, 22nd of April 2010, 22:26:02 Posts: 537 Viewed 10307 times
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