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Author Topic: Air Conditioner  (Read 2291 times)

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mojito

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Air Conditioner
« on: August 18, 2013, 05:56:35 PM »

I've had my Soleus Air portable AC for a little over a year and have never had any problems. This summer however, it has seemed to rain a lot more than past years (I live in SC). Lately I have noticed that my AC sometimes blows out an onion-like smell. I clean it as much as I can but I have found a bit of reddish water in the AC (under the filter) but its very hard for me to get to. Any advice on what to do? I have had it on dry mode the past day and night but the smell comes and goes still. Thanks!
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mojito

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Re: Air Conditioner
« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2013, 05:57:35 PM »

And this AC is in my room with the chins and keeps the room cold for them. Also I haven't found any reddish water lately (I found it weeks ago and not since)
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GrayRodent

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Re: Air Conditioner
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2013, 08:16:38 AM »

It sounds like some kind of red algae or mold growing in your water pan or evaporator. If it happened to me I would wait for a break in the weather, take the air conditioner unit outside, remove the filter, and spray Ly-sol or something with fine aerosol mold killer onto the places where you saw the red stuff. Being savy with repairing appliances I would take the cover off and spray the evaporator but don't if you're not comfortable with that idea and/or if it is still under warranty. Some devices are designed with tamper evident seals so removing the cover may void your warranty. I'd also fill a sprayer bottle with water and spray that down in there to rinse it but not spraying into any motors, circuit boards, or visible wire connectors. If water has pooles up and comes into contact with a high-voltage source that is dangerous so be careful to spray water only into areas that you can see.Then I'd let it dry for about 30 minutes, plug it in, and let the fan run.

Then, while the fan is running, you can spray the ly-sol into the area where the filter was and let the ly-sol mist flow through the evaporator. Then leave it run for about 30 minutes to purge any leftover fumes.

Ly-sol is very effective but it is the most irritating substance, to me anyway, to breathe. I recommend ly-sol over bleach because bleach is known to damage plastic. I would not do this inside your home. I recently had a situation where my air conditioner water overflowed and I had to use ly-sol in my room to prevent mold. I think it was closer to four hours before I thought it was safe to bring Kulu back in but I sprayed heavily. I constructed a water level alarm to prevent that from happening again.

Of course you don't have to do this but I think this method will solve your problems.
« Last Edit: August 19, 2013, 10:32:17 AM by GrayRodent »
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mojito

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Re: Air Conditioner
« Reply #3 on: August 19, 2013, 03:19:22 PM »

It's very heavy, would it be alright to spray Lysol (and what kind, the mold/mildew?) while the ac is in my room with the cage and everything or would that need to be cleared out?
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GrayRodent

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Re: Air Conditioner
« Reply #4 on: August 19, 2013, 06:36:42 PM »

I would get lysol that kills mold. I would also spray a small amount just to see how long it lingers in the room and see what it's like before going full scale. If you want to fog your inlet with lysol like I was suggesting that might not be safe for you to breathe inside. You'll just want to spray the high spots, wait for 20 minutes or so for the ly-sol to kill the whateveritis and spray water to rinse.
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mojito

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Re: Air Conditioner
« Reply #5 on: August 20, 2013, 10:09:58 AM »

Yea it's still under warranty so I don't want to mess with it too much if I don't have to. Ill try spraying it a little bit first and then possibly spray more and rinse with water. Thanks so much!!
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mojito

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Re: Air Conditioner
« Reply #6 on: August 24, 2013, 07:58:41 PM »

I took the chins out (my sister watched them in another room), surrounded the cage with cardboard, and sprayed where I believe the mold/algae is (took out the filter first). I tried but was uncomfortable taking it any more apart. Will the hay and food in the cage be safe for them to eat?
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GrayRodent

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Re: Air Conditioner
« Reply #7 on: August 24, 2013, 08:06:51 PM »

I recommend you change the food and hay in the cage just in case. Like I said Ly-sol is one of the most irritating substances for me to breathe even moreso than engine and brake cleaners I use when working on cars.
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mojito

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Re: Air Conditioner
« Reply #8 on: August 24, 2013, 08:17:32 PM »

I didn't notice but I have all of their hay on top of their cage too (in a basket, they can't chew on it) but its got all of their hay in it what do I do with that? I can't believe I overlooked it!
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GrayRodent

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Re: Air Conditioner
« Reply #9 on: August 25, 2013, 06:33:26 AM »

Smell it and if it smells like lysol then replace it. If not just remove the top layer. That's what I would do.
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mojito

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Re: Air Conditioner
« Reply #10 on: August 25, 2013, 02:24:01 PM »

That's what I did right after posting it (removed the top layer bc I didn't smell Lysol). The rest smells fine! Thanks so much for helping me with this, my room smells 100000x better
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