Forum Discussion

rooty's avatar
rooty
Explorer
Jun 29, 2013

Air conditioner musty smell?

Has anyone ever had a musty smell from their air conditioner? If so any suggestions as to how to get rid of it and what it might be coming from?
  • Don't know what type of AC you have but you may need to 1) replace a filter or 2) may have mold growing on your inside coil. On mine I can remove a cover over the return and wash/replace the filter and when looking up see the coil. I spray mine with Lysol and it seems to help for a while.
  • Mold or mildew growing on evap cooler, in evap cooler drip pan/drains or from being carried over to fan blower area

    Go up on roof, remove outer shroud then remove metal cover over evap coil and give everything a good cleaning
    Make sure drain pan & drain holes are clear
  • We had that happen on a Carriage fiver years back.. Dropped it off at the dealer and they had to run some sort of cleaner thru the system for many hours. Not sure what it was, but it worked.
  • Mold growing on evaporater coils. Do some searches. You need to take the outside cover off, takes a metal cover off, then use a hose, 409, and a brush to clean it off. Its a messy job. You need to put towels/newspaper on the floor to protect the floor. Then you need to wash the roof and sides. You won't believe how much crud there is growing on it.

    I have heard that if you run the fan 5 minutes after you turn the AC off, it will dry out the coils and help prevent it.
  • turn it on and spray lysol into the incoming air. It will work. I also have done this to my car and it worked perfect. I used half a can in the car lol.