air conditioning cleaning/disinfecting

Post your Cit/Peu/Ren air conditioning queries or advice.

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gwest
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air conditioning cleaning/disinfecting

Post by gwest »

My 2013 DS5 has developed a smell when I turn on the A/C. I have bought some foaming spray cleaner that comes with a 50cm tube that you are instructed to insert into the drain hose from the heater-A/C housing. I have looked but I cannot see this outlet. I know I can start the A/C and see where water drains from, and I will give it a go. But I have also removed the cabin filters, so I have access to the interior of the box from under the dashboard. Just rearward of the vertical cabin filter slot is a vertical matrix, I'm just not sure if it is the heater core or the evaporator. I guess if I can fill the void with foam it would do the same job as applying the foam from below? The instructions just say to wait 15 minutes after applying it. I don't know the relative positions of the evaporator and heater cores, but I would be disappointed if there was anything upstream of the filters given the amount of debris on them. I am wondering how to do the job most effectively, and if a short burst of the heater fan might distribute the foam more widely?
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GiveMeABreak
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Re: air conditioning cleaning/disinfecting

Post by GiveMeABreak »

I haven't got a clue what it is you are trying to do with foam, but I can't see that doing anything to be honest.

The mini radiator you can see will be the heater matrix - so don't be pushing or prodding that or it will be a dash out job to replace if you damage it.

The best thing you can do is clean the A/C system. You can get some Air Con Bombs for this, after replacing your pollen filters and hoovering all the gunk out.

Bacteria is the issue that causes the smells. A full A/C service will reclaim all the oil and gas from the system, disinfect it and then replace it to the correct levels. Places like Kwik fit have a machine that foes all this in one go.

Or have a look at my post here where I changed the pollen filter and used an Air Con Bomb to do my C5 X7:


viewtopic.php?t=56902&hilit=bomb
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Re: air conditioning cleaning/disinfecting

Post by slackgarry »

Done this myself. Got some of these from Amazon. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Holts-Air-Con- ... ive&sr=1-3
1)I take out the old Aircon pollen filter and set of the spray in the middle of the car usually a cup holder.
2) With the aircon on LOW and Re-Circulate leave it for 15 minutes until the Bomb has stopped.
3) The turn off engine and leave car alone windows shut for a hour just to kill anything still moving.
4) Then I put a new pollen filter in and use as normal.

I also take 2 of these on holiday and use them in the room as the Aircon smells in Egypt, These usually sort it.
Have fun Slackgarry
Kind regards

SlackGarry
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gwest
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2013 Citroen DS5 THP165
2011 DS3 THP 150
x 13

Re: air conditioning cleaning/disinfecting

Post by gwest »

Thanks for the replies fellas. There seems to be two approaches to cleaning the evaporator- the bomb method you both describe, and the foam injection technique e.g.: Genuine Toyota A/C Refresher Kit, Power Max Klima Anlagen, CRC Airco Cleaner Pro. The Toyota product uses both methods, and Klima have similar dual products. My thinking was that if you can get the foam to penetrate the evaporator core, it may apply more cleaning/disinfecting product than with just the aerosol bomb method. I squirted some water into the opening for the cabin filters and discovered that the outlet drain is hidden by the exhaust heat shielding in the centre tunnel. Which is quite neat in a way because it makes it less likely to block up with dirt, although it means you need to apply the foam from elsewhere. It also meant that the drain was in fact connected to the heater box, which is more than I can say for our previous C4. My query now is given that I need to apply the foam through the opening for the cabin filters, how can I best get it to the evaporator core? If I had an exploded diagram of the HVAC it would answer my question, but I haven't been able to locate one. If I closed all the air vents that I could and put the fan on gently when the foam was in the box I am not sure about what surprise I might get?
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