can air conditioners in shops give off a smell?

Andy From Sligo

can those mitsubishi (well could be another make) Air condition units in the ceiling of shops throw out any kind of smells at all?

I was upstairs in a shop yesterday and getting a very strong smell on that floor of what could only be described as the kind of smell a person would get in an old person's care home like old people and urine (sorry to be so graphic but thats the only way i can describe the smell. - have visited old people in homes before)

I thought it might have been some other customer that had been around but then when i stood underneath the air conditioner in the ceiling and as it was blowing down cool air I think I pinpointed the smell coming from there - very pungent it was, couldn't hang around any longer the smell was making me feel quite nauseous - feel sorry for the workers in the store if they have to put up with it , unless of course they have got used to the smell and it dont bother them any more.

so yeah, can those air conditioners give off smells?

listermint

Yes of course they can.

They need to be cleaned regularly if not then they will smell.

DaveyDave

No issues with the one at work that's on a fair bit. The only time I've smelled AC is in a car when it hasn't been used. They need to be used briefly at least once a week to keep them clean.

Obviously clean the filters also. But I've never noticed a bad smell otherwise. Maybe it isn't used often?

Andy From Sligo

could the smell be bad bacteria? ... or that legionnaires disease thing or is that something completely different?