Smell when turning on the air conditioner: stinks, causes, how to eliminate, what to do, how to avoid

The appearance of an odor when the air conditioner is turned on is an exceptional situation. The air cooling system itself, the layout of pipes and heat exchangers, and the drain are designed so that the working space is ventilated and drained. Smells appear if there are violations in the installation and maintenance of equipment.

The main causes of an unpleasant smell from the air conditioner and how to eliminate it

Air conditioner works on the same principle as a conventional household refrigerator in the kitchen. Without cleaning and cleaning the space inside the refrigerator, an unpleasant smell will appear quickly. Even if there is an automatic defrost system. Therefore, it is not surprising that an air conditioner without cleaning, left to itself, when turned on, will emit unpleasant “aromas” into the air.

Reasons for an unpleasant smell from the air conditioner:

1. Reproduction of microalgae, bacteria in a humid environment, including condensate collection tanks, more often in tubes, sometimes even in winter on warm surfaces of heat exchangers.
2. The natural process of processing by bacteria of house and street dust collected on indoor air filter meshes.
3. Evaporation of preservatives.

In some cases, the air conditioner itself may be the source of the chemical smell when turned on.

You need to pay attention to it first of all. If the elimination of foul-smelling substances, clearly of biological origin, requires simple cleaning and sanitization, then the situation is more complicated with air conditioning. A sharp chemical or plastic smell can indicate an impending split system failure.

Healthy: How to start the air conditioner after winter

The smell of plastic

Always appears after installing and turning on a new air conditioner. The appearance of "chemistry" in the air is explained by the evaporation of preservative coatings, adhesive residue from adhesive tape. When turned on, the fan expels factory dust that has settled inside the air ducts. Such odors do not last long and disappear after an hour and a half after turning on the air conditioner.

The second type of odor is more unpleasant. It appears when the heat exchangers, compressor housing, contacts and wiring are heated. It smells, as a rule, not too pleasant, - slightly burnt plastic or chlorine (whiteness).

According to the instructions, all foul-smelling substances from plastic, metal and oil should disappear after a couple of hours after switching on. Usually that's how it happens.

Worse, if the situation repeats itself a few months after the installation of the air conditioner.

If, after turning on, a sharp, burnt smell of chlorine or melted plastic appears, then you need to turn off the split system and figure out the reasons. Because that's what burning wire smells like. It is necessary to find and eliminate the cause so that the device connected to the network does not burn out when it is turned on again.

New filters and screens can smell unpleasant, especially inexpensive ones, without marking, indication of the manufacturer or country of manufacture. It's the smell of the plastic itself.

Many air conditioner owners prefer to buy several new filters instead of cleaning and washing the old one. After turning on the air conditioner, the room smells of chemicals only for the first few minutes, then everything disappears. The smell will finally disappear in a month, but by that time the filter usually needs to be cleaned or changed.

Healthy: Why you shouldn't open windows when the air conditioner is on

The smell of damp

An unpleasant, heavy smell of stagnant water appears mainly in spring or autumn, less often in summer, in rainy weather. Sometimes it smells of dampness when the split system is turned on for heating.

The reason for the smell is a malfunction in the system for collecting and discharging condensate. Most air conditioners have a whole system of sensors and even a water pump. The condensate that falls on the cold heat exchanger is collected in a container.

As soon as its quantity exceeds the level in the tank, the automation turns on the pump. In the heat, the water simply evaporates or drains by gravity through a special tube. It happens that in hot weather, the electronics do not turn on the pump for a long time. It is clear that the mechanism turns sour, condensate spills over the pallet, all this is sucked in by the fan, as a result, the air flow from the air conditioner smells of dampness and street dust.

Sometimes water vapor impregnates the fabric insulation of cold pipes and remains in it until the time comes for the air conditioner to be turned on to heat the room. The bad smell intensifies, but usually disappears for a long time after that.

Another source of odor is rainwater. According to the instructions, when installing the outdoor unit of the air conditioner, it is prohibited to equip protective visors above the refrigeration unit. Water enters the outdoor unit and is expelled by the fan within a day or two.

During this period of time, the air may smell of dampness and rain. Worse, if the air conditioner is hidden in the shade of trees or under a canopy. In the absence of solar heat, water leaves the outdoor unit longer, the smell of dampness persists for 3-4 days when the split system is turned on. In addition, the metal parts of the frame rust, even if they are painted.

sewer smell

According to most owners of air conditioners, the rotten stench of swamp water is the most annoying. Moreover, it is more difficult to remove the source, even when the device is periodically turned on for heating.

Causes:

• the condensate removal system does not work;
• microalgae and bacteria have multiplied in the tanks and pipes;
• microflora emitting a rotten sewer smell has entered the indoor unit on the filter or heat exchanger insulation.

The rotten smell from the air conditioner is the result of the death of microorganisms.

They develop quickly in warm water, but the resource of nutrients is limited. And when you turn on the air conditioner, on the one hand, heating appears, on the other - cooling. The microflora perishes en masse, the bacteria process the plant mass into methane, carbon dioxide and solid residue. Methane smells bad. The gas escapes and the solid residue clogs the condensate removal system.

Where can microorganisms get into the air conditioner. Most often, the microflora is carried by birds, dust, falls with rain on the external unit of the air conditioner. Usually, rainwater does not bloom with microalgae if there is no contact with the ground. Pieces of soil are carried by birds. If turning on the air conditioner is a rarity, then birds often use the outdoor unit for bird gatherings.

Internal filter smells

Oddly enough, but the source of the smell when turned on can be a fabric-mesh filter on the indoor unit of the split system. Moreover, the amount of foul-smelling vapors can be much greater than from water with dead microalgae. The smell of rotten sewage is felt even without turning on the air conditioner.

The source of the stench is house dust, regularly collected by the mesh of the internal filter.

Almost all models of air conditioners are equipped with an air recirculation mode. The air in the room is cooled without taking an additional flow from the street. It is clear that most of the finest house dust settles on the filter mesh.

When the air conditioner is turned on, the air, blowing through the cold heat exchanger covered with condensate, picks up moisture and transfers it to the filter. From this point on, the dust sticks to the mesh, and often whole dust "mountains" grow on the filter.

This does not mean that split systems cannot be turned on in recirculation mode. At any setting, the system always captures some of the air from inside the room.

For example, the HITACHI RAS10JH4 model, when turned on in standard mode, skips 510 m per hour3, of which only 30 m is taken from the street3, the rest from inside the room.

Approximately 20% of the finest dust is microscopic dead skin flakes of people living in an apartment or house. So it turns out that a person generates a huge amount of organic dust, and a significant part of it rises into the air. Getting on the filter, such material gets wet and gradually decomposes with the release of stench.

Fungus

It is a pathogenic organism that develops in a humid environment. Can survive on concrete, stone, plaster. Attacks wood and organic matter. Carried by spores. The fungus can thrive in moist, cool environments, provided there are nutrients and minerals.

The fungus can appear only in a nutrient medium, mainly soil, damp soil. Therefore, if the air conditioner is regularly serviced, sanitized, then there will be no pathogen.

The possible appearance of the fungus must be taken seriously. It does not have a characteristic smell, so it will not smell bad when the air conditioner is turned on.

How to get rid of air conditioner odors

There are several ways to prevent bad odors.

It is advisable to purchase an air conditioner with built-in protection against the development of pathogenic microflora. Not just with an antimicrobial filter installed. This is clearly not enough, after several inclusions, the protective coating will be covered with a thick layer of dust, and its effectiveness will be reduced to zero.

You need to choose models with a conventional filter, plus an ultraviolet lamp and an ionizer.

To eliminate unpleasant odors, regularly sanitize both the indoor unit and the condensate removal system.

Buy several replacement filters, and change them as needed. The removed filter mesh is treated with an antiseptic, washed in hot water, and dried for high-quality dust removal. This method is more reliable than cleaning the filter directly on the block. Moreover, in such conditions it is not easy and not always effective to clean and process the mesh with high quality.

Finding out the cause of the smell when you turn on the air conditioner is easy. If you do not skip the maintenance of the split, use antiseptics, then there will be no problems with the smell at all.

Tell us about your experience with bad odors. What means were used to overcome dust and germs?