AC smell on my 342

tucson56

When I run the AC, I get a bad smell in the cabin.  I tried cleaning the two filters and made sure there were no dead creatures along the flow path of the incoming air.  All to no avail.  Any thoughts on what is causing the smell and what I can do about it?

 

Babyboomer

Found this in a Sea Ray forum (now that SR word should be a forbidden word) 

http://clubsearay.com/archive/index.php/t-51880.html

raybo3

Might be mold on the coil. Try cleaning the coil with coil-bright or something like that and see what happens....

Weber

What does it smell like?

Babyboomer

Lowe's Home Depot Etc. sells it

Babyboomer

This may be better to use on the in side of your boat

http://www.homedepot.com/p/AC-Safe-Air-Conditioner-Coil-Foaming-Cleaner-AC-920/100599017#.Uct7KfmsjlM

Babyboomer

Copied This from a thread in boater Ed

To clean, you should purchase some air-conditioning coil cleaner. This is also a mild acidic solution however it has detergents in it. You can google for air-conditioning coil cleaner. Follow the directions on the label but the basic steps are:

Shut down the system and open the breaker and secure so that the unit can’t start by accident. 

Remove the air filter if it’s there. I would also cover any carpet or “finished” areas with plastic as this stuff tends to foam out when used. Be careful not to bend any of the coil fins while working on the unit. 

Using a trigger spray bottle, spray the solution on the a/c coils. Cover the entire area of the coil. Let it sit for about ten minutes. 

When the foaming stops (if any) spray the coil with a garden hose on a small fairly gentle stream. Keep an eye on the condensate pan so that it does not over flow. Make sure that it’s draining properly. 

Usually, the condensate pan drains into a sump and is then pumped overboard. I prefer to disconnect the sump discharge hose and pump the stuff into a bucket and dispose of on land. The coil cleaner is designed to get deep into the coils and remove the dirt. Because the water that comes out of the coils will be a mixture of dirt, cleaner and water, you don’t want it to go overboard. Make sure to rinse all components so that there is no solution left in any systems. When you are done, reassemble the unit and filter. 

Restart the unit and check for proper operation. If your unit had no filter installed, then the ductwork is probably very dirty as well. In this type of system, there is really no good way to clean the duct work except by replacing all the hoses. A BIG job. The blower unit may also be dirty. It is a fairly complex job to get to, disassemble and clean if that’s the case. 

You should clean/replace the air filter at least every four weeks if you use your system a lot. Unlike a house system, it picks up a lot of dirt and can plug up fairly fast since it has more exposure to the outdoors. 

When all is done, you should notice a marked improvement in the system and a reduction or elimination of the “residue” you spoke of. It will also reduce or elimminate any stale smells from the system. I have done the procedure on many systems and it has worked extremely well. (I used to be an a/c guy) Good luck with the project. 

Babyboomer

Another thought is your drain pan line may be cloged and running slow allowing mildew to build up in the pan.

tucson56

As it turns out the problem was mold in the bilge.  Cleaned that out and all is fresh now!

212rowboat

get yourself a UV light for the bilge... mold dies like a vampire... :-)

tucson56

thanks dreactual, I will do that

Black_Diamond

UV is a great mold killer..it also degrades a lot of rubber/plastic too (just think the sun on rubber).  Something you could easily turn on/off thought o keep the fuzzies away.

 

I used the TC cleaner over the weekend, my coils were not 'bad' but they are clean now!  nice stuff to use.

TikiHut2

The 1st reviewer on the HD site said he used it in his engine bay as a cleaner and it worked great.....hhmmm. I haven't done my A/C or refrigerator coils in my house for 15yrs. Maybe they're ready too.  Nah. :-$   Oh WTH, maybe I'll go for it, but I'll start in the boat. Thanks for the link Boomer.

John41

 I’m experiencing the same thing. When I turned on the AC on my 342 it smelled like cat ****. What did you use to clean the bilge? Is it ok to pour bleach in the bilge? 

Dream_Inn

I use purple power in my bilge.

skennelly

Yep purple power and I've also used biodegradable laundry detergent...really smells nice throughout the cabin

Liberty44140

Your ac on the 342 should be draining overboard. Make sure the tray under the ac is properly draining overboard, if it is overflowing in to the bilge that is a problem. Also make sure that the air filters are clean.

Black_Diamond

++ Liberty44140.  You should not have the A/C condensate dripping into the bilge. The A/C unit is shimmed so it drains to the thru hull. Make sure the drain / hose is not plugged too.