Jabodacious

For the past couple of weeks I have been noticing an ozone smell (like a blender makes) coming from my vents just after turning off my AC.

The AC works fine, everything looks and sounds normal under the hood. Do I have a refrigerant leek? Can R34 (or whatever our cars use) smell like ozone?



Anyone else experience this?

Jabo

Jens H.

The refrigerant does not have an oder ,chances are you AC filter may need to be replaced .As the AC filter get's old it get's very dirty and can have an odor .

Jens

allmotor_2000

I was just thinking... if you can smell ozone, you have a $500K or more job waiting for you with the EPA.

It's the filter!

vuduvida

isn't the smell in the air after a thunderstorm caused by ozone? Also, older laser printers put out ozone and the odor is definitely noticeable if you're close to one. And as the original post says, electrical motors (as in a blender or a drill) produce ozone from the motor's spark and they also have a certain smell. I didn't think it was difficult to smell ozone (but I may be wrong)...

RobOnLI

Technically, the "smell of rain" or what you smell after a thunderstorm is from the acid in the rain interacting with bacteria or chemicals (like soil on the ground or gasoline/oil deposits left on the road by cars).

Ironically, the bacteria given off by the interaction of the acid in the rain are used in antibiotics. SNIFF UP!

-RM
PS - I am not a scientist, so don't have your family come after me if you die from sniffing the air

vuduvida

I've never heard that before. so the smell is from a vapor that is similar to a gaseous form of penicillin?? hmmm...

I thought the smell was caused by lightning that ionized the air, which resulted in ozone.

A couple links I just found:
http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/lis/lis_5.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/ozone.shtml

chef chris

Wow...this thread went right to the SciFi channel...

CLean

Well to begin with. Ozone has no odor. My best guess is that that your is breaking in. And it is filtering through the car's vents.

vuduvida

not to keep beating a dead horse but the science part of this is interesting...

both those links above say ozone has a smell. A couple other sites agree with this:

britannica.com: "(O3), triatomic allotrope of oxygen that accounts for the distinctive odour of the air after a thunderstorm or around electrical equipment. The odour of ozone around electrical machines was reported as early as 1785;"

m-w.com: "a triatomic very reactive form of oxygen that is a bluish irritating gas of pungent odor..."

I'd think somebody would've corrected those info sources if they were wrong (but what do I know?? )

spdy0001

Wow you guys are smarter than me

Akim711

i have no idea... all i know is that mine SMELLS LIKE SMOKE.

Greetings from Moreno Valley and Riverside, CA.

cconley1

The word ozone comes from the Greek word for smell because it has a distinct very strong odor, comparable to chlorine. Anyone can smell it.

odinisamu

Isn't ozone what you smell when you stand close to a photocopy machine (aka Xerox machine)?

Maryp32806

Just because I was looking up this same problem and got ducked into the debate about whether you can smell ozone, according to this website most people can smell ozone
m.inspectapedia.com/?url=http:%2F%2Finspectapedia.com%2Fsickhouse%2FOz one_Treatment_Warnings.php&utm_referrer=#2669

R J Poseidon 6

Classic stuff guys.

Just like they said, just change the Pollen Filters. They have an awesome spray at the dealer that they spray on it but you don't need it. Good luck!

Tosh

You might be smelling coolant from a leak in the heater core.

Heaven Leigh

You are thinking of petrichor and it’s caused by the rain fall evaporating off the ground faster than it soaks in...of course it’s more complex than that but this is an AC forum, not a chemistry forum.