We live in a one story home that has a central 4-ton hvac unit. Recently I've noticed that after the A/C kicks on, I get a heavy dose of a smoke smell. Badly enough to where my eyes(burning) and mouth/throat are affected. There are smokers in the house but no one actually smokes inside, only outside on the patio. And last week we had company that were HEAVY smokers(stronger ciggarettes too), all smoked on patio only. I thought that their smoke might be traveling inside the attic from the soffit vents around the perimeter of house and into the a/c system from poss. vent leaks in attic. So I closed up all the soffit vents along that side of the house and created new ones on the opposite side of the house. STILL, the problem occurs. Thought maybe the smoke is coming in from openings in siding? I even went upstairs into attic expecting to see it full of smoke, but have yet to find any(using a hi-beam narrow light). Is it possible for the smoke to have lined/coated the a/c's ventilation system so that everytime it runs the smoke smell causes my eyes to burn? I also read in this ng that some folks have had a failing blower motor cause smoke to go into the system. Could that cause these same effects? thanks for any suggestions!
Smoke smell from A/C? Eyes burning.
Nov 17, 2003
8 Replies
I fear so. It is time to have your system checked.
Troll ... You created new vents , You mean you got in the attic and closed a bunch, and got out a SAW and CUT into your house a bunch of new ones, yea,. right.
Could well be a failing motor in the air handler in the attic. It may not be getting hot enough (yet!) to produce visible smoke in the airstream out of the registers.
If you're not experienced opening the air handler and working on motors, etc., get a pro out real soon.
Jim
Oughta be able to tell the diff between cig smoke and electric motor smoke.
Sounds like you have a blower fan going out.
Buy a pack of cigs, smoke them, and you problems are over. Cig smoke does not burn your eyes. Maybe you have a much more serious problem, such as an electrical fire about to happen. or else you suffer from paranoia and mental illness.
Either way, get professional help, and smoke a cig while you call the experts to help relax you.
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Suggest you get a competent tech out...you just described not only a fan motor, or cap thats about to fry, but also a mold issue in the evap.
Great, thanks for all the helpful input guys. I'll check out the blower motor.
As for the self-professed troll, mark ransley at snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net .... I suggest you grow up, little girl or have Mommy make you some nice warm milk so you can go beddy-byes.
FYI: In order to add the new vents you access it from the outside of the house. Yes, I used a saw... and it's a cordless one too! Yes, they make them Moron!! Really! The old ones were sealed by removing the covers and placing foil tape across the openings. I'm amazed at how assanine people can be.
You said your guests were smoking " Stronger ciggaretts too" Of course the illegal kind. So if youve been smelling it for a while when you turn On the AC doesnt make sense youd be cutting holes in the attic rather than looking at the AC. Maybe youve been smoking to many Strong ciggaretts too.
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