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Smell with new A/C

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CouragePalms

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I had a new a/c installed about a month ago. Before we went on vacation and since we've been home, it has a smell to it. I live in a mobile home. The smell is not there when nothing is running, when the furnace is on, when the evap cooler is on. I can't smell it outside the mobile, in the crawl space. I've stuck my head down the return vents and can't smell it there either. It's only when the a/c is running & then the front half of the house smells. What could it be? Does R22 smell? It smells like poop to me.
 
#3 ·
I've run across this in mobile homes before. It ended up being a dead possum or raccoon, up inside the insulation, that's supposed to cover the underside of the trailer. In your case, it could be an animal inside the actual duct.
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
I thought of that too, but wouldn't it smell all the time if it was a dead varmint? Wouldn't it smell around the home, inside the home, in the crawl space. Why doesn't it smell when the furnace is on? Or when nothing is on?
 
#5 ·
Is this a single wide or double wide? We had a smell emanating from the vents in the one side but not the other. Turns out a possum had chewed a hole in the flex that connects the 2 sides and died in there. The smell was on one side but, only when the blower was operating. I have since replaced the flex and fixed any gaps that could be used by critters to gain entry.
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
It's a double wide. The smell is mainly in the front 2/3 of the home. When you say the smell was only when the blower was on, what do you mean? The ducting at the top of the home which the a/c blows thru, or the return ducts on the floor? If it was in the ducting where the air comes thru, wouldn't it smell when the furnace is on too, since it comes thru the same ducting? When I get down on the floor and smell the return ducts, I can't smell anything.

I really don't understand how the a/c & heat works to begin with. They both go thru the same ductwork, correct? The coil in the furnace -- is that just for the a/c?
 
#7 ·
CouragePalms said:
I really don't understand how the a/c & heat works to begin with. They both go thru the same ductwork, correct? The coil in the furnace -- is that just for the a/c?
Click to expand...
Unless you've got some type of exotic system,you pretty much have a rudimentary understanding, of how your system operates.

If you have a heat pump, the coil would be used for heating as well as cooling. If not, cooling only.
 
#8 ·
Make sure you have a p trap in your drain line between the evap coil and where it ties into the sewer lines. If it does not that is probably where the smell is coming from.
 
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Discussion starter · #13 ·
Thanks pogo, oops that's Mr. Pogo to me, ha. I tried smelling the registers at the ceiling while the a/c was on & couldn't tell that the smell was coming from there. But I'll try it again.
 
#16 ·
its not r22

CouragePalms said:
I had a new a/c installed about a month ago. Before we went on vacation and since we've been home, it has a smell to it. I live in a mobile home. The smell is not there when nothing is running, when the furnace is on, when the evap cooler is on. I can't smell it outside the mobile, in the crawl space. I've stuck my head down the return vents and can't smell it there either. It's only when the a/c is running & then the front half of the house smells. What could it be? Does R22 smell? It smells like poop to me.
Click to expand...
R-22 may have a very slight odor but based on what you describing I doubt thats it. I think the oters are on the right track; foul water or something worse in the ducts or walls, etc
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
Yep, I just turned on the a/c for a few min and it's really stinking now. I guess it's something in the ductwork. Been running the swamper for a week; weather has been great. Someone coming to look at it tomorrow. Let you know what I find out.
 
#18 ·
Smell With New AC

If youre going to post at least get the name of the home right
in 1985 the term MOBILE HOME was replaced with MANUFACUTRED HOME
because they are now built to hud codes and have to pass inspection.
MOBILE HOME IS now what we used to call a MOTOR HOME.
if you dought it check with youre local hud office.
thanks

CouragePalms said:
I had a new a/c installed about a month ago. Before we went on vacation and since we've been home, it has a smell to it. I live in a mobile home. The smell is not there when nothing is running, when the furnace is on, when the evap cooler is on. I can't smell it outside the mobile, in the crawl space. I've stuck my head down the return vents and can't smell it there either. It's only when the a/c is running & then the front half of the house smells. What could it be? Does R22 smell? It smells like poop to me.
Click to expand...
 
#20 ·
the EXACT reason i orderd my home with the standard tin duct work with no premiter vents mine run down the middle of the floor .
never have problems with that set up
flex duct is a joke.
****ty air flow i saw this in a brand new home on the lot with the ac set up and my house next to it same furance and ac my house has 10 times the air flow though the whole house.


mrpogo said:
Is this a single wide or double wide? We had a smell emanating from the vents in the one side but not the other. Turns out a possum had chewed a hole in the flex that connects the 2 sides and died in there. The smell was on one side but, only when the blower was operating. I have since replaced the flex and fixed any gaps that could be used by critters to gain entry.
Click to expand...
 
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