In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 17 Jun 2020 21:36:49 -0400, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

On 6/17/2020 9:15 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 6/17/2020 8:14 PM, Chuck wrote:
replying to Clare Snyder, Chuck wrote:
I have a window unit a/c installed through the wall. It's about 6
years old.
I've had the black flakes that smear blowing out of the vents for
probably all
but the first year I used it, including this year. A couple weeks ago I
sprayed it with Frost King a/c coil foaming cleaner. It hasn't helped
at all.
Has anyone found an actual working solution for this problem? I'm a
renter and
my landlord is stingy so even I tell him the issue I don't know if
he'll even
do anything about it. But would a professional be able to do anything
for less
than the cost of a new unit?

Ed probably knows more about this, but I woudl have thought it was the
foam filter coming apart. OTOH, if it s 4tarted in the 2nd year,
another reason to think Ed is right.

Spraying through the front grill is probably not doing a very good job.
You have to take it out of the case so you can flood the coil and
possible the drain pan.* Best done outside so you can rinse it well.

I should add, they sell anti=bacterial pads you can put in the drain pan
to help in the future. Amazon, about 10 bucks.

I myself would not bother a landlord about little things like this
(unless nothing fixed it and I couldn't use the AC), or expect him to
pay the $10. It was partly this behaviour (never calling him) with my
landlord of 6 or more years, partly that I didn't call him at home and
certainly not at night, that even though I went on personal rent strike
twice and he had to take me to court both times, and even though it was
a draw once and I won iirc $150 one of those time, he was still willing
when he was paying me to leave to pay me before I actually left. So
that his assistent, who often handled things in court, told him not to
pay me before I'd left, and the landlord's reply to that was "You can
trust Micky."

For various reasons, I thought he was a jerk (and that's the nicest word
I can think of), but I treated him politely anyhow.