Cleaning AC Filters

[kahuna]

Thanks for the reminder RX...Just cleaned mine...Surprisingly not too dirty...
Only took a couple minutes while I showered...By the time I finished with my
shower they were dry...

I can remember cleaning them in the room I was staying in the first time you
told us of this trick sometime back and I was shocked when I opened up the
aircon and saw how dirty the the filter was...

Great advice...

[Road Runner]

(PigDogg @ Aug. 29 2010,05:40) The gunk goes down the drain.  I have no idea how undesirable that is.

No problem washing it down the drain.

It's only dead human skin cells, dust mites, dist mite shit, hair, fluff, tyre rubber (yes really!), smoke particles, and a little bit of good old clean dirt.

Washing the particles with a shower hose is OK but wash away from you towards the floor so the particles get washed downwards and settle in the water.
You don't want to spread them around the room and breath them - actually you are breathing that normally but not in concentrated form.
The reason AC tends to give you head colds and sore throats is because it's a good way of collecting the rubbish and circulating it around the room.


Hope none of you were having breakfast.

RR.

[Beavis]

(PigDogg @ Aug. 29 2010,05:40)

(Bumpa STIKKA @ Aug. 28 2010,07:25) Good advice there, RX...

Not a bad idea to clean them out in the hotel hallway with an old toothbrush or the free one they give you in the room.

We have five in our house and once a month or so we have a good filter cleaning session!

What I've done is squirt  the shower hose at the filter and it cleans quite quickly.  

The gunk goes down the drain.  I have no idea how undesirable that is.

While we're on the subject of shower heads...Taking showers can make you ill.

Many people think of the A/C as the obvious cause of the Bangkok / Pattaya cough although I think it's a combination of over-taxed immune system, exhaust fumes as well. There seems to be a common concensus that the filters on A/C units are not cleaned frequently, but how often do you think shower heads are cleaned ? If you're going to clean the A/C filter, maybe you should cover all bases and do the shower head too !

[Socrates999]

(kahuna @ Aug. 29 2010,12:42) Thanks for the reminder RX...Just cleaned mine...Surprisingly not too dirty...
Only took a couple minutes while I showered...By the time I finished with my
shower they were dry...

I can remember cleaning them in the room I was staying in the first time you
told us of this trick sometime back and I was shocked when I opened up the
aircon and saw how dirty the the filter was...

Great advice...

You should check the processor on your laptop if you leave it running for any length of time. The greasy black shit that comes off is appalling.In addition, it can seriously screw your computer, due to overheating. That definitely causes me (mental) health problems.

[Road Runner]

(Beavis @ Aug. 29 2010,12:30) but how often do you think shower heads are cleaned ?

In Thailand probably never!

I have not heard of Mycobacterium avium before and have never known the health inspectors mention it in the UK.

Legonella only likes still water so the risk from that is very, very low in a shower head  -  so you can pretty much forget catching it via that route.
(Similarly there is little likelyhood in domestic AC units as there is normally nowhere for the condensate to collect  -  it's the big commercial units that cause the problems).

Another risk in shower heads is cholera which is more prevalent (not just in showers) than you would think
-  though it is usually in such minute quantities that your body copes with the odd bit that passes through without you noticing.

In hotels in the UK shower heads are regularly cleaned by dropping them in ordinary household chlorine bleach  5  minutes is enough about every 3 to 6 months.

Twice a year should be adequate for a domestic shower in the UK where it's cold  -  warmer countries like Thailand you should double that.


Remember old age is still by far the biggest killer.    

RR.

[El_hefe]

Glad you're okay now el hefe. Was it last year close to the swine flu scare?

Thanks jake, no, it was quite a number of years ago.

The last couple of times I've been in LOS I've started wiping down surfaces in my hotel room after I unpack with a disinfectant wipe: handles, doorknobs, phone keypad & TV remote. Didn't know about the shower head issue. I typically have a 50% chance of catching some low grade bug when I'm there, usually a tummy thing tho.

And don't even get me going about how filthy bedspreads are in hotels.    Someone did a study a number of years ago & the bedspread came up as the worst bit of contamination in the typical hotel room, they rarely get laundered & all sorts of body fluid residue thrive there. I usually leave it on the floor of my room.

I'm currently looking to buy a lightweight tropical hazmat moonsuit with a personal air supply for my next vacation and jumbo tongs to touch people with, as soon as I muster up the courage to leave my house!  

[rxpharm]

(Beavis @ Aug. 29 2010,12:30) Many people think of the A/C as the obvious cause of the Bangkok / Pattaya cough although I think it's a combination of over-taxed immune system, exhaust fumes as well. There seems to be a common concensus that the filters on A/C units are not cleaned frequently, but how often do you think shower heads are cleaned ? If you're going to clean the A/C filter, maybe you should cover all bases and do the shower head too !

Here is the National Health Service (from UK) response to that study.

The basic conclusion is that people with normal immune status are not susceptible to infection as Mycobateria avium is an opportunistic organism that would only be able to infect an immunocompromised person.

Also there are some facts that the media did not mention from the study.

€¢Samples were taken from 45 shower heads in nine US cities. The results from this small sample may not be representative of all shower heads across the US or in other countries.
€¢Contrary to what is implied by some of the news reports, the Mycobacteria avium from the showerheads was not found in the aerosol produced by the shower, which would reduce the likelihood of it being inhaled. The researchers suggest that this may be because the mycobacteria are released in the very start of the shower and then diluted as the shower progresses. Further tests would be needed to determine if this is the case.
€¢The study did not test whether the microbes found would also be present in other water taps.

If you check the AC filter in your hotel room and see what it looks like after not being cleaned for months or possibly years, I think you would be concerned. Road Runner is right about Legionella's Disease, it requires moisture to grow.

Glad that El-hefe recovered and is taking steps to avoid it happening again!

Something else to consider is that if you go out and get completely plastered every night and deprive yourself of adequate sleep, your immune system is not going to be up to snuff during your LOS trip.