The three problems we get called out for most in the Cassowary Coast — and what a proper clean actually fixes before you spend money on a repair or replacement.
How do I know if there's mould in my air conditioner?＋
The telltale signs in a FNQ home are a musty or earthy smell when the unit first starts, dark speckling on the plastic louvres or fan barrel, black flecks blowing out onto surfaces below the unit, and a runny nose or itchy eyes that clear up when you leave the room. In our climate — high humidity, monsoon rain, warm nights — mould thrives on the wet coil and fan barrel between runs. A torch and a mirror aimed up under the front cover usually shows it before you smell it.
How do you remove mould from an air conditioner properly?＋
A proper mould treatment isn't a spray can from Bunnings. We drop covers, take the front cover and filters off, hydro-flush the evaporator coil and fan barrel under pressure to remove the biofilm mould feeds on, then treat every internal surface with a hospital-grade antimicrobial. Drains get cleared so condensate can't sit and re-seed the mould. On heavily affected units we quote a full strip-clean. A wipe of the filter alone will not fix it — the mould lives deeper in the coil fins and fan barrel where a domestic vac can't reach.
Why does my air conditioner smell musty, wet or sour?＋
That smell is almost always microbial growth on a permanently damp indoor coil. Cassowary Coast humidity keeps the coil wet long after the unit shuts off, so mould, mildew and bacteria colonise the fins and the fan barrel. A hospital-grade hydro-clean plus antimicrobial treatment clears it in one visit and the smell goes on the same day. Deodorisers and 'aircon bombs' only mask it for a week or two.
My air conditioner smells like vinegar or wet socks — is that dangerous?＋
Not immediately dangerous, but not something to keep breathing. Vinegar / sour smells usually mean bacterial biofilm on the coil; wet-sock or dirty-laundry smells usually mean mould in the fan barrel. Both can trigger asthma, allergies and sinus issues, especially in kids and older residents. A full clean sorts it — if the smell comes back within a few weeks after a clean, there's often a blocked drain or a coil that needs a strip-clean, and we'll tell you which.
My air conditioner is running but not cooling — can a clean fix it?＋
Very often, yes. In FNQ we see aircons labelled 'broken' that are simply choked with dust, mould and salt on the coil and outdoor condenser — airflow drops, heat can't transfer, the unit runs constantly but the room never cools. A full clean restores 90%+ of lost performance in most cases. If cooling is still weak after a proper clean, the next likely causes are low refrigerant (a leak, not a top-up problem), a failing capacitor or fan motor, or an undersized unit for the room. We diagnose and quote before doing any paid repair.
Air conditioner not cooling after the wet season — what's going on?＋
Classic Cassowary Coast pattern. Months of high humidity plus cyclone dust plus salt spray coat the outdoor condenser coil and clog the indoor filter and fan barrel. The unit still turns on, still blows air, but airflow and heat rejection have collapsed. A post-wet-season clean of both the indoor head and the outdoor condenser almost always brings cooling back — and it's a fraction of the cost of a repair or replacement.
