smell of air conditioning

fryup

There's a smell of air conditioning in my father's Citroen C3, you know that refrigeration type of smell.

The thing is he never uses it he just has the regular air fan on.

listermint

You need to use air conditioning regularly for it to function as it should. It shuld not be unused for months on end.


Id imagine it needs to be flushed cleaned and regassed to resolve the issues.

Bensmyth

fryup wrote: »

There's a smell of air conditioning in my father's Citroen C3, you know that refrigeration type of smell.

The thing is he never uses it he just has the regular air fan on.

What do you mean smell of Air Conditioning!!!!!!
If there is a bad smell like damp wet towel smell then the the evaporator needs to be cleaned. There are several ways of doing this one of is DIY aerosol can that you release in the car and it helps eliminate the smell but can have an overpowering smell of its own.
The other is ultrasonic where you remove the filter and place a small machine in the car which releases an ultrasonic fog that gets circulated through the vents.

If your smelling a sweet smell then it could be a gas leak that would need repairing.

Marty McFly

Not sure if this is of much help nut I had a similar problem in my Accord, its wasnt constant but from time to time I was getting a nasty smell fro the air conditioning f, it kinda smelled like someone had gotten sick in the car certainly wasnt pleasant.

At last service had the pollen filter changed and seems to have sorted the problem for now anyway.

fryup

^^^^^^^^^

shall look into that,

if it is an air con leak.. that can't be healthy for my old man to be inhaling it?

biko

Because he doesn't use it stuff starts to grow in there and this causes the smell.

Try this
Run the heater on full for a while, that will dry out the system and might 'cook' the mildew.
Change your cabin air filter (if you have one).


You can do this too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrVc_FXrbHY

Bensmyth

biko wrote: »

Because he doesn't use it stuff starts to grow in there and this causes the smell.

Try this
Run the heater on full for a while, that will dry out the system and might 'cook' the mildew.
Change your cabin air filter (if you have one).


You can do this too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrVc_FXrbHY

Switching on the heat won't make a difference. There are to radiators inside under the dash. one for heat and one for air conditioning (Evaporator).
When you use AC in a car condensation builds up on the evaporator. Under the Evap is a tray to catch the water and release it. (Ever see water under your car on a hot day that's where it has come from)

The constant moisture inside can cause a build up of mildew/bacteria (The smell)

You said your dad doesn't use the AC. Lack of or occasional use of the AC can cause the smell as the mildew/bacteria can multiply. The ultrasonic cleaning I told you about is suppose to kill what is on the evap and all the ducting. It also neutralizes odors in the car from smoking etc...
Change the pollen filter too as smell can come from here but under no circumstance try clean the filter.

Man of Aran

A musky dank smell would indicate fungal growth on the evap coil fins for sure- not easy to clean properly in such a concealed confined space as under dash automotive.

Portable Ozone Generator (O3) or a couple of 12V Ionizer (s) running in the car with windows up and a/c on Cool or ReHeat , recirc air, medium blower speed for an hour if possible. < engine run of course>
Car should not be occupied of course while ozone or ionizer activated in confined area.
This treatment might need several repeats.

You may also try to sit one of those Daikin /Panasonic/AirSoPure or Sharp portable air purifiers, intended for domestic use, inside the car and run that off mains power with windows up.

As Ben said, if AC never /seldom run, this exacerbates the mould issue and refrigerant leaks too. That drip or drain pan may be caked up too or indeed the drain hoses for condensate water run-off blocked, from sheer lack of use.

Automotive air-con whould be run 30 mins a month typically, even over Winter, to keep shaft seal lubricated on the swash compressor and maintain general integrity of system.

Good luck and Happy Odours!

Spotless

You can purchase odour treatment chemicals and solve the problem easily.

You just turn the controls to air intake, set the temperature at 20 degrees and turn the fan on to full power. Close the windows. Spray the treatment in the external vent for about a minute (under the windscreen, you might need to open the bonnet to position the bottle comfortably).

Turn off the engine and leave the chemical to work for about 20 mins, then either repeat the above step if its a bad smell, or else finish it off by turning the blowers on full again for a few minutes to dry up the treatment. It works by killing the bacteria and also breaking down the proteins that bacteria feed on. Because Bacteria can multiply from even a tiny spot, it helps if they have nothing to feed on so they die off.

Its best if no animals or people are in the car when you do this process!!

Man of Aran

Spotless wrote: »

You can purchase odour treatment chemicals and solve the problem easily.


Its best if no animals or people are in the car when you do this process!!

Have you got a product name or a reference / link? Curious to see what this product might be.
thanks

Spotless

Maxolen Odour Killer is what I use personally.

Man of Aran

You'd need to check the Material Safety Data Sheet for this Maxolen or any other kind of product to see what's in it IMO.
I 'd be hesitant to use hx coil's blowers to draw a pint of 2 of any kind of liquid solutions / sprays through the coil itself - could have etching effect on alum fins, electrics, joints and the motors themselves in there.
Sure if you wanna take that chance, then why not just use diluted Dettol, Jif or Parazone household products.
There aint much that concentrated Dettol wont kill - fungal or bacterial.

Spotless

Yep, I know what you mean but its fine. Its one of the ways you can use it safely and you'd only be spraying 200 or 300 mls in. It kills the spores, kills the bacteria, breaks down the proteins, leaves a fresh a/c. Spraying it in as a mist will be all thats needed - pouring it down would be a whole different issue though!