Room A/C with mold.

[cmw]

I have a Friedrich room air conditioner mounted in an exterior wall. I noticed that the directional air vents were dirty so I popped them out. It appears that they are covered in black mold so I sprayed with a bleach solution (mold turned yellowish) & then washed in soapy water. Now they look good however, inside the A/C I see more black mold on the inside walls and shelf above the condenser.
My question is: how should I clean this? Spray with a bleach solution & wipe or vacuum or ignore it?
Thanks for the help.

 

[Jimbo]

Give up with the bleach. First, it can be harmful to some of the surfaces and materials. Second, I read that it may not actually kill mold, although it seems it should kill ANYTHING! and it is a cleaning agent.

Anyway, I believe you will be better off with a special produst like Moldex.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Geniescience]

any removal is better than no removal. Mold will reproduce again, so you have a long term struggle on your hands. Once you get the remaining quantity of mold down below a certain amount, its colonizing activity will slow down, too. But your mission, should you choose to accpet it, is to eliminate all mold and all future growth. After taking the entire machine apart and cleaning it numerous times (with numerous methods including using plain water under the shower head), then you have to try to change the growing conditions inside your AC unit. Mold food and mold-appropriate conditions.

more later.


david

 

[J4481b]

Re: Friedrich AC unit with black mold..

We have 2 large units, one through the wall, one window mounted. both with black mold suddendly growing.

Could the original poster please tell me how to remove the louvres?

No repair man in our area even wants to attempt it for fear of snapping off plastic "hooks" that hold them.

We can't find any way to remove the entire louvre section despite taking out the only 2 screws we see.

Calling Friedrich directly has been no help either. They give you local service people who aren't interested.

Thank you for any help you can provide.

 

[Bob NH]

Most plastic stuff today is assembled by snapping together. You may need to slip a table knife into some place to deform the mating parts and pull them apart.

If you break something you will probably be able to reassemble it.

Bleach kills things because it contains chlorine, which is a powerful oxidizer.

 

[J4481b]

Thank you....

We were told by Friedrich and the AC repair people we contacted, who don't even want to make a service call and do the job, that if we broke any of the plastic pieces, we'd would not be able to replace them. We would be left without louvres to direct the airflow. We're afraid to go any further with this after gentle prying and prodding attempts beside and between the louvres have produced no results.

I'm hoping the original poster or someone who has actually done this on a Friedrich AC can advise me how they did it.

Thanks for responding.

 

[Geniescience]

glue plastic snaps together again with epoxy glue if the stem breaks.

squeeze the heads with pliers until they can slide back through the holes they were put through.

i can understand it is frustrating and aggravating. Keep calling the service people and asking them detailed questions like the stuff i just wrote above. Remember that they themselves have this same problem to face often. If they can't come see you, they can at least tell you something useful.

A minor thing like a snap or a screw is not mission-critical and does NOT cause any problem inside your device and does NOT cause any contractual problem either. Because I said so. And everyone else too.

david

 

[Clarissa7]

If you’re like me, then you spend lots of time in the summer in a small room which has no air conditioning. And if you’re like me, you probably stay pretty uncomfortable because of the temperature. I know that air conditioning is expensive (especially here in the Midwest), and it wouldn’t be too hard to use a little bit of creativity to keep cool without spending too much money. Here are some ideas https://www.nyrentownsell.com/blog/how-to-cool-down-a-room-without-ac/ for how to make a small room more comfortable without access to AC.

 

[Fitter30]

There are some videos on cleaning window units on utube. I don't like beach it will change the color of the aluminum. They make evaporator coil cleaner sold in quarts and gallons. Can be diluted then be sprayed off with plain water. Most hvac companies don't work on window units because by the time they come out and look at it you could buy another one. Larger units need two men to move.

 

[Fitter30]

Delete

 

[WorthFlorida]

Never place chorine on the coils. Old units are copper tubing with aluminum fins and all new AC units are all aluminum. Chorine will eat away aluminum & copper, even chorine vapors. It will take a while but eventually the coils will fail with repeated exposure to chlorine.

Google Search "ac coil cleaner". HD and Lowes sell it in spray cans and are relatively harmless. If used on just the coils, the condensate will eventually rinse away. On anything else, no harm to plastic just use a spray bottle with plain water to rinse.

AC-Safe Air Conditioner Foaming Coil Cleaner AC-921 - The Home Depot

Suited for use with almost any coils, the AC-Safe 19 oz. Air Conditioning Coil Foaming Cleaner is a heavy-duty detergent easily removes dirt, grease and oil. With a special 360° valve. It can be sprayed

www.homedepot.com