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ewmoda

Our A/C STINKS - septic smell and they have no clue how to fix it??

498

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 13 May 2012 - 11:13

For almost one year now, we have been battling with our A/C in one room. They have tried many, many things with extending vents, air ducts, adding plumbing pieces, blocking holes etc, and yet still can't get rid of the rotten smell which heads straight for my 4 yr old's bed. So, DS sleeps with us when we need A/C because I am sure this stench must be dangerous for his health. There is NO smell when A/C is off, but oly comes on when it is on. Has anyone else had the same issue, and how did you fix it?

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122

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 13 May 2012 - 15:43

Thank you - but one major question I have is what type of smell did you have? No it was not sewer smell, predominantly. Most people identified it as a moldy smell.

498

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 13 May 2012 - 15:22

Hi SD, to answer your question, the smell was a combination of mold, toilet and smelly feet:) vile I know. So not specifically septic/sewage but bad enough to not want to sleep in the room when the a/c was on. I'm putting my money on your problem being filthy coils. You should have seen the absolute filth that came out of my one :( Health hazard for sure. edited by Kate one on 13/05/2012 Thanks - I'll have them do this tomorrow when they come - we can only hope... cros fingers... I need my bed back!!!!

Anonymous (not verified)

0

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 13 May 2012 - 15:03

Hi SD, to answer your question, the smell was a combination of mold, toilet and smelly feet:) vile I know. So not specifically septic/sewage but bad enough to not want to sleep in the room when the a/c was on. I'm putting my money on your problem being filthy coils. You should have seen the absolute filth that came out of my one :( Health hazard for sure. <em>edited by Kate one on 13/05/2012</em>

498

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 13 May 2012 - 14:46

We spent nearly 5 months with this issue in our villa. The main unit is 40 years old and was smelly very bad. LL maintenance tried cleaning it 4 times. We had a professional cleaner come in and do all of the AC ducts to be sure it was not mold. Nothing they did fixed the problem and LL took a very hard line by trying to blame it on us; moldy carpet, cat food, spilled chemicals etc etc etc. LL ignored DH emails and phone calls for three weeks and only agreed to replace the coils in the AC unit after we had an engineer/inspector come and say it was a health hazard. DH then threatened to call DEWA and police. After replacing the 40 year coils, all is fine now, but what a HUGE battle it took for us to agree to get LL to spend any money to fix it. Thank you - but one major question I have is what type of smell did you have? Was it septic/sewerage smell? We were the first in the house and we have only been in it since last July. I believe the house was probable been built for a few years prior, but we were the first to move in and use it. No one has mentioned the coils to me, so I am wondering what type of smell you had?

122

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 13 May 2012 - 14:12

We spent nearly 5 months with this issue in our villa. The main unit is 40 years old and was smelly very bad. LL maintenance tried cleaning it 4 times. We had a professional cleaner come in and do all of the AC ducts to be sure it was not mold. Nothing they did fixed the problem and LL took a very hard line by trying to blame it on us; moldy carpet, cat food, spilled chemicals etc etc etc. LL ignored DH emails and phone calls for three weeks and only agreed to replace the coils in the AC unit after we had an engineer/inspector come and say it was a health hazard. DH then threatened to call DEWA and police. After replacing the 40 year coils, all is fine now, but what a HUGE battle it took for us to agree to get LL to spend any money to fix it.

2171

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 13 May 2012 - 13:57

we had a similar issue in our first villa. The problem was only solved when they installed longer 'exhaust' pipes from the sewerage system that vented out from the roof and were close to where the air intake system for the a/c was also situated. Hope that makes sense! They did this already, looks really bizarre on the roof - like an alien invaded the place with three vents that were extended - two going completely the opposite direction, and the third standing now about 3 feet high! But our test by blocking the fresh air duct from these vents has proven that the problem does not lie there. So we need to look at the pipe situation... also have to mention that we were the first people in this bran new house so it had never been used before, and we noticed in on day one. ours looked very strange too but it solved the problem fortunately and wasn't our villa. I wonder if there is a joint lower down that's not been sealed properly. Such a pain. We also had dead creature smells at one point too. Fortunately we've since moved, but I feel your pain. Could you get someone in like Epsco and see what they say? Have got them coming to sanitise our a/c on Wednesday and our LL has agreed to pay!

498

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 13 May 2012 - 13:21

we had a similar issue in our first villa. The problem was only solved when they installed longer 'exhaust' pipes from the sewerage system that vented out from the roof and were close to where the air intake system for the a/c was also situated. Hope that makes sense! They did this already, looks really bizarre on the roof - like an alien invaded the place with three vents that were extended - two going completely the opposite direction, and the third standing now about 3 feet high! But our test by blocking the fresh air duct from these vents has proven that the problem does not lie there. So we need to look at the pipe situation... also have to mention that we were the first people in this bran new house so it had never been used before, and we noticed in on day one.

298

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 13 May 2012 - 13:04

They need to: 1 - thoroughly clean the drip tray and make sure no blockage in the pipe 2 - backflush the machine (if it doesn't have non-return valves) 3 - chemically flush the coils And as other posters have said, check where the intake air is that it isn't close to the sewage vent pipe. Also, check that nothing died in the ducts (yikes I know, but it does happen). Hth :)

2171

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 13 May 2012 - 12:43

we had a similar issue in our first villa. The problem was only solved when they installed longer 'exhaust' pipes from the sewerage system that vented out from the roof and were close to where the air intake system for the a/c was also situated. Hope that makes sense!

1337

Posts

EW OLDHAND

Latest post on 13 May 2012 - 12:40

We also get this, but not consistently, I think it is almost like rotten stagnant water! Have you had the a/c cleaned out? Yes - a few times and they will do it again tomorrow. My brother is a expert on A/C in Australia, and he told them to separate the fresh air duct from the bathroom fan vents to test to see if it was a vent problem vs a plumbing/pipe problem. So we did this for 3 days and it is definitely a plumbing issue. He said that maybe the in the trap (u shape pipes), the water is not full and therefore air still passes through bringing the odour with it when the suction of the AC kicks in?? It is driving us insane as we have 2 bedrooms linked to this AC - and we can't use them at night to sleep. Too hot now without the a/c. I was about to suggest the above and one way to remedy things is to add a piece of piping so that anything coming out of a pipe or a vent is higher than the actual pipe or vent. So you carry the odour upwards. Does that make sense?

498

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 13 May 2012 - 12:20

Have they cleaned the coils? I had the same problem in one bedroom and although Emrill said they cleaned it along with everything else they obviously hadn't. My lovely a/c chap came over and cleaned the coil completely. It's a big job and it has to be removed and brought outside to be cleaned so if you haven't seen any of your guys do this then it is possibly this that's causing the awful smell. My bedroom is now completly smell free. HTH I'll ask when they come tmrw. Was yours a septic smell though or a mouldy dusty smell? Mine is septic...

Anonymous (not verified)

0

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 13 May 2012 - 11:55

Have they cleaned the coils? I had the same problem in one bedroom and although Emrill said they cleaned it along with everything else they obviously hadn't. My lovely a/c chap came over and cleaned the coil completely. It's a big job and it has to be removed and brought outside to be cleaned so if you haven't seen any of your guys do this then it is possibly this that's causing the awful smell. My bedroom is now completly smell free. HTH

498

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 13 May 2012 - 11:24

We also get this, but not consistently, I think it is almost like rotten stagnant water! Have you had the a/c cleaned out? Yes - a few times and they will do it again tomorrow. My brother is a expert on A/C in Australia, and he told them to separate the fresh air duct from the bathroom fan vents to test to see if it was a vent problem vs a plumbing/pipe problem. So we did this for 3 days and it is definitely a plumbing issue. He said that maybe the in the trap (u shape pipes), the water is not full and therefore air still passes through bringing the odour with it when the suction of the AC kicks in?? It is driving us insane as we have 2 bedrooms linked to this AC - and we can't use them at night to sleep. Too hot now without the a/c.

4423

Posts

EW MASTER

Latest post on 13 May 2012 - 11:19

We also get this, but not consistently, I think it is almost like rotten stagnant water! Have you had the a/c cleaned out?

2287

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 13 May 2012 - 11:16

Same problem, and anxious to see any suggestions !

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