Formaldehyde Odor
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Formaldehyde Odor
Last night when we came home from shopping, we noticed our house had a pretty strong formaldehyde odor, concentrated in our bedroom (figures). After trying to find the source of the smell, and turning on and off various things, we found that when we turned the A/C off, the smell went away, the A/C comes back on, and the smell is back. This makes sense as to why the smell is strongest in our bedroom because the A/C is right over it, and the bedroom is the first vent out of the A/C. Now, what in the A/C could be causing this? A friend of mine thinks that the water could be growing some type of fungus, so to drain the water and add some bleach and it should go away. It doesn't smell like a motor burning up or anything, so I am kinda lost. Any ideas? Thanks guys!
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From: Valley of the Sun AZ
When is the last time you changed the filter and where did you get it from? I bought my son a backpack from Target and it smelled like pesticide. I Fabreezed it to the point it was wet and put it into the dryer with five bounce sheets. It still smelled as if there was some spray in the bag. If the filters were shipped with a pesticide and it got onto the filter it could have impregnated it and that is what you smell.
This is just a guess.
Plus I thought AC's were a closed system.
This is just a guess.
Plus I thought AC's were a closed system.
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From: Michigan
Originally Posted by nut1605
Last night when we came home from shopping, we noticed our house had a pretty strong formaldehyde odor, concentrated in our bedroom (figures). Any ideas? Thanks guys!
But your friend might be on to something there,I think I would check the drain,to make sure it was not clogged,and I would check the filter,better yet,change the filter.Even if the smell is not coming from the filter,the smell will permeate into it.And I would also check around my air ducts to make sure there is nothing creating that smell.
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Originally Posted by Aztrainer
When is the last time you changed the filter and where did you get it from? Plus I thought AC's were a closed system.
At any rate, I think I got it fixed. I decided to go ahead and replace the pads as we have really nasty, hard water here, so it wouldn't hurt. As it turns out, the pads had all kinds of mold and mildew in them, and there was so much lime scale in them that they broke when they hit the ground. While I was on the roof, I went ahead and replaced the pump, belt, and oiled the squirrel cage as well as drain and deodorize the water. Turned it all back on and all I have now is just the "new pad" smell. SO, I think it is fixed, and the culprit were the nasty old (Only 1 year old though) pads. Thanks all for the advice!
Originally Posted by King Triton
Man,if that aint Deja Vu!My ex-wife used to have a perfume called, "aud de formaldehyde".That crap stunk so bad the dog buried it!
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From: Valley of the Sun AZ
Yes, you and I were on a different page.
We had swamps in the house I grew up in. Change the water and also look at the pads on the sides of the panels. They need to be replaced from time to time. We had to do it every year because our water was so hard. I could cut (and often did) my hands trying to take out the old pads.
We had swamps in the house I grew up in. Change the water and also look at the pads on the sides of the panels. They need to be replaced from time to time. We had to do it every year because our water was so hard. I could cut (and often did) my hands trying to take out the old pads.
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Originally Posted by Aztrainer
They need to be replaced from time to time. We had to do it every year because our water was so hard. I could cut (and often did) my hands trying to take out the old pads.
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Have you paneled any of the rooms in the house. Paneling is treated with formaldehyde. I built an office several years, and couldn't use the damn thing because of the crap. It was so bad, it burned your eyes. jd
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From: Valley of the Sun AZ
Originally Posted by nut1605
That sounds just like our water. It is so hard it is rediculous. I go through 1 filter everytime I wash my truck with that "Mr. Clean" thing. At my parents house in Albuquerque, we washed 2 Super Duties and a Mustang and the filter still looks new. I hate our water!
One thing that will help you out and what we started to do was to use the roil pad (the one that looks like honeycomb). Once the season was over we would take them out and put a cover over the units. That way the water/lime/calcium/concrete that makes it so difficult to remove will not have time to set up. We also put a zinc strip in the pans and that seemed to help with the calcium.
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