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When my dad fired up his AC this weekend, (with the new little honda genset!) it had a hell of a smell. Like Bilge.

But the bilge doesn't smell...

How do we clean it in order to get rid of the rank odor?

Anyone experience this, and have a cure?

Thanks,

Dug

I would check the vent hoses. condensation can build up in them and then sits in there and stinks. also the coils can get mold build on them

Brewster,

Probably the culprits. I can see cleaning the condenser.

How do I get the vent hoses clean without ripping the boat apart with a chain saw to get at them?

I pulled a sponge back and forth with some fishing line{200 diamond} it was hard to get the line through the first times we tried.I used a lite bleach solution

Dug,
When you get the funk out, another nice way to keep em fresh on the inside is to place a bounce or other fabric softener sheet across the intake grill. It gives the whole boat a nice fresh smell.

It really works.

Might have mold/mildew in your ducting too. Ever try an ozone generator? You can leave one by the A/C intake overnight, with the A/C running, and the ozone will kill/oxidize a lot of stuff that cause odors. Might be a quick easy fix but ozone will also oxidize everything rubber if given enough time to attack it, so I wouldn't do it too long or too often. This is the same technique they use to remove smoke odors from buildings that had fires, and that hotels use to de-stink a room after someone smoked 400 cigarettes in it. Some of the home A/C duct cleaning companies have caught on to the method because it works on mold and mildew too. I think three days is considered the max length of treatment, on a boat I would do it for no more than 12 hours. I've also seen ozone generators sold specifically for boat bilges that release ozone to kill odors continuously, which is a really bad idea, is also attacking your rubber gaskets and hoses continuously

Awesome guys. Thanks. My parents will be extremely grateful.

Dug

Some 50/50 Clorox & water out of a pump bottle will do the trick too - just mist it in the intake a few times.

UV

What UV said.
Mist while running the AC to draw into the duct work thru the coil and squirel cage blower. Will kill mildew with out alot of effort.
Put 1/4'rd condensate pan tablets in the drain tray to keep the mildew down.

Sean,
Using Ozone can create problems. They must be used with a respirator.
They do work, but be careful.

According to the American Lung Association, "Ozone is a potent lung irritant and exposure to elevated levels is a contributor to the exacerbation of lung disease; it is especially dangerous for persons with asthma and other chronic lung diseases, children and the elderly."

Don't be fooled by products claiming to be negative ion generators. Again, according to the American Lung Association, there is no difference between a negative ion generator and an ozone generator.

Consumer Reports (1992), the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and the U.S. EPA concluded that tabletop and room unit ozone generators are not effective in improving indoor air quality! Studies have found that while some indoor air pollutant concentrations decline in the presence of ozone, other pollutants increase.

In fact, upon reaction with ozone, some previously undetected, toxic chemicals emerge in indoor air. These include formaldehyde and other aldehydes.

Not only that, there is a lack of research that indicates that low concentrations of ozone remove organic contaminants in the air. And at higher concentrations of ozone, (especially above 0.08 ppm) ozone is a potent irritant that can bring about diminished lung function, cough, inflammation associated with biochemical changes and increased responsiveness to allergens.

Current evidence of the health effects of ozone suggests that there is no "safe" threshold level of ozone above exposure to background levels. Also, exposure to ozone mixed with other compounds may produce combined and increased negative effects! And if you already have asthma you likely have increased susceptibility to ozone and exposure to even low concentrations of ozone can result in increased symptoms, medications use and even hospitalization!

The bottom line is that ozone generators and negative ion generators may produce levels of ozone recognized as unsafe for humans and are not recommended by the ALA for use in occupied spaces because of the risk of ozone!

The American Lung Association does not suggest the use of these products.

Well you touched on something that I know a little about, probably just enough to be dangerous. I've read that FDA stuff about ozone before, and also a lot of information that refutes it. Basically I've come to the conclusion that it is safe in low doses, but yes if you are flooding a room or boat with high concentrations, you need to get in, ventilate and get out. If you can smell it it is probably not too good for you to be in there too long.

There is a lot of controversy about ozone. Some feel that the Fed is trying to protect the U.S.'s chlorine and pharmaceutical indusrties by keeping ozone use down. In Europe it is a standard practice to pipe low doses of it into the HVAC systems of large buildings to keep dust, mold and mildew out, and they don't seem to have all the sick building complaints we do here. They may be less litigious than us too, so that may also be the reason. But the two main purposes for ozone that are not being exploited well here are for water treatment, which is starting to catch on slowly, and for medical use. Some are saying ozone for water treatment is much safer than chlorine, but the Fed doesn't want us to know that. The biggest known medical use is for people infected with HIV or cancer. There is a proven and simple technique for improving cancer and HIV symptoms where you pump out some of the patient's blood, bubble pure ozone through it, then put it back in them. Done all over Europe (especially Germany) but illegal here, and many here who know this fly over to have it done. Much cheaper and more effective treatment than the very expensive drugs made by big pharm companies here, and they have lots of lobbyists, so the Fed doesn't want it here. Dr. Atkin's (yes, the low-carb guy) clinic in New York used to do it anyway, and I believe he ended up in jail for a short time for doing it. Also some research/evidence that ozone therapy it is effective in cancer patients. Again, they can't make any money off it here so it is illegal. Here is a quote from a German study:

"Ozone has been found to be an extremely safe medical therapy, free from side effects. In a 1980 study done by the German Medical Society for Ozone Therapy, 644 therapists were polled regarding their 384,775 patients, comprising a total of 5,579,238 ozone treatments administered. There were only 40 cases of side effects noted out of this number which represents the incredibly low rate of .000007%, and only four fatalities. Ozone has thus proven to be the safest medical therapy ever devised." Considering that about 100,000 Americans a year die from drug reactions and interactions, ozone therapy is amazingly safe."

Also as I said, low-concentration ozone generators piped directly into the air ducts have also been used for decades now as a startard component in European HVAC systems, with no known ill effects.

Hard to know what is true, conspiracies seem to be everywhere. I'm not paranoid, really, but everyody thinks I am