DW modular home HVAC bad smell nauseated
Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 8:44 pm
Greetings, I'm new so please go easy on me! 
I'm currently spending time with my mom who has a 2000 year doublewide modular home. The home has an electric HVAC unit (I'm told they do not make this unit anymore, but is a common unit for this year home) that has a box like fan pump (a/c condenser?) and a 2 part unit inside (looks like this http://www.tarterbrothers.com/images/amstd3.jpg).
The top part has a coil radiator type setup with pipes and such for a/c I believe and the bottom is a big fan/blower and the heating parts?. So, the heat has been off for a few days and she had a really big rain. Today she cuts on the heater and it starts to work then cuts off. Nothing worked. So I flipped all the breakers for the unit (including the 2 breaker switchs on the bottom part inside the hvac) and tried again, this time it cut on.
about 2 minutes afterward we noticed a really bad smell, like toxic (plastic melting or something) and it was a light mist smoke in the hvac room. At this point I turned the unit off and opened all the windows. The smell started to make us feel nauseated and we didnt want to breath, Itchy throat and watery eyes. I can smell the oder in the vents (they are floor vents).
The weird thing is, it only happens when the heat is on. The a/c appears function and blows super cold, the normal fan blow functional and the heat is hot. She just had the blower replaced and the heat functioned normally for 2 months afterwards, but just 2 days ago the issue arose. It could be melted PVC, but nothing has been done to it in over 2 months and I checked all the duck work under the home, nothing appears burnt, melted or out of place.
But the smell is scarey. Any ideas will be helpful?
I'm currently spending time with my mom who has a 2000 year doublewide modular home. The home has an electric HVAC unit (I'm told they do not make this unit anymore, but is a common unit for this year home) that has a box like fan pump (a/c condenser?) and a 2 part unit inside (looks like this http://www.tarterbrothers.com/images/amstd3.jpg).
The top part has a coil radiator type setup with pipes and such for a/c I believe and the bottom is a big fan/blower and the heating parts?. So, the heat has been off for a few days and she had a really big rain. Today she cuts on the heater and it starts to work then cuts off. Nothing worked. So I flipped all the breakers for the unit (including the 2 breaker switchs on the bottom part inside the hvac) and tried again, this time it cut on.
about 2 minutes afterward we noticed a really bad smell, like toxic (plastic melting or something) and it was a light mist smoke in the hvac room. At this point I turned the unit off and opened all the windows. The smell started to make us feel nauseated and we didnt want to breath, Itchy throat and watery eyes. I can smell the oder in the vents (they are floor vents).
The weird thing is, it only happens when the heat is on. The a/c appears function and blows super cold, the normal fan blow functional and the heat is hot. She just had the blower replaced and the heat functioned normally for 2 months afterwards, but just 2 days ago the issue arose. It could be melted PVC, but nothing has been done to it in over 2 months and I checked all the duck work under the home, nothing appears burnt, melted or out of place.
But the smell is scarey. Any ideas will be helpful?