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AC System Fungal Growth??

Discussion in 'Technical Discussion' started by Globetrotter76, Sep 3, 2006.

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  1. Globetrotter76, Sep 3, 2006
    #1
    Globetrotter76

    Globetrotter76 New Member

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    Location:
    Cape Town - South Africa
    Hi board users......Okay just wanna see if anyone can advise me on the folowing......

    All our carpet in the interior guest area are cream coloured, everywhere near the AC Fresh Make Up Air inlets in cabins on carpet there is a blue looking colour developing it seems like a fungus mould in early stages, the carpet are stained and basically ruined..... I think this is some type of fungal growth and wanna know if there is any way to stop/treat this problem?

    We have switched our main Air Handling Unit to recyle the air and not take new air from the outside and only running our main fan coil units to keep airconditioning going, there was also lots of black looking dust throughout the guest/owner accomodation a few days ago, so we check our incoming air into A.H.U and filter clogged, this could be due to the fact that we are in shipyard in middle east with some serious work polluting the air with the never ending dust.

    Any comments or ideas on what the blue looking colour change on the carpets could be?? Treatment etc???

    Cheers
  2. techmati, Sep 3, 2006
    #2
    techmati

    techmati Senior Member

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    i have seen that on the carpet around pillars. quite new cream coloured carpets. it was more black than blue though. was definitely fungus not dust. i will ask what they did.

    i am not an expert but you might consider ozone treatment. mold may cause allergy for the guests, not only that it is ugly.
  3. Garry Hartshorn, Sep 3, 2006
    #3
    Garry Hartshorn

    Garry Hartshorn Senior Member

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    I came across a similar problem several years ago and we installed ozone generators in or as near as possible to the intakes, as this was a retro fit mid season this was the path we took however I would prefer to instal one larger ozone generator and plumb lines directly to each air handler onboard. It's also good to run lines into the top of the black and grey watertanks to eliminate odor.
  4. K1W1, Sep 3, 2006
    #4
    K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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    Hi,

    If you are not using any make up air how much under pressure do you have onboard?

    I have seen this appear under doors when there is a pressure difference between spaces, I think sometimes it's dust and junk but sometimes it seems to be biological. You have to bear in mind that dusty build up n plenum chambers etc is a good place to find Legionnaires Disease so it's not unlikely it is something growing on your carpets.

    Did you ever get your Wine Fridge problems sorted out. A lot of people replied to your post but you never posted back with the outcome.
  5. Globetrotter76, Sep 21, 2006
    #5
    Globetrotter76

    Globetrotter76 New Member

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    Location:
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    yes the wine fridge problem, well i ended up leaving that vessel due to various reasons and one was that my chief eng got electocuted to death at the end of yard period so it was quite a blow to a hectic end of yard period...

    on new vessel in dubai now and loving the job

    laters and thanks for input...ozone seems the way....
  6. wdrzal, Sep 24, 2006
    #6
    wdrzal

    wdrzal Senior Member

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    While ozone may be one way of elimanating mold,just the presence of mold usually indicates wet or humid conditions.Be sure your a/c is dehumidifying properly. 400cfm per ton (12,000)is the rule of thumb,air moving to fast over the evaporator and you loose the dehumidifacation,to slow you loose capacity or the evaporator freezes.Check all evaporators and drain pans for mold. If a/c is not run enough to properly lower humidity,seperate dehumidifacation equiptment may be needed.

    I would have a handheld meter to measure actual humidity levels everywhere in the yacht.

    If you can see mold ,chances are the problem is worse than you think.

    edit: I posted the benifits of UV light in another thread and going to post a copy here .

    UV light has the same effectiveness in A/C and ventilation duct work. FYI its also HIGHLY recommended to install electronic air filters in the A/C ducts.
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2006