Viewing 3 reply threads
  • Author
    Posts
    • #6278
      Whadeduck
      Participant

      We have a GE GSS22JERFCC refrigerator that started emitting an odor about 6 months ago. It’s not coming from inside. We replaced all the food inside and scrubbed everything thoroughly thanks to Hurricane Ian last year. I was able to clean some of the drip pan and the smell went away initially. The drip pan doesn’t come out of this model, so I did my best to clean it and bought stock in Band-Aid. It started coming back about two weeks ago and I tried cleaning it again over the weekend. But this time the smell didn’t go away. I actually cleaned it better than I did last time. I vacuumed all the dust and dirt from the back after removing the rear cover and then did everything I could to get as much of the sawdust-looking material out of the pan. My wife describes the smell as a “Walmart smell.” She says the refrigerated section of the local Walmart smells the same way. The house isn’t our’s, it’s a rental. But we’re concerned that, if we bring up another issue with any of the appliances, our landlord may raise our rent and/or not renew our lease. Any suggestions?

    • #6286
      AL
      Keymaster
      Up
      0
      Down
      ::

      Did you just lose power? or did it get wet? its sounds like your having a mold problem and its internal where you cant get to it. Certain types of Mold will emit a foul stench. Really hard once it takes a grip.

    • #6288
      Whadeduck
      Participant
      Up
      0
      Down
      ::

      We lost power for about 10 days due to Hurricane Ian back in September but we didn’t have any water get into the house and nothing seemed to spill or leak before we had to get rid of it. We pulled everything out of the fridge that we couldn’t eat and had to throw out the rest. But we threw it out as it got too warm but before it molded over. Once everything was out of the freezer and fridge, we opened up the doors and left them open. Once the power came back on, because there was nothing in the fridge or freezer anymore, we were able to scrub the inside of it from top to bottom with soap and vinegar. We even scrubbed the ice maker. That’s why we don’t think the smell is coming from inside the fridge. When it’s on and the fan is blowing air from under the fridge, that’s when we seem to notice the smell. It was a couple of months ago that we started to notice it. My wife calls it the “Walmart smell” because she smells the same odor when we’re in the refrigerated section of the local Walmart. Thinking it was the drip pan, a couple of months ago, I cleaned the back of the fridge, took off the back access panel, and then did my best to clean the drip pan where I could get my hands and a cleaning cloth to it. After I did that, the odor seemed to go away. After another month or so, the odor came back and I repeated the process. The odor went away once again. A couple of weeks ago, the odor returned, so I repeated the process. However this time the odor not only didn’t go away, but it seems to have gotten worse. I can’t take the drip pan off because I believe it’s part of the fridge’s chassis, but I keep trying to clean as much as I can. However, now I think I may be wasting my time because it may be something else.

      Link to a photo of the drip pan before I cleaned it

      https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:35f9ebb9-dd4f-3c39-8261-dbdadac652b8

      Link to a photo of the drip pan after I cleaned it.

      https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:4fcd308e-6e5c-336f-ad2c-00ff387d4fa7

       

    • #6302
      AL
      Keymaster
      Up
      0
      Down
      ::

      So based on the photo its 100% mold and once it takes a hold it is not safe to store food in it any longer as it could impact your health. The issue is even the smallest slightest bit of mold left after fridge is on it will just keep growing back and get worse it loves dark humid environments total breeding ground. I think the fridge needs to be thrown out because the Mold is in places you wont be able to access.

Viewing 3 reply threads
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.