horrrible air handler odor

[GRA]

Our one year old 4 ton Goodman air handler developed an odor that smelled like something had died in the ducts. After numerous expert inspections, we determined that the odor was in the condensate pump. One new pump and the odor was gone, period. This odor was only noticble when the heat was turned on. One summer later, turned the heater on and gagged! Cleaned the 7 month old pump, etc etc, spay everything with BBJ fresh duct, odor is gone for a couple of days and reurns with a vengeance, now even with the a/c on!
By the way, bleach will not touch this odor. Coils are clean, pan is clean, pump is clean and the 20 year old 3 ton unit never had a problem. Ducts were inspected and a camera was used throughout. Looked brand new and I had them replaced 5 years ago during a reroof job. A/c company's are scratching thier heads and I'm pulling out my hair. There is one thing that I did last summer, I turned the fan from high to low on the new air handler. I do not see how that would creat an odor problem in the condensate pump or water.
Help!

[tlb]

is this unit a heat pump

[pwg11386]

Tlb, you wanna say it or should I?

[GRA]

is this unit a heat pump

Yes, it is a heat pump.

[superd77]

Dirty Sock Syndrome......there are several cleaners on the market that the contractor can clean the coil with....it aint the pump....its bacteria on the coils and when they get wet they smell like socks

[pwg11386]

since youve lowered the blower speed, have you had many days where you have had to run the heat and ac in the same day?

[tlb]

i would agree with the earlier post dirty sock syndrome only know of it occuring on hps the bacteria is on the indoor coil and when the hp defrosts it activates the bacteria then when it comes out of defrost the indoor coil heats up and the bacteria goes dormant and produces the wonderful aroma you are smelling and this cycle continues over and over i think my info is correct been a while since i read up on it did have one unit tried the spray on it but didnt work then swapped out indoor coil with one with special coating on it homeowner still complained so then installed uv system then homeowner moved so dont know after that

[SonicExplorer]

Disclaimer, I am not a pro but will share this for whatever it is worth...

Many types of duct insulation can stink like dead roadkill, or dead fish if they are heated too much. This usually requires a lot of heat, but it only requires a very very small area to be effected. For example, if you applied enough heat to an area the size of just a cigarrette burn it would be enough to stink your entire house up and might continue to stink like that for a long while. You said you turned the fan down, I'm wondering if maybe not enough heat is now being dissipated and you developed a "hot spot" somewhere in the duct board path near the AHU exhaust. Or maybe a small piece of duct insulation fell into the coil during the Summer, and then burned up when heat was first kicked on, with the odor then blown throughout the ducts. Hard to say, but the smell is very distinct. In a bad way. If you get desperate enough and still cannot find the source, you could always get some scraps of ductboard from a local Home Depot or Lowes, and then take them home and point a hair dryer directly on them (nearly touch them) until you smell the burn odor I'm referring to. At that point, if what you are smelling is the same thing then you will have at least identified the cause of the problem. How to fix it is another story...

Again, take all this with a grain of salt for now, but if you eventually find yourself at a complete dead end then it's a potential cause to consider.

Sonic

[GRA]

since youve lowered the blower speed, have you had many days where you have had to run the heat and ac in the same day?

No, once in a great while. The reply about the dirty sock stuff, I don't know. I spilled some of the water from the pump on the carpet trying to clean out the line which runs overhead into the ceiling and the smell was horrible. If I spayed the pad and underside of the carpet with the odor kill the odor would go away for a couple of days. I guess that could be coincidence if the odor kill spray was being drawn up out of the carpet into the coils?

After replacing the condensate pump the first of last year we ran the a/c all summer with no odor at all,. When I turned on the heat pump the first time this winter the odor was immediate and until this January, only when the heat was on. Now it is there heat or a/c.

Ok, after typing all this I turned on the a/c and the smell will gag you. Maybe it is the dirty sock thing but what in the world causes this? And how do you get rid of it. And why would the odor disappear for most of last year when the pump was replaced. coincidence?

[pwg11386]

dirty sock syndrome is caused by bacteria that live on your indoor coil. It is common in heat pumps because the coil never really gets hot enough to kill the bacteria. the fins on the coil during the heat mode, are nice and warm (not hot) so they are a great place for this bacteria to grow. all thats needed is a little bit of moister and the right kinds of spores in the air. This is extremely hard to get rid of. i've had to replace coils that we couldnt cure.
A thorough cleaning is whats needed with some special chemicals designed for this. You won't be able to clean the coil well enough while it is in the cabinet. You should call a professional to remove the coil so it can be cleaned as well as the empty coil housing.
A simple coil cleaning using some indoor coil cleaner, a brush, and water can make the smell go away for a while, but not forever. do you think this is what happened when you replaced the pump/

[GRA]

dirty sock syndrome is caused by bacteria that live on your indoor coil. It is common in heat pumps because the coil never really gets hot enough to kill the bacteria. the fins on the coil during the heat mode, are nice and warm (not hot) so they are a great place for this bacteria to grow. all thats needed is a little bit of moister and the right kinds of spores in the air. This is extremely hard to get rid of. i've had to replace coils that we couldnt cure.
A thorough cleaning is whats needed with some special chemicals designed for this. You won't be able to clean the coil well enough while it is in the cabinet. You should call a professional to remove the coil so it can be cleaned as well as the empty coil housing.
A simple coil cleaning using some indoor coil cleaner, a brush, and water can make the smell go away for a while, but not forever. do you think this is what happened when you replaced the pump/

It is possible. Right now it is worse than it has ever been. Its warming up inside and outside and now I can smell it when I remove the panel to the coils. Two a/c companies around here are mystified. Maybe I will pass on your comments and observations to them. I will have to call around until I find someone who has dealt with it. Thank you for your help. You are not around Ruskin Florida are you?

[CraziFuzzy]

We've actually had the dirty sock problem on an air handler at work. It's a dual coil unit (cold and hot water coils) where the cold and hot coils are butted right against each other. They are practically impossible to clean, and this propped up after we had lowered the HHW temperature to about 125°F (don't need very hot water here in socal, even in winter). Raised it back up to 145-150, and it no longer occurs, believing the higher temperature is killing off the bacteria. Sucks, really, because we're talking about over heating our HHW loop for the entire facility (averaging about 4000GPM), just because of this one crappy air handler.

[pwg11386]

Your welcome. Sorry; Raleigh, NC. Good luck with this.