# Forum Home Renovation Heating & Cooling  Daikin split system stinks - really bad

## Arron

Hi. We have a Daikin Inverter split system air conditioner. 
It’s pretty much this one - https://airproperth.com.au/?attachment_id=3455 (give or take a letter or two in the model number). 
It was here when we bought the house, but I think it’s about 3 years old. I have no doubt it was professionally installed. 
The problem is it stinks when it runs. Not all the time, but most of the time. It used to smell like mould or maybe algae, but now it smells like urine. I think it’s worse when it starts up, then settles down a bit. 
In all other respects it works well. 
I’ve had a look at it and googled the problem. I’ve taken the air intake filters out of the indoor unit and cleaned them, though they were pretty clean anyway. 
I’ve checked the outdoor unit, especially the pan at the base of the unit and it’s quite dry. 
I’ve disconnected the drainage pipes which lead away from the indoor units, in case they were full of algae. 
This hasn’t fixed the problem. 
Peering into both the indoor and outdoor units, both look clean and dry. 
Can anyone suggest what may be going on? 
Thanks
Arron

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## Uncle Bob

Run it and spray Glen 20 in the air intake and give the filters a clean.

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## Marc

> *Daikin split system stinks*

  I thought Daikin was a good brand  :Unsure:

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## Arron

> Run it and spray Glen 20 in the air intake and give the filters a clean.

  Are you meaning the air filters in the indoor unit ? Because as I mentioned in my op I’ve cleaned them, although they were pretty clean anyway?

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## phild01

Behind the filters you should notice lots of very fine metal fins. That's where the smell is coming from as the air passes across them.

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## Uncle Bob

Have you tried Glen 20 yet?

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## r3nov8or

Not Daikin, but our filters (HEPA I believe) need to be left in the sun for a few hours to be cleaned properly, per instructions. May help yours

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## Arron

> Have you tried Glen 20 yet?

  Don’t have any.
Will use some other type of disinfectant spray on those fins and filter and see what happens.

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## Arron

Ok, so I opened the indoor unit, removed the filters and sprayed the fins with PineOCleen, Multipurpose, which is apparently ‘surface spray disinfectant, hospital grade’. I think it’s done the trick - place just smells like a citrus orchard now.  
Thanks to everyone for the advice. 
I’m still a bit baffled though. I didn’t mention it before to keep things simple, but we actually have another Daikin air conditioner which smells almost as bad. It’s a multi-head job with 3 heads. I think it is also only about 3 years old and also had clean filters etc. So why does this house have 2 air conditioners with 4 heads and all of them horribly polluted. We haven’t had this problem in any other house we’ve lived in, going back 30+ years with air conditioners. Could there be some other problem going on? The place is pretty dark in winter but no other evidence of mold. Could lack of ventilation be an issue? 
Cheers
Arron

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## commodorenut

I'd say previous inhabitants may be to blame?   
I've never had a smelly split where I've lived, but we regularly clean the filters - as pointed out above, and leave them in bright sun to dry (the UV exposure kills lots of bacteria).
I do have one exception - one split was was initially installed on a slight slant, causing the drain channel to hold water & smell musty (but certainly not offensive).
This was going to be one of my suggestions for you to check, until I read on about the offensive smells, and it reminded me of my IP. 
I had one lot of tenants in my old place who lived like grubs, and after they moved out, I had to scrub all the walls and hard floors in an effort to eliminate the offensive odours left behind (fortunately there's no carpet).  
It wasn't successful, so I also scrubbed the ceilings.  After 2 days of being locked up, it still stunk, so I repainted everything.  
Left it locked up for a week (but with the windows open to the first locked position for some airflow).  
When I returned, I expected it to still smell like paint, but no, it still stunk like before.
Now this smell wasn't blowing out of the units - there was no power to the place, it was "wafting" out of them.  It was a cross between BO & smelly socks. 
Only thing left were the filters & drain troughs in the split systems.  Pulled the filters out and it was like a concentrated stink bomb.  Sprayed Febreeze everywhere, hoping it would help (it didn't).
I didn't have any power or hot water there, so I ended up taking the filters home (in a plastic bag - but even then my boot stunk).
We washed them in hot water & napisan, leaving them in the sun for several days for UV exposure, and all trace of the smell was gone (I also priced up new filters).   
The troughs were also holding the smell - they are much harder to deal with, as the little vent louvers get in the way, so I had to scrub them out with a toothbrush, and wipe with a rag on the end of a screwdriver.  
The crud that came out of the troughs was disgusting.  I also took a kettle over & got the neighbours to boil it for me so I could do a really hot water/napisan mix & squirted a lot of it in there, so it would run down the drain, and checked outside to make sure the drains were clear. 
(if you want to do this, I used an old (washed out) power steering oil bottle that has a tube outlet on the lid, so you can aim the tube, up-end the bottle, and squeeze the bottle to squirt it). 
As the Febreeze didn't seem to work, and there was still a bit of a smell, I sprayed Glen20 straight onto the coil fins, ensuring full coverage, before fitting it all up, crossing my fingers that when powered up, the smell would be gone. 
A week later I had to open it up for new tenants to inspect - fearing the smell would be back, but it was gone.  When they got the power on, I asked them to run the A/C units for 10 minutes, and there was no smell left.
It's been several years now, and we haven't had any more issues - but the more recent tenants are clean people, and also clean the filters regularly.

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## Arron

Thanks for the perspective, Commodore. 
I tried the aircon again this morning and it smells fine. So I guess it’s problem solved. 
The Daikin units are difficult because there is no access to the space under the fins, so I’m glad I didn’t have to deal with that space. 
Think8ng about what could be behind this, I think it’s because the place is very poorly ventilated. It’s an old place we intend to pull down soon so I don’t do any maintenance on it, and it’s got to the point where we can scarcely open any windows. Plus it’s overshadowed for a good part of the day by a two-storey neighbour. Also has no insulation at all so very hot. 
Airless, hot, humid = perfect conditions for growing mould and bacteria.
Can’t wait to knock it down.

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