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?
