Mold in air conditioning?

In the filter or on the unit?
There are over 100,000 types of mold. No reason to panic.
The mold you hear about that is really toxic are types that grow on wood,paper,drywall,etc.
You can grow mold on a piece of bread in 2 days.
Im guessing it's on your plastic air conditioner.

Clean it with bleach as best you can. Get a hydrometer (like a thermometer but measures humidity, they're cheap enough) and determine how humid your apartment is.
You may want to invest in a dehumidifier. Mold likes moisture.

hyGrometer

yes hyGrometer...sorry!

You probably had water pooling in the bottom of your air conditioner.

http://www.romio.com/city

Check your condenser water line. If it is a heat pump, there should a plastic hose dripping water into a pan which goes into waste water riser. In wall ac, the water should not be pooling, should be draining out of the building. Ptac also.

Are your units too powerful for the size of room they are in? If so, this can often result in higher humidity in the air.

I had a Friedrich wall unit and had it serviced - they took it out and steam cleaned the unit. If there were any mold the steam should have killed it, I think?

Thank you so much, everyone. Bramstar - You raise a good point. Perhaps when we replaced the 2 older units, we "overdid" it? I will check out all of your great advice, everyone - many, many thanks!!

find an online calculator that takes several inputs to determine BTU needs.

It's those newer "wall" units that are most prone to mold, since the contractors in many cases cheaped out and didn't put backs on them ... leaving the exposed drywall inside the unit vulnerable to condensation, and eventually mold.

NYCMatt - is this correctable or do these backs need to be put on only at installation? Thanks!

What backs? The decorative grills that keep birds out? Do you mean sleeves ... it's hard to imagine that through-wall units can possibly be installed without sleeves.

Airwave will come and do a 'spring' cleaning and also tell you if they need to be taken out and subjected to a more rigorous cleaning.

No, I'm talking about hotel-style wall units like this: http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/maya-wall-air-conditioner-unit/441460

What do expect for ten bucks?

I'm surprised columbiacounty has no advice on mold but alanhart's advice is plentiful.

I just spoke to my super - he thinks the problem is that our built-ins around the unit are made of sheetrock, rather than wood, and therefore hold the moisture and encourage mold. His suggestion was to rip them out and replace them with wooden built ins. Any comments or thoughts on this? Thanks again everyone!

I could see that being the case if it were the sheetrock getting moldy, but if you see no sign of that, it's not very credible that the A/C would have mold caused by it.

And what makes your super think your A/C is moldy? What precipitated his inpsection ... odors, malfunction???

I'd get an HVAC specialist opinion before doing anything.

Super was servicing units which they do each year. Good idea to call hvac. Thanks!