Moldy Aircon making me sick - how to clean blower wheel / inside?

[BEVUP]

I did my 2 aircons myself last time after watching the aircon man spray just water to clean

I have a Samsung & Hitachi

I used Baby laundry soap (no harsh chemicals in ) since the metal cooling radiators are very sensitive ( used a small pump up pressure bottle )

The heads of the units are a pain to clean & I took out the Blower of the Samsung

But also I couldn't clean the air out let properly (many nooks & cranny's ) so I had to spray Dettol over it 

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎11‎/‎1‎/‎2017 at 1:08 PM, KittenKong said:

 

Try water and white vinegar first as it is somewhat more organic and also cheaper. I spray that into my air-con every week or so, not for the rotary fan but to avoid the build-up of algae in the condensation downpipe.

Your AC must be of the sort that directly cools outside air. Most Thai home ACs only cool the air in the room and do not have condensation. I assume the OP has the latter sort.

 

If it is mould, as said, use spray, but turn the unit off at the switch till it dries.

OP must live in a high humidity area, as I never had mould in mine. All I had to do was clean the filters. Perhaps he needs a dehumidifier in the room.

 

As most people know mold is total poison for breathing. I wake up every morning with a blocked nose and dry throat. 

Doesn't sound like caused by mould to me. I get that when I sleep with the AC on, so I use a fan at night.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

4 hours ago, SS1 said:

I also had a look at my friends units who lives in the same condo since around 2 months and his were completely clean inside (he has never cleaned them since moving in). I'm thinking that could my units be defective with moisture building inside? 

That's exactly what I was thinking.

If you have the standard Thai AC with compressor outside and cooling unit inside, there is no water in the inside unit to grow mould. If it is going mouldy, it must be high humidity in the room, which is why I suggested a dehumidifier.

 

In one place I stayed, something in the room was so toxic, it degraded the plastic fittings on the fridge exterior.

[realenglish1]

One thing I do every  3 months is drop half a bottle of bleach onto the evaporation try that leads to the drain.

It cleans the hose and drain pipe as well as the evaporation tray from all mold.

 

If I do not do it then the drain pipe eventually backs up and I have water dripping from the tray in the airconditioner

 

This should be normal practice

[johng]

If you have aircon it will automatically dehumidify the room as cool air holds less moisture..the water runs down the evaporator into a drip tray and then down a pipe that leads "somewhere" outside.

The hamster wheel fan can be cleaned in situ with a high pressure washer...most can also be removed from the aircon for
cleaning but you need to undo the grubscrew attached to the motor spindle and loosen the mounting at the opposite end.
Trying to clean the hamster fan in situ without pressure washer is quite a chore !

[KittenKong]

Your AC must be of the sort that directly cools outside air. Most Thai home ACs only cool the air in the room and do not have condensation. I assume the OP has the latter sort.

Not at all. I have a standard split air-conditioner as used everywhere here.

It produces a bucketful of water every couple of hours, just like they all do. But of course it drains away outside so normally one doesnt see it (unless the drain pipe gets bunged up).

[KittenKong]

Last time the units were cleaned my gf told them to clean the blower wheel properly but if I understood correctly, they said it cannot be removed in this model (GREE AC units).

I dont know about that brand but on mine the entire rotary fan and drip tray can quite easily be detached from the main unit once the cover has been taken off. Once detached it just goes out onto the balcony to be washed by hand. I suppose that a lazy person could try and clean it in situ but the result could never be as good, as only part of the fan is ever visible at one time unless you take it out.

I also had a look at my friends units who lives in the same condo since around 2 months and his were completely clean inside (he has never cleaned them since moving in). I'm thinking that could my units be defective with moisture building inside?

As I mentioned, the old air-con I had before this one never had gunge build up on the rotary fan. Yet it was used in exactly the same way and in the exactly the same room and by exactly the same person (me). So clearly some brands are much less susceptible than others. No idea why though.

[thaibeachlovers]

19 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

Not at all. I have a standard split air-conditioner as used everywhere here.

It produces a bucketful of water every couple of hours, just like they all do. But of course it drains away outside so normally one doesnt see it (unless the drain pipe gets bunged up).

Strange then that the one in my room doesn't have a drain pipe, and is on an inside wall. I'm sure I'd notice if water was dripping out of it.

[johng]

Strange then that the one in my room doesn't have a drain pipe, and is on an inside wall. I'm sure I'd notice if water was dripping out of it.

Yes very strange....maybe the drain pipe is buried in the wall/under tiles...
When the condensation drain pipe gets bunged up the water cascades down the bedroom wall (usually) at an unearthly hour ..better make sure there is nothing electrical underneath or things could get "interesting"

[thaibeachlovers]

2 minutes ago, johng said:

 

Yes very strange....maybe the drain pipe is buried in the wall/under tiles...
When the condensation drain pipe gets bunged up the water cascades down the bedroom wall (usually) at an unearthly hour ..better make sure there is nothing electrical underneath or things could get "interesting"

 

Yes, perhaps it is buried in the wall. I just checked on the internet and the examples they give usually have a drain pipe, but nothing to be seen on the one I'm looking at, and nothing on the other side of the wall either. They'd have had to bury it a long way as well to get to the nearest drain.

 

The one I had in my bedroom wasn't serviced other than cleaning the dust filter for 3 years and never had a blockage, so perhaps some sorts don't need a drain pipe. When I opened it to clean the filter, I never noticed any sort of drain pan or pipe.

[johng]

Can you post a picture of your aircon.....3 years without a clean..do you use it often ?

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎3‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 4:22 PM, johng said:

Can you post a picture of your aircon.....3 years without a clean..do you use it often ?

I used it every evening I was there during the hot season for 3 years. I cleaned the filters once a year, I never saw a drain pipe or water tray while the cover was up, so obviously didn't do anything there.

I can't post a photo as not allowed in the house since got divorced and don't remember brand. Probably Samsung.

 

[The manic]

Try to wean yourself off air con. Get maintence in at 400 -500 baht every three months. Learn how to clean it yourself every month. I never use mine anymore just central ceiling fans. I'm a lot healthier now. 10 years of AC in the ME damaged eyes and nasal passages. 

[themerg]

On ‎3‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 10:30 AM, SS1 said:

I had the units cleaned a month ago or so and when inspecting with a flashlight, the blower wheel and it's surroundings are pretty much full of mould again. I'm coughing while I sleep and when I wake up as a result. Last time the units were cleaned my gf told them to clean the blower wheel properly but if I understood correctly, they said it cannot be removed in this model (GREE AC units). I emailed GREE about removing the wheel and they just replied to me in broken English to only have their certified mechanic do it. 

 

I also had a look at my friends units who lives in the same condo since around 2 months and his were completely clean inside (he has never cleaned them since moving in). I'm thinking that could my units be defective with moisture building inside? 
 

Bleach kills mold. Mix with water, amount of water is up to you. Wear protective rubber gloves, wear a plastic face shield. Work slowly and explore the areas. Find where the mold starts and stops. OR get serviced and specify in Thai, slowly "see daem mach mach", color black alot. Point to mold. 

[SS1]

Thanks for the tips guys. My AC units are GREE models like on the photo, one like that in my bedroom, one in my office room and a bigger one in the living room. The one in the livingroom has the least mould, but I use that one rarely. In contrast, I use the one in my bedroom every night at 23 degrees and the one in my office room daily at 26 degrees. I'm from Finland and my genes are for surviving arctic weather - not the heat of Bangkok  so unfortunately not using them is not an option for me. 

 

So far I have sprayed the blower wheel with a special AC spray, isopropyl alcohol and diluted bleach today. However, this doesn't get rid of the stuff as spraying is not enough - I'd need to wipe the thick layer of mould off with something. It's thick solid pieces of mould on the wheel (see photo of cotton bud) and they won't come off unless properly wiped off. The gap is narrow so it's really difficult to reach it with anything to clean it properly. 

 

I'm wondering if the units are somehow defective with moisture building inside.. one of them started leaking but was fixed by the condo maintenance staff. 

 

I found a cool function on the units though that I'll definitely use from now on to reduce moisture. "X-Fan or Auto Clean function is standard on all GREE Ductless split series.  This function allows the cross fan to run continuously after the cooling cycle to dry off the coil and help inhibit the growth of bacteria and mildew."

 

 

 

[DogNo1]

Unfortunately, the auto-clean function will not clean your blower wheel.  It is very hard to clean the blower wheel without disassembling the unit.   Without all of the mold removed, you can continue to get mold sickness.  It's a serious health problem.  See "Mold: The War Within."  There are three pages about mold on Dr. Mercola's website: https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/10/fungus-hiding-in-your-house-and-making-you-ill.aspx

 

My hotel in Bangkok has central air conditioning but my home's air conditioners are a real problem and most of the professional cleaners never give the blower wheel a glance.  Last year, I had to pay my air conditioner cleaners double to get them to attempt to clean the blower wheels and blower cavity with small brushes and cotton swabs but the cleaning wasn't complete.  I sprayed the blower wheel with isopropyl alcohol but the alcohol badly irritated my eyes.  I did get the name of a company that does what they call disassembly cleaning during which they take the wheel out and wash it thoroughly.  Mold grows everywhere in Japan - on the bricks in my yard, on the patio near my favorite coffee shop and even in the JNR train cars themselves.  Perhaps because it doesn't rain often in Bangkok, the mold problem is better but even so, mold grows here in carpets, in pillows, padded chairs, etc.  

 

Mold sickness is a progressive disease.  The longer your exposure, the sicker you get and it is much more prevalent than most people (and doctors) realize.

[KittenKong]

my home's air conditioners are a real problem and most of the professional cleaners never give the blower wheel a glance.

That's not my experience. Whilst cleaning services do vary quite a bit from one company to another, or even from one day to another with the same technician, all the ones that I have used have dismantled the rotary fan and cleaned it outside along with the drip tray. And they also wash the indoor radiator fins etc. with a pressure water spray. And all for the standard 400-500B.

[KittenKong]

Strange then that the one in my room doesn't have a drain pipe, and is on an inside wall. I'm sure I'd notice if water was dripping out of it.

The drain pipe will normally be in very close proximity to the two pipes that connect the indoor unit to the outdoor unit. They often put all three in a plastic conduit, or they could be buried in the wall. Either way, all split units must by their very nature have a drain pipe from inside somewhere.

[Airalee]

Can somebody here recommend an AC service company in Bangkok that will do one of these disassembly cleanings?  I’d probably break it if I tried to do it myself.

 

Thanks!

[SS1]

13 hours ago, DogNo1 said:

Unfortunately, the auto-clean function will not clean your blower wheel.  It is very hard to clean the blower wheel without disassembling the unit.   Without all of the mold removed, you can continue to get mold sickness.  It's a serious health problem.  See "Mold: The War Within."  There are three pages about mold on Dr. Mercola's website: https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/10/fungus-hiding-in-your-house-and-making-you-ill.aspx

 

My hotel in Bangkok has central air conditioning but my home's air conditioners are a real problem and most of the professional cleaners never give the blower wheel a glance.  Last year, I had to pay my air conditioner cleaners double to get them to attempt to clean the blower wheels and blower cavity with small brushes and cotton swabs but the cleaning wasn't complete.  I sprayed the blower wheel with isopropyl alcohol but the alcohol badly irritated my eyes.  I did get the name of a company that does what they call disassembly cleaning during which they take the wheel out and wash it thoroughly.  Mold grows everywhere in Japan - on the bricks in my yard, on the patio near my favorite coffee shop and even in the JNR train cars themselves.  Perhaps because it doesn't rain often in Bangkok, the mold problem is better but even so, mold grows here in carpets, in pillows, padded chairs, etc.  

 

Mold sickness is a progressive disease.  The longer your exposure, the sicker you get and it is much more prevalent than most people (and doctors) realize.

 

I didn't mean that I'd expect the "auto clean" or "X-fan" function to actually clean it, but it seems an useful function to help preventing the build-up of mould (once I've got it clean first!). It lets the fan roll and dry the unit for a few minutes after you switch it off. I think this could work since the condensation is propably caused by the big temperature change as the AC is left freezing cold inside while the room temperature gets to +30 as I leave the bedroom window open. 

 

If anyone can recommend a cleaning service who will take the blower wheel out, let me know as well. 

[DogNo1]

It sounds plausible that the wheel turning for a while after the cooling unit turns off would help to dry the unit and equalize the temperature inside the machine with that of the room.  The air conditioner cleaners in Japan told me NOT to buy a self-cleaning unit but didn't explain why not to do it.  I'll have to investigate.  In Japan, I have been leaving the air conditioner and my standalone dehumidifier on 24/7.  I've tried turning them both off, opening the shutters and windows and exposing the room to fresh air and sunshine but that doesn't seem to help.  When I return to Japan, I will have an indoor pollution expert come to my house to analyze what toxic substances are in the air.  As a construction engineer friend surmises, there may be high levels of formaldehyde and phenol in the house.

 

Good luck with finding a blower wheel cleaner in Thailand.  They seem to be as rare as hen's teeth in Japan!

 

In the meantime, my allergic symptoms here in Bangkok are very much improved but I don't know why.  It may be because of the horehound tea that I'm drinking or maybe not.  I think that I'll go back to my allergist and talk to him about it.

[tropo]

On 3/24/2018 at 2:47 PM, thaibeachlovers said:

Your AC must be of the sort that directly cools outside air. Most Thai home ACs only cool the air in the room and do not have condensation. I assume the OP has the latter sort.

 

If it is mould, as said, use spray, but turn the unit off at the switch till it dries.

OP must live in a high humidity area, as I never had mould in mine. All I had to do was clean the filters. Perhaps he needs a dehumidifier in the room.

 

As most people know mold is total poison for breathing. I wake up every morning with a blocked nose and dry throat. 

Doesn't sound like caused by mould to me. I get that when I sleep with the AC on, so I use a fan at night.

 

LOL. One of the primary functions of the air conditioner is lowering humidity.

 

None of the split style air conditioners cool outside air. Unless you have lots of leakage from your room or you make a special vent to the outside, they just recirculate the room air.

 

Regarding humidity. If the air conditioner is not getting the humidity down to levels below 60%, then the problem could be that the compressor doesn't stay on long enough.This can happen if the air conditioner is overpowered for the room size so it only needs to stay on for short bursts to keep the room temperate at the thermostat setting. It stays on long enough to cool the room, but not long enough to lower the humidity by much. A lower powered unit would stay on longer to get the room temperature down and lower the humidity more.

 

This could also happen if the setting is not low enough and too close to the actual temperature of the room without aircon running, in which case the compressor will not run for long enough to lower humidity. In this case you should lower the setting so the compressor runs for longer.

 

This could be a reason why some people are experiencing fast mold build-up in their units.

 

Here's another trick I learned. Before you turn off your unit run it in the fan-only mode for 10 minutes or so to dry the inside of the evaporator before you switch it off.

 

You should always have a digital thermometer and hygrometer in all air-conditioned rooms. They are cheap on Lazada. This way you can keep a close eye on the performance of the air conditioner and you'll have early warning if it's not working efficiently, and it will indicate the humidity of the room so you can determine if this is a problem.

[tropo]

On 3/24/2018 at 3:49 PM, thaibeachlovers said:

Strange then that the one in my room doesn't have a drain pipe, and is on an inside wall. I'm sure I'd notice if water was dripping out of it.

The drain pipe is usually bundled together with the coolant pipes, so you won't see it.

Edited April 7, 2018 by tropo

[rascalman]

Call a/c maintain to clean at be recharge it! What is wrong with you? 

[Don Chance]

Mold is not dangerous. In fact many building in Thailand are heavily infected with mold in the walls. Toxic mold is when you get sewage mixed with mold, like how you have the septic tanks under the main floor in many thai buildings, the mold floating up from their is not good.

 

Mold is not easy to kill with vinegar or bleach. They best way is physically remove it, wipe it clean.

 

You should worry more about venting your ceilings. If you have mold in the AC it is probably coming from some other place.

[SS1]

Still struggling with this issue.. It's been just a couple of months and the rotary fan is full of mould. The air coming out from there smells pretty terrible.. 

 

If anyone can recommend a proper cleaning service in BKK please let me know. 

 

I'm wondering if these GREE units are just crap overall, or defective. Also getting a regular water leak from one of the units that my condo's technicians need to fix every couple of months. 

 

On 4/22/2018 at 10:45 PM, rascalman said:

Call a/c maintain to clean at be recharge it! What is wrong with you? 

 

I don't know how much you've followed this thread but I clean them regularly and 3 different companies I've used, none of them have properly cleaned the rotary fan. 

 

[johng]

9 minutes ago, SS1 said:

I don't know how much you've followed this thread but I clean them regularly and 3 different companies I've used, none of them have properly cleaned the rotary fan. 

Tell them you want them to either take the rotary fan out and blast it with their high pressure water washer..or blast it in situ..which can get quite messy...they also need to  blast the condensation drainage pipe  usually a white flexible pipe on the lower right hand side of the indoor unit..this will regularly get full of slime and gunk leading to water flowing down your wall  both of these things should be done every time they clean  but some are lazy..and some lie saying they did it but didn't so  watch them like a hawk.

[BEVUP]

2 hours ago, johng said:

I don't know how much you've followed this thread but I clean them regularly and 3 different companies I've used, none of them have properly cleaned the rotary fan. 

Half of them never clean them properly 

The only time I got one in he just sprayed it with water & didn't do the drain pipe

That's when I did it the next time myself 

One of mine started to smell so took the wheel out, gave good clean

But that didn't fully help

Where the air comes out I was unable to wash properly or remove, & noticed a bit of mildew 

So I sprayed wheel & all with undiluted Detol - now ok 

[mogandave]

Strange then that the one in my room doesn't have a drain pipe, and is on an inside wall. I'm sure I'd notice if water was dripping out of it.

If you have a unit on an inside wall, it was probably installed without a drain pipe. It will have a condensate evaporating unit installed.

[mogandave]

Op, I think your installation my be suspect. Make sure your pan is draining completely. If the drain tube/pipe is a little too high, the pan will never drain completely.

Also, try switching the unit to “fan” mode high, and leave it on for an hour or two now and then to dry it out completely.

Gree generally builds a good product, and as you’ve mentioned, your neighbor does not have any problem with his.