Why is there a bad smell coming from refurbished refrigerator?
by
Wanda
+2
About 3 days ago, my apt mgr brought up a refurbished refrigetator. First thing I noticed was this sweet pungent smell, almost like something dead. I put in a box of baking soda, but it only helped for about a day. Other then that, it seems to be working fine, except I had to turn it up to maximum for it to get cold. I'm a little concerned, do any help is appreciated. Thanks
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It is possible that the odour is coming from an incidence of food previously spoiling in the fridge. If the food contained protein, such as meat, or cheese, and the fridge was not cleaned up soon enough or adequately enough, then it may be that the plastic has already absorbed the odour. If this is the case, then it may be too late to remove it entirely.
However, another source of bad fridge odours comes from 'hidden' particles of rotten food or that are in between the rubber seals, or under the edges.
Have you contacted your manager already with your concern?
What you might want to do is have a go at cleaning the fridge as thoroughly as you can first, and see if this solves the bad smell problem.
Check your gaskets, seals and insulation if you can access it. There may be mold.
Hi Wanda,
Take a look at thie link, especially step #5:
https://www.consumerreports.org/refrigerators/how-to-get-rid-of-funky-refrigerator-smells/
Another place to look would be the evaporatior pan and tubing at the very bottom of the refrigerator, all kinds of drainage gunk mabe in there.
Try air purifying bamboo charcoal. I had used a room for storage and the 1000s of documents had left a bad odor along with the smell from a water leak. I place those in and viola' the odor is gone and stays gone. They can be safely used in fridge, shoes, trash cans and anywhere you have a rotten stinking odor. I get mine on Amazon and every now and then I find at TJMaxx.
Also these natural bamboo will last up to 3 years if you reactivate by placing in direct sunlight for an hour. I have tried and now that is all I ever use.