Take a flashlight and look up into the blades of your mini-split, past the louver. If you see black speckling, that is not dust. That is mold, growing on a surface that is wet every minute the unit runs, and the air you breathe crosses it on the way out.
Mini-splits are quiet and efficient and that is exactly the problem — they are easy to forget. There is no big filter to swap and no service door to open, so most of them run five, six, seven years without anyone laying eyes on the barrel fan or the drain pan. Rinsing the two mesh screens and calling it done is not cleaning the unit. The screens catch lint. The growth is on the aluminum behind them.
You can usually tell how bad it is before we open it: if the smell hits in the first minute after startup and then fades, that is the fan pushing air across a wet, dirty coil. If water is dripping down the wall, the drain pan is already full of the same thing.
Signs your equipment needs this
- Black or grey speckling visible on the fan blades or the louver
- A sour or musty smell when the unit starts, especially on cooling
- Water dripping from the indoor head onto the wall or floor
- The unit takes noticeably longer to cool the room than it used to
- It has been more than a year — or you have never had it professionally cleaned
Two levels: which one do you need?
Maintenance level. Performed with the equipment in place — no disassembly. The right call for equipment that gets serviced regularly.
Restoration level. The equipment comes apart and is pressure-washed with the right chemicals, then reassembled and performance-tested.
Not sure which one? Book the Light clean. If the technician opens the equipment and finds it needs more, you upgrade to Deep on the spot and pay only the difference.
What the technician actually does
- The unit is powered down and the wall and floor below are fully protected.
- Light: filters, louver and the accessible face of the coil are cleaned and sanitized, and the drain is checked and cleared.
- Deep (bib wash): a wash bag is fitted around the head and the coil and barrel fan are flushed with mini-split cleaning chemicals — the water that comes out tells you everything about what was living in there.
- The drain pan and line are cleaned and flushed, which is what stops the dripping and the smell coming back.
- The unit is dried, reassembled and test-run before we leave.
Pick your day and time, confirm with a deposit, and you get the confirmation right away. No phone tag, no waiting on a callback, no estimate visit.
Book Mini-Split Cleaning — from $199
Frequently asked questions
Is the black stuff on the blades really mold?
In almost every unit we open, yes. The coil and the barrel fan stay damp when the unit runs, and that is all mold needs. Rinsing the mesh filters does nothing for it because the growth is deeper in.
What does the Deep clean include that Light does not?
Light cleans what can be reached with the unit assembled — filters, louver, the face of the coil, plus sanitizing and a drain check. Deep is a full bib wash: a bag goes around the head and the coil and blower are flushed with chemicals until the runoff comes out clean. That is the one that fixes a smell.
Is the price per unit or for the whole house?
Per indoor unit. If you have several heads, additional units are quoted on site so you are not paying full price for each — tell us how many when you book and the technician plans the visit for it.
Will this get rid of the smell for good?
A Deep clean removes the source, and clearing the drain line is what keeps it from coming back quickly. If the unit was badly neglected, an annual clean keeps it that way.
Can I just clean it myself with a spray can?
Those cans wet the coil and push the growth deeper into the pan, and they do nothing for the barrel fan, which is usually the worst part. Without a wash bag and a drain flush, you are moving the problem, not removing it.
Where we work
Equipment down right now, or something bigger than standard?
Call or text and we will take care of it.