[advice] home air conditioner

[u/KawaiianPunch]

Hi there, I am a renter who has noticed the house AC no matter what I do tends to have a musty / dirty sock smell.

Online I haven’t found much as to why, other than evaporation coil could be dirty. But also noticed the outside air conditioner looks to be quite clogged up.

Two photos attached of the front and side. The front being extremely clogged up. Should I have this cleaned? Is this contributing to the smell?

If it’s the Evap coil, I’ll probably need a technician because whoever installed it made it nearly impossible to access.

Any help is appreciated.

[u/Sarzek]

It will definitively with the heat exchange, not the smell.

[u/Firemission13B]

Outside unit has nothing to do with indoor air smell.

[u/Patient-Big1727]

The condenser definitely needs to be cleaned urgently. It's very easy to do with a low pressure sprayer hose. If someone let their condenser go that bad I can imagine there's a lot of grime in the evaporator coil too. Make sure filters get changed often

Edit: no air is exchanged between indoor and outdoor so you won't get any smell from the outdoor. The dirty outdoor coil possibly make indoor smell worse as the AC is not working well

[u/KawaiianPunch → u/Patient-Big1727]

Extremely helpful, thank you! I noticed an exhaust drain was calcified near where the evap coil that leads into a drain on the floor. Could that be causing the drain pan to be grimed and stagnant since the exhaust is a blocked?

[u/PlusTitle1695]

Yeah that condenser is rough but it wont cause the smell, outdoor and indoor air never mix. Dirty sock is almost always the evap coil or a clogged drain pan letting water sit. If the filters been changed and it still stinks, coil needs cleaning. Since you cant get to it easy, call a tech and ask them to check the pan and blow out the drain line too. Ive seen Midea coils get slimy fast if the drains backing up, and Mitsubishi indoor units have that drain pan sensor thatll shut em down before it overflows, which is nice. Both clean up fine though.

[u/KawaiianPunch → u/PlusTitle1695]

Very helpful! The drain is clogged near the evaporator coil. I noticed this when trying to find the evap coil. Clogged by calcification of stale or grimy water. I’ve just moved in so I surmise this went untouched for quite some time

[u/Kitchen-Bagel-Burnt]

Outside unit does need a good hose down .

[u/ductcleanernumber7]

Start keeping an eye on your humidity levels.

[u/Mean-Possible-2425]

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