We just bought a house that has a RUUD 10 SEER (we live in florida)
that is about 11 years old. The air handler in the attic has heavy
mold inside it all over. a technician came out and said it should be
replaced because cleaning it would cost almost as much as getting a
new one. He did mention that we were losing some Freon through it
also. These are our two concerns: 1.)we have a 2 year old child and a
new one coming in a month and it scares us to think that the air
conditioning can be a health danger to the infant and child; 2.)we
really dont have the money to drop on a new air hanling unit and
condenser. We are in a bit of situation here and was wondering if a
suggestion or two could be offered? Thanks in advance. Dan.

dan wrote:

We just bought a house that has a RUUD 10 SEER (we live in florida)
that is about 11 years old. The air handler in the attic has heavy
mold inside it all over. a technician came out and said it should be
replaced because cleaning it would cost almost as much as getting a
new one. He did mention that we were losing some Freon through it
also. These are our two concerns: 1.)we have a 2 year old child and a
new one coming in a month and it scares us to think that the air
conditioning can be a health danger to the infant and child; 2.)we
really dont have the money to drop on a new air hanling unit and
condenser. We are in a bit of situation here and was wondering if a
suggestion or two could be offered? Thanks in advance. Dan.


While it is unlikely that this mold is the dreaded "black mold",
it can be hard to differentiate; besides, any mold can have serious
effects on infants.

One reference he
http://www.aehf.com/articles/APMmold.htm

Do a GOOGLE for: mold infant pulmonary
or something similar. You'll get a lot "scare hits"
from companies selling something but there is good medical
advice as well. For kids, this situation has serious and
possibly long-lasting effects.

In the end, you may have to have an expert come in and remediate the
whole system since the mold may extend beyond the air handler.

A UV biocidal lamp *might* offer some relief but I don't think
it's the cure in this case.

I know you're in hot Florida, but is there any chance you
could rearrange living conditions so that a couple of
window A/C's would suffice till the problem can be addressed?

Jim

On 5 Jul 2004 06:50:34 -0700, (dan) wrote:

We just bought a house that has a RUUD 10 SEER (we live in florida)
that is about 11 years old. The air handler in the attic has heavy
mold inside it all over. a technician came out and said it should be
replaced because cleaning it would cost almost as much as getting a
new one. He did mention that we were losing some Freon through it
also. These are our two concerns: 1.)we have a 2 year old child and a
new one coming in a month and it scares us to think that the air
conditioning can be a health danger to the infant and child; 2.)we
really dont have the money to drop on a new air hanling unit and
condenser. We are in a bit of situation here and was wondering if a
suggestion or two could be offered? Thanks in advance. Dan.


A gallon of bleach costs $2 and goes a long way in killing mold.

Don't breathe the fumes.

Lud

"dan" wrote in message
om...
We just bought a house that has a RUUD 10 SEER (we live in florida)
that is about 11 years old. The air handler in the attic has heavy
mold inside it all over. a technician came out and said it should be
replaced because cleaning it would cost almost as much as getting a
new one. He did mention that we were losing some Freon through it
also. These are our two concerns: 1.)we have a 2 year old child and a
new one coming in a month and it scares us to think that the air
conditioning can be a health danger to the infant and child; 2.)we
really dont have the money to drop on a new air hanling unit and
condenser. We are in a bit of situation here and was wondering if a
suggestion or two could be offered? Thanks in advance. Dan.


This is Turtle.

First here . If you bought the house through a realestate agent you need to
call him or her and have the original owner or the realestate agent repair the
problem. This is a undissclosed defect that was not announced at purchace time.
Louisiana has 2 years for this but do not know the limit of time for Florida.

Secondly here. You don't need a condenser for it has nothing to do with the mole
problem at all.

Thirdly here. The price of pulling a coil and acid clean it and bleach the
drain pan and shop vaccing the blower area and then start using BioFresh - cd
[ as directed on the bottle ] to kill it out is not a major job to compare to a
new unit. Most hvac service company just don't know how to deal with mole like
it should be taken care of.

Forthly here. If you really want to go all the way but costly. Change only the
air handler only and start using BioFresh cd and don't worry about it. Now you
can go a little farther and put a UV lite in the Evaperator coil area as
directed and kill it off in the furture but a little costly but Bio-Fresh cd
does a good job.

Fifthly Here. The mole problem was probley started by the drain line stopping up
and having water over flow into the air handler to start this problem. Clean the
drain out too in this problem.

Sixthly here. If you live in Floridia you and all your family has been exposed
to black mold already. It has been around for a long long time. If you are
exposed to it one time and you have been. You either die or live and if you live
your ammun to it in the furture. You have had it if your still alive. The Black
mole will only effect about 1 in a 1,000 people at all.

If you want to discuss it. E-Mail me and discuss it.

TURTLE


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"dan" wrote in message
om...
We just bought a house that has a RUUD 10 SEER (we live in florida)
that is about 11 years old. The air handler in the attic has heavy
mold inside it all over. a technician came out and said it should be
replaced because cleaning it would cost almost as much as getting a
new one. He did mention that we were losing some Freon through it
also. These are our two concerns: 1.)we have a 2 year old child and a
new one coming in a month and it scares us to think that the air
conditioning can be a health danger to the infant and child; 2.)we
really dont have the money to drop on a new air hanling unit and
condenser. We are in a bit of situation here and was wondering if a
suggestion or two could be offered? Thanks in advance. Dan.


After reading all the replies, I want to add that Turtle is right, and the
guy that suggested bleach is wrong..VERY wrong.
The chlorine in the bleach will do more damage to you than the mold..

I would strongly suggest the addition of UV-C band units to the
airhandler....

Did you get the house inspected before purchase, was this problem
disclosed by your inspector or the seller. You need legal advise.

dan writes:

The air handler in the attic has heavy
mold inside it all over. a technician came out and said it should be
replaced because cleaning it would cost almost as much as getting a
new one.

Lotsa baloney around about mold these days.

Get another opinion.

(dan) wrote in message . com...
We just bought a house that has a RUUD 10 SEER (we live in florida)
that is about 11 years old. The air handler in the attic has heavy
mold inside it all over. a technician came out and said it should be
replaced because cleaning it would cost almost as much as getting a
new one. He did mention that we were losing some Freon through it
also. These are our two concerns: 1.)we have a 2 year old child and a
new one coming in a month and it scares us to think that the air
conditioning can be a health danger to the infant and child; 2.)we
really dont have the money to drop on a new air hanling unit and
condenser. We are in a bit of situation here and was wondering if a
suggestion or two could be offered? Thanks in advance. Dan.


Thanks for the responses.
The A/C technicain mentioned that the bio-clean wont work on the mold
spores so i would be a waste of time and that installing a UV light
will run to $600. what about the supposed Freon leak at the air
handler? Should i use bleach on everything except the condenser
coils? Thanks in advance.

"dan" wrote in message
om...
(dan) wrote in message
. com...
We just bought a house that has a RUUD 10 SEER (we live in florida)
that is about 11 years old. The air handler in the attic has heavy
mold inside it all over. a technician came out and said it should be
replaced because cleaning it would cost almost as much as getting a
new one. He did mention that we were losing some Freon through it
also. These are our two concerns: 1.)we have a 2 year old child and a
new one coming in a month and it scares us to think that the air
conditioning can be a health danger to the infant and child; 2.)we
really dont have the money to drop on a new air hanling unit and
condenser. We are in a bit of situation here and was wondering if a
suggestion or two could be offered? Thanks in advance. Dan.


Thanks for the responses.
The A/C technicain mentioned that the bio-clean wont work on the mold
spores so i would be a waste of time and that installing a UV light
will run to $600. what about the supposed Freon leak at the air
handler? Should i use bleach on everything except the condenser
coils? Thanks in advance.

The coils inside the house are evaporator coils. Very likely place for a
leak. When you replace them they won't need cleaning. The plenum (metal box
they reside in if a furnace is attached) and associated parts may need
cleaning. I just paid to replace a 9 year old set of A-coils. Here using a
licensed insured HVAC person the cost was $570 for a TEV A-coil. If yours
does not have the valve the cost is about 100 less for the parts. Most
parts of Florida the cost should be about the same as here.

Now if this is just an air handler (no furnace), the cost of the labor to
clean might be a wash with the cost of a complete new box, blower and coil.
For sure most techs don't like working as a molly-maid. And the cost of two
trips to allow removal and time for you to clean the unit and return to
install will add to the price.

I don't know anything about the bio clean but you had a response from Turtle
and seconded by CBHVAC that said it should work. Both of those guys give
sound advice. If you choose to dis-regard that advice don't run the unit
while using bleach and make sure you have plenty of fresh air entering the
space. A 10% solution kills HIV so it will kill your mold and you too if you
aren't careful.

As another poster mentioned, if this is a really new purchase you may want
to contact the seller or the seller's agent about this problem. Unless they
knew and failed to disclose you may have no recourse but it is worth a phone
call.

Colbyt

"Greg" wrote in message
...
the
guy that suggested bleach is wrong..VERY wrong.

Every system I have seen installed in Florida in the last decade has a
fitting
in the condensate line for EXACTLY this purpose. The instructions from the
HVAC
contractor is that you DO pour a small amount of bleach down this line.
Of course I suppose all these licensed contractors could be wrong.

Gee..it could be...but you see, that fitting as you call it...its a T PCV
fitting, and it ISN'T for that very purpose....Sorry...

The instructions that the contractor gives is a cheap ass way to get you to
actually end up spending more in the long term...

First, bleach is NOT supposed to be on, or near, the evap coil. Period.
Second, Chlorine is NOT something you want to breathe...

Now..the bleach can be put in there if it makes you feel good...but as a
licensed, and proven competent contractor in my field, chlorine in a drain
is wrong.

Show me where, in ANY installation manual, or engineers manual ( I have
several, so pick a brand, and name the page) that it states to use bleach as
a drain cleaner in the air vent...yea...that's all that T is..its a vent and
depending on the unit, you don't use that either.

Believe what you want..I just fix crap like this all day...design systems,
and am currently giving some input on a new program for contractors...but I
know nothing...

On 6 Jul 2004 11:10:09 -0700, (dan) wrote:

(dan) wrote in message . com...
We just bought a house that has a RUUD 10 SEER (we live in florida)
that is about 11 years old. The air handler in the attic has heavy
mold inside it all over. a technician came out and said it should be
replaced because cleaning it would cost almost as much as getting a
new one. He did mention that we were losing some Freon through it
also. These are our two concerns: 1.)we have a 2 year old child and a
new one coming in a month and it scares us to think that the air
conditioning can be a health danger to the infant and child; 2.)we
really dont have the money to drop on a new air hanling unit and
condenser. We are in a bit of situation here and was wondering if a
suggestion or two could be offered? Thanks in advance. Dan.


Thanks for the responses.
The A/C technicain mentioned that the bio-clean wont work on the mold
spores so i would be a waste of time and that installing a UV light
will run to $600. what about the supposed Freon leak at the air
handler? Should i use bleach on everything except the condenser
coils? Thanks in advance.

Use it on the moldy areas only. Read the instructions for safe use,
but iIt is corrosive so use your head. Lowes also sells bleach
tablets that are made specifically to put in the drain pan as
mentioned above.

Also, the drain pan under the evaporator should be as empty as
possible. Clean your drain lines of any debris that may dam up the
drain line.

What's "spring". We use A/C most of the year here. It is the heat that only
gets turned on a couple days a year. :-)

As for the drain line I am only repeating what I have heard. My wife worked for
the biggest Trane dealer in the 3 county area for 5 years and another dealer
before that so there are a lot of people who are doing it wrong here.
The company that she works for now, building houses, is saying the same thing
although the rich *******s who can afford her houses won't be doing anything to
their A/C units except telling the maid to turn it down.
I know bleach is nasty stuff but people do sling it around a lot here for mold
and mildew.
I even see people using pool chlorine which is double strength bleach. Tilex is
between those.
Roughly 5%, 7.5% and 10%
I certainly agree you don't want this on metal, any metal. My wife toasted some
"lifetime guaranteed" Delta faucets with Tilex. Delta replaced them anyway.
I will pass this on and see what the local HVAC guys say.