Fishy smell coming air conditioning vent?

Question

Happens with air and heat. Does not have any pattern. Air conditioning tech just keeps coming out and charging me to clean unit again and again....yet smell keeps coming back. We are desperate for some help...anyone??

Answer 1

Google "dirty socks syndrome". This is a condition that occurs on evaporator coils. Its basically a bacterial growth that smells like "dirty socks", some describe it as fishy. It is difficult to get rid of but with the proper cleaners and the proper cleaning method you can rid yourself of this smell. Not only is it annoying, it can be harmful to your health if left untreated. Coming from experience, get a hvac contractor to clean the coil. Make sure the contractor you hire is familiar with DSS. I know it sounds funny but we have been dealing with this smell for as long as there has been air conditioning. Hope this helps!!!

Answer 2

Fish Smell Problem Solved, look no further! I would like to save you the hours of research I had to spend on resolving my "fish smell" problem coming from my air vents. Know that 9 out of 10 times the strange fish smell is coming from a burning electrical outlet or wire or a circuit somewhere in the house. I know it sounds strange, but I've learned that most electronic shielding and plastic components are made with a certain kind of chemical that makes it high heat resistant. This chemical in the plastic releases a strange "fish" or "urine" smell when it's cooking. I spent hours researching this and found that almost every single person that mentioned the "fish smell" all came to the conclusion that there was a cooking electrical outlet, wire or circuit somewhere in the house. In my case, the odor smelled like a combination of fish and urine. It was horrible. I was convinced that a mouse got into my air ducts and either urinated or died. No one could talk me out of this theory at the time. I read many posts and laughed at the people claiming it was an electrical problem because I'm familiar with the unmistakable odor that comes from burning electronics that has no similarity to fish or urine. Well sure enough, I found the problem. It was a cooking circuit breaker in my circuit board cabinet. Apparently, my central air HVAC system was working extra hard to keep the house warm during a brutal cold front for several days. This caused the circuit breaker to overhead and cook. I had an electrician swap it out for a new one and the smell was gone. Total cost $65.00. Before finding where the smell was coming from, I was ready to spend thousands on exterminators, air-duct cleaning and air-conditioning heating company to service my unit. Wow was I relieved the problem cost me so little. My advice to anyone with the infamous "Fish Smell" should start by smelling the breakers in the circuit board and then work your way to smelling every single electrical outlet in the home including light fixtures on the ceiling. There's definitely something cooking somewhere and you'll find it. If not, then that's not good because you probably have an electrical wire cooking somewhere in the wall and that can cause a fire. Well, hope my story and advice will come in handy to someone out there with the same problem.

Answer 3

Ah, yes, the famous fishy smell. Here in NM, most of us use a swamp cooler with well water and we are very familar with the fishy smell. It comes from the water sitting for a time without the vents being used. If you are using refrigerated air, I'd have the tech look for any standing water in your system or you may even have to have your ducts cleaned as well.

Answer 4

Jeremy is right. Some units have what is called a "Dirty Sock" smell. It's usually because of the coil's coating sprayed on it during manufacturing or the bacteria Jeremy mentioned. Most manufacturers deny this "syndrome", however, changing the coil out usually solves this. Warranties usually won't cover this unless you press it with the manufacturer, not the HVAC company.Good luck.

Answer 5

put air freshener on the vent in the heater so when it is running you will smell the freshener get it at the dollar store$1.08 w/tax works great I think you need your air ducts cleaned

Answer 6

Hopefully someone didn't throw a dead fish in your vents as a joke. That would be a very gross joke. What was the movie? Grumpy Old Men?

Answer 7

Is your HVAC tech vaccuming your ducts? You may have mold in your ductwork and you need a duct cleaning treatment.

Answer 8

Change your air filter? it may be full off dust and other bacteria.

Answer 9

clean it yourself with lysol
so, it wont smell gross.