Occasionally have foul air-con smell

[Chickenfarm]

All I can say is, like detailing your car, you still need to "clear" the aircon system (either by COMMA or Carmate, etc) every once in a while cos we live in a hot and humid country...so no matter how, the smell do come back somehow

[Phochem]

Nothing beats the traditional way;, crush some charcoal n stuff it in some old socks. Place underneath seats. Chg every 2months.

[Carlover76]

Oh, I have put one pack of bamboo charcoal and put it under seats but have not change it or put it under sun to re-activate it again, do I need to re-activate it?

[Phochem]

seriously i dunno abt tis 're-activate' thing. For me i jus refresh it with new charcoals.

 

Lasttime my ah-gong has this habit of baking the charcoal under the sun, mayb tis is to re-activate if loh...

[Phochem]

adding to my previous, i place charcoal socks under both front seats and 1 hanging in the boot. The size of it is ard the length of a palm and width of 2 fingers. Lightly crushed.

[Pisces69]

Just to share, I did the treatment from CDGE but the smell comes back again occasionally, I was wondering whether the smell could be coming from the carpet as I have used the Soft99 carpet cleaner to clean my carpet but the smell was quite smelly type, not sure why?

 

Can anyone provide some guidance whether will the smell from passenger area goes into the air-con blower fan?

======================

 

I was also getting a slightly bad odour from the AC for a couple of minutes after I switched it on with my Optra.

 

I just removed the glovebox & sprayed Lysol into the intake for the AC blower with the speed at "max" & let it soak for a day. When I drove the car in the evening, the smell was gone.

 

It's been >1 week now & the smell has not come back. I guess I'll just add this "treatment" to my regular 10K km servicing which I can DIY. The cost is less then a can of Lysol.

Edited February 26, 2008 by Pisces69

[Contax]

on top of that , it will really help if one can do a long distance drive up north.

[Byond]

Bro,

go to daiso imm to purchase the $2.00 charcoal jelly (250 grams). Divide the jelly out into 4 containers and place them in 4 corners of ur car. It will last u one to two months depending on where u park ur ride. Under a hot day, the jelly will absorb the odours.

it works well for my ride. Maybe u can give it a try...

[Carlover76]

Brother, though the charcoal can absorb the bad odour but the odour is coming from the air-con coil so am I right to say, it does not solve the problem by absorb the bad odour?

 

I ask few of my friends who is driving few makes of car but they say they do not have such problem and they told me they suspect there is a leak in the piping, I don't think that is the reason I getting the bad odour as few brothers here also have the same problem.

 

Anyway, I tried the CarMate Air-con Cleaner I post on Page 1 of this thread, it does not last me very long as the bad odour is back after 2 days which is not very effective at all.

 

Today I bought the Comma Air-con cleaner though it cost more than the CarMate brand so hope it can last me longer.

 

I know from your advices here are to switch on the recycle mode to let outside coming in when going up the multi-storey carpark then leave it open overnight, next day when start car, turn it off again and repeat such process every day, do I need to turn off the Air-Con when I turn on the recycle mode?

 

Does the above steps really cut down the bad odour or bacteria to form up, any feedback?

[Kb27]

The bad smell is due to bacteria discharge in the wet area.

To effectively remove the smell, don't cover up with fragrance or charcoal absorbant.

Use Lysol or Chlorox disinfecting spray...they kill the source of the problem which is the bacteria.

Also use the heater to dry up the area occasionally.

[Nohnemwan]

Guys,

 

Recently I have some foul sourish smell from the air-con, the smell used to be quite frequently then drive back to agent, they did some flushing and the smell went off for a while.

 

Recently, the smell comes back and now it happens occasionally. Anyone got any solution and I heard by hanging the dehumidifier like thirsty hippo type will help to reduce the moisture in the air-con system so that the mould and fungi will not grow in the air-con, is that true?

 

Anyone care to advise?

 

All these "solutions" offered to treat the smell are like telling you when you got diarrhoea to look for toilet but not treat the cause of the diarrhoea. You need to hunt down the CAUSE of the smell not the smell itself.

 

Do you smoke?

 

Even if you don't, something is clogging the drain pipe of your aircon condensation discharge tube. Either take a good wet vacuum cleaner and suck the hose long long and hard hard, or use a big syringe to inject 50:50 bleach and water solution UP the hose (slowly) so that it will dissolve the slime. Or both.

 

Of course the best is to open up the aircon fan coil section and use chemicals to clean it properly, and also the condensation tray.

[Carlover76]

Guys,

 

I have seen guys from other countries saying that putting boiling kettle with steam out into the air-con system in recycle mode will help to remove the mould and bacteria, they even mentioned that it is much better than using LYSOL.

 

Anyone tried this and any comments?

[Apollo]

tat is equal to hot gassing but nope.. u sudn't do it and risk ur carpet.

 

lysol is cost effective way. if u want, can try to get hold of those UV-A bulbs place into the aircon filter compartment well protected by wire guage to prevent direct contact with any surface. plug to power and switch on for 10 minutes. it will kill 99.99% of bacteria.

 

note, u hv to stay away fr the inside of car as the UV is also harmful to humans.

[Contax]

go for a long distance drive up north and it will drive away all those foul smell .

[Carlover76]

Too bad that I don't drive up North.

[Byond]

you find one nite drive from west to east or via versa...should take you about 20- 30 mins..

maybe it will help lah...

[Carlover76]

You mean drive up North with the recycle mode turn OFF and let outside air in?

 

Just want to know anyone practise before reaching destination, turn the A/C OFF or Turn OFF the Recycle mode when you switch off your car engine for parking overnight?

[Ericang69]

Hi bro,

 

No need so troublesome, just 3 minutes before u going to park yr vehicle - off the air-con compressor with fan still runing. This will dry up the condenser and prevent whatever baterial growth that cos those odour smell. For starts you might forget to turn off the compressor in time, after parking off the compressor and blown the fan at high speed for 1 min with heater knob turn to 12 o'clock will do also.

 

In long run by doing so will help lesser the starting load for yr starter when u going to work the next day with compressor off.

 

cheers

Edited March 3, 2008 by Ericang69