It’s October, and the Townsville heat is on. As the late dry season kicks in, people are turning on their air conditioners for the first time in a while, only to be hit with that all-too-common musty smell. That smell is one of the key tell-tale signs that your aircon needs more than just a simple filter cleaning – it needs a deep clean.
While keeping your filters clean is crucial—they’re the first line of defense for capturing lint and other large particles—they can’t stop everything. The real problem starts deeper inside the unit.
Dirty evaporator coils
The cooling process makes the internal evaporator coils extremely cold, dropping well below the air’s dew point. In our humid, tropical climate, this means one thing: condensation. A lot of it. This constant moisture becomes a magnet for all the fine dust, allergens, and mould spores that sneak right past the filter. When that water mixes with this grime, it creates a thick, “dirty muddy mess” deep inside your machine. That’s what’s causing the smell, and it’s why a deep clean is so important.
Here you can see a dirty filter – we can all clean that (and should), but underneath – yuck. More slime, mould and mess is living on the evaporator coils. We’re not counting, but that’s at least two layers of dust, grime and potential allergy causing mess from the one place!
Here is a before and after of the same evaporator coils after a deep clean.
- BEFORE – slime, mould and mess on the evaporator coils, leading to musty odour
- AFTER – professionally deep cleaned and treated – notice the colour difference – WOW!
A professional deep clean will wash the evaporator coils. The air that you’re breathing will no longer be passing over muddy, mouldy coils. You wouldn’t drink from a dish sponge, so why would you breathe air from this aircon?
Poor airflow
While blocked and choked evaporator coils are a major cause of poor airflow, they aren’t the only component that needs a deep clean.
Meet the blower fan. Virtually impossible to reach, it’s nested deep within the unit and is responsible for circulating the cool air from the evaporator coils, down through the plastic airway, and into your family home.
This fan is a prime target for buildup. For example, the blower fan (in this picture shown below) is already starting to get dirty, only a few months after its last deep clean. Protected by a metal guard, it’s impossible to reach for even the most savvy DIY’ers. These fans can quickly cake with lint and, in extreme cases, host entire mould colonies that look like coffee grounds. (We won’t display those images—even the most seasoned professionals would turn their heads).
Heightened allergies
For anyone who suffers from allergies, you know it’s more than just a minor annoyance – it can be a serious source of daily grief. A foundational, tried-and-tested method for finding relief is to minimise your exposure to the allergens that set you off. This often means washing bedding, vacuuming carpets, and dusting surfaces.
But what about the air you breathe?
Your air conditioner, with its constant cycle of (tropical) damp but cooled air, is a prime candidate for becoming an allergen factory. That “dirty muddy mess” of dust, mould spores, lint, and general grime we mentioned earlier isn’t just sitting there; it’s a concentrated collection of potential triggers.
Every time you switch on your aircon, the blower fan helps move these microscopic particles around and actively circulates them throughout your home. This can be a direct cause of allergy flare-ups. We hear this consistently from our clients. Many of Zamp’s customers report that they suffer from allergies and have found that getting their aircons professionally deep-cleaned at least once a year helps significantly reduce their “allergen load” and provides welcome relief.
Zamp is here. Zamp is happy to help. Book professional deep cleaning of your Aircon.
