Cleaning a Fujitsu ductless split system

Hoping MOL community can advise us on an issue we are having as I am not native to NJersey and I have no idea where to begin. In our kitchen, we have a Fujitsu ductless split system air unit. I keep it very clean, rinsing and or washing the two screen filters in lightly soapy water at least once a month and as of late, once a week. I make sure to dry them completely before returning them to the air unit and turning it back on.

Our problem? The unit has mold and dirt inside - on the blower some of which we think is from our apartment being "flipped" at some point before we moved in, and the second part being that the unit is in the kitchen that I cook in several times a day, always turning on the stove fan (too much humidity maybe?). I do make sure to open windows now too.

Our landlord is wonderful and hired an appliance guy from Maplewood, recommended to him by a prior contractor (remember the one from the other thread that I lobbed an apple at), to clean the unit however all the guy did was spray one of those $15 cans of Nu-Calgon, the dreaded PINK can meant mostly for outdoor air units, and some type of mold killer all over the inside of our indoor wall unit. I came around the corner and was shocked. I told him I had a less toxic formula in the garage that I use on an upstairs window air conditioner and that I certainly would not have hired much less payed someone to simply spray a can of cleaner into the unit. I advised him that Fujitsu states not to spray those types of rinse-less cleaners into a ductless unit and that typically they would use other means to clean the blower which is what we assumed he would be doing. He then left us with a dripping toxic mess in our kitchen. I have been unable to clean the drips off the unit, or the wall, and the mold appears to have prevailed over the sprays.

Needless to say, my partner and I spent most of that day sitting in front of an open window to breath, in addition to me wearing an air mask.

Now our unit is blowing out bigger chunks of black colored mold and dirtier than ever. The aforementioned guy turned the unit on while the Nu-Calgon & mold killer was still soaking wet and I mean soaking & dripping all over our wood floor and wall wet.

Anyway, we are hoping to find someone who is actual HVAC qualified and familiar with the ductless split system air units to help of out with cleaning or de-molding this thing since we have given it three weeks without any success. I know nothing about ductless units other than what I have read in the Fujitsu manual and a little bit online. Am I off base that the Nu-Calgon and wet mold killer was a bad move for a ductless?

Please feel free to recommend an HVAC company/person, or even be blunt with me if I am off base about the way the last guy handled his attempt at cleaning the unit. Thanks!

Use the interwebs to find a local, certified Fujitsu repair person.

Alternatively, you can clean it yourself fairly thoroughly and easily - the trickiest part is removing / disengaging the protective black wire gate that one can see in your photos. We have a Mitsubishi Mr. Slim which looks similar to yours. After some Youtubing research of "how to clean mr. slim" (although I never could find someone dismantling our specific model) and some trial and error, I was able to get the gates to disengage and swing open to allow access for a thorough cleaning. Otherwise, you can't fit anything bigger than a chopstick or paper-towel-covered coat hanger up where the dust and mold reside.

I am not personally experienced with Fujitsu, but many of these units are designed to permit the removal of the blower wheel for cleaning. The system should also have the condensation drain connection inspected; that is a place where sludge typically builds up and can block proper drainage when the unit is in use.

What you are looking at is not likely to be mold. Mold grows and thrives seasonally during higher temperatures, and is usually only found on materials which it can consume: sheetrock, wood, trim, natural fibers, etc.

Thanks all, very helpful info. If not mold., do you know what the crud is in the photos?

The pros use a system that looks like this...

http://www.speedclean.com/product/mini-split-bib-kit/

That is EXACTLY what we need! Thank you!!!

CompassRose said:

Thanks all, very helpful info. If not mold., do you know what the crud is in the photos?

It is a buildup of the miscellaneous particles that are airborne from every day life. Dust, grease, whatever. And if you are hoping not to ingest whatever is airborne by wearing a mask, look for one that has designation N100 or P100.

UPDATE: Thanks to all of you for the great advice. My partner and I were able to clean the unit ourselves a couple months ago after removing the wire gate mentioned by lanky. We put on gloves and masks, then used a shop vac (with a filter for this cleaning only) and paintbrush to loosen the bigger chunks in the prior photos. We purchased the mini split first aid kit from Home Depot and used with a bib kit. It took 2 days, off and on, cleaning it with swabs and rinsing until we no longer saw any grime or dust. Unfortunately the unit's delicate white plastic had some yellowing and bubble-like damage from the acid based cleaner the prior handyman used, but at least it is clean. Now that we know how to do it ourselves, maintaining it every 6 months should be easy.

A before and after pic of the cover, the plastic damage, and the cleaned unit.