Subject: Wet dog odors from heat pumps

From: [email-masked] (DavidMarc)
Date: 1 Aug 1995 12:11:16 -0400

Anybody have any experience on a wet dog or smelly sock odor from a heat
pump in a commercial office building?

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From: [email-masked] (Allenbau)
Date: 1 Aug 1995 20:29:16 -0400

<< 

Yup - fought it for over a year - it was a dirty coil - full of bug
carcasses, grass cuttings, and quite a lot of other living and dead stuff.

Finally had to disassemble the unit and power wash the coil from both
directions. Then we did it again. Then we did it again. Then it was ok.

Root of the problem was that the coil was made in two sections with an
open space between them - when we washed the coil, we just pushed the
debris into the void in the center of the coil assembly. Made a hole there
and dug it out - then put in some BODACIOUS filters on the outside air
source.

Good luck

Mike A.

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From: [email-masked] (Richard Eiden)
Date: 2 Aug 1995 00:20:25 GMT

>pump in a commercial office building?

..to prevent this....install a fence around the condensing unit...<LOL>

-
  RICHARD EIDEN  [email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Jim Riticher)
Date: Wed, 02 Aug 1995 01:58:40 GMT

>pump in a commercial office building?

I'd say you have classic symptoms of microbial growth in the unit -
say in the drain pan or on the liner. That's only the most likely
source - there are plenty of other possible sources.

You need to get inside the unit and ductwork and look around. If it's
as ugly as some I've seen, you might want to be wearing a respirator
when you open it up!

James J. Riticher, P.E. (Jim)
Environmental Design International
[email-masked]