RE: [A/S] Air conditioner odor.

["Tricia & Conrad Holsomback" <triconholsomback@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rick,
This is the  best yet!  We have been following your advice and running
the fan only before turning off the A/C and no more odor when we turn it
back on!  How simple and yet we never knew this.  Now how do we get to
the evaporator to clean it?
Tricia & Conrad

A big problem with air conditioner smells is the water condensate that 
occurs on the evaporator coils, that's the part of the air conditioner 
that is inside and gets cold (the compressed Freon evaporates inside the

evaporator coils and makes them cold.) The air conditioning process 
dehumidifies the air because it drops the temperature. This lower 
temperature air can't hold as much vaporized water as hot air, and the 
excess water condenses all over the evaporator coils and fins to drip 
off in to the drain and on the ground.

If you shut off the unit while the coils are still cold, water will 
still be all over the evaporator and mold can develop. The fix is to run

it on fan only to let the evaporator dry before shutting it off.

I remember that some GM cars even had self-running fans to eliminate the

smell when the units were shut off cold.

You need to clean the evaporator too. Try a mild bleach and water 
solution to kill the mold.

Rick Kunath
WBCCI #3060