FIXED TR18KW Amana Refrigerator - Internal odor, stinky fridge and freezer. Biological stench.

[frustrated guy]

Model Number

TR18KW

Brand

Amana

Age

More than 10 years

Biological rot odor or possibly mold smell. Inside freezer and FF compartments.

Have done the most complete cleaning possible without removing panels. Removed back freezer panel and cleaned the evaporator coils area last year due to an icing problem that was solved.

Cleaned and checked every item in fridge and freezer including all shelving, drawers, shelves sides, bottom, back, racks, doors. The odor seems to come from the blower in both compartments. Outside smells sterile; drain tube, drain tray, coils, back, front, top, bottom, sides, floor under the appliance and all walls around it. When this odor problem began a few weeks ago, we had no unusual weather changes nor any other changes that I might attribute to the problem.

No icemaker. This is the strongest fridge that I have ever had.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let the speculation begin! I sincerely thank you for you comments and help.

Gary,
Frustrated Guy

 

[Jake]

Hi Gary,

I remember a many years ago smelling the same kind of thing in a Amana Refrigerator, turned out to be a odd issue with the cabinet insulation somehow leaking and mixing with another chemical inside the cabinet.

 

[frustrated guy]

Hello Jake,

Thanks for your attention and experienced reply! After what I've already done along with what you say, I am sure it is going to need replacement. I wish you could recall what the chemical was and how it got into the foam. I am pretty convinced that I have mold and or bacteria colonies growing in the fridge's insulation foam.

I am going to try one more thing: I'll empty the entire thing, shut it down, open it up and let it sit for a few days. Until then, 6 charcoal briquettes, 5 facial swabs with real vanilla extract in them, and a box of baking soda does not cover this "rotting mouse smell." Not as strong as a dead mouse, but just as foul. (not fowl)

Gary

 

[Jake]

I wish you could recall what the chemical was and how it got into the foam.

Yes Gary, It just had a chemical smell basically, nothing we tried got rid of it.

I am going to try one more thing: I'll empty the entire thing, shut it down, open it up and let it sit for a few days. Until then, 6 charcoal briquettes, 5 facial swabs with real vanilla extract in them, and a box of baking soda does not cover this "rotting mouse smell." Not as strong as a dead mouse, but just as foul. (not fowl)

Yes, that's a good idea.

 

[frustrated guy]

I'll let the forum know my results after I get around to drying it out. In the meantime; I need help selecting a new fridge.
Where should I post this?
I have a late 80's Amana TR18KW that is a powerful workhorse that rarely has a problem. I'd like something similar: Built well, simple without water or ice service. Maybe about 20 cu. ft. or so.

Gary

 

[Jake]

I'll let the forum know my results after I get around to drying it out.

Ok Gary, sounds good.

I have a late 80's Amana TR18KW that is a powerful workhorse that rarely has a problem. I'd like something similar: Built well, simple without water or ice service. Maybe about 20 cu. ft. or so.

We recommend Whirlpool, Amana, KitchenAid, Maytag, Jenn-Air.

 

[frustrated guy]

We recommend Whirlpool, Amana, KitchenAid, Maytag, Jenn-Air.

Thank you. Are all 5 of those brands now owned by one company?

Would you recommend an extended warranty? If so, buy it from the maker or buy one from another warranty seller?

By the way, some (food flavored) essential oils works far better than charcoal, baking soda or vanilla for disguising the odor.

I'm going to postpone the several-day shut down/dry out until after Jan. 1st. So until then, Amanada's name may become Pepe Le'Pew.

 

[Jake]

Are all 5 of those brands now owned by one company?

Yes, Whirlpool Corporation owns them all.

I always recommend that people buy the lower to mid range appliances, the LESS BELLS and WHISTLES the BETTER, LESS to break down.

Would you recommend an extended warranty? If so, buy it from the maker or buy one from another warranty seller?

No, unless you have many people living in your household. If so, always buy it from the manufacturer of the refrigerator.

I'm going to postpone the several-day shut down/dry out until after Jan. 1st. So until then, Amanada's name may become Pepe Le'Pew.

Ok, let us know how it goes.

 

[frustrated guy]

Ok, let us know how it goes.

You bet I will Jake! I love this forum and much respect for everyone in here. I not the guy to complain about my troubles and then just go silent; feedback makes the world go around.

Oh! Holy Night! I'll have some news to share at Christmas. Too tired to write it all, right now.

Gary

 

[Jake]

Merry Christmas Gary!

I'll have some news to share at Christmas.

Ok, sounds good.

 

[frustrated guy]

Amanda, my dear old Amana began to smell bad at about Thanksgiving. After extensive cleaning, Jake gave me the word based on a similar case he remembered. My dear stinking Amanda was going to have to go. I knew it was time to shop. I started to shop. I would buy after New Year's Day and only after giving her one more chance by drying her out for 2-3 days. Jake recommended the brands owned by Whirlpool.

I've been shopping. "Robert4" of this forum had pointed out to me a Frigidaire that was on sale. I have since read that Frigidaire is also a strong brand. I've been avoiding GE since I read somewhere that is Chinese owned.

I have looked at one-star reviews for every fridge I've been interested in, at the Home Depot website. I want to know what "could" happen. Those reviews on every fridge I looked at, scared the crap out of me! People with their 4th delivery after failures. DOA machines. Bad door seals with accompanied frosting and icicle problems. Noise.

I read somewhere that GE was high on a list of dependable or less problematic, so I was about to expand my search to include them.

Clark Howard (consumer advocate) suggested buying a 1-month membership of Consumer Reports. After doing so I found the reviews of the fridges they were recommending were shot down quite hard by actual buyers! NOW WHAT?

My gal and I decided to take the gross artificial lemon scent out to test how bad the actual dead mouse smell was.

<Angels singing from the heavens> On the morning of Christmas Eve, the lemon smell as almost completely gone, and all bad smell was absent. On Christmas morning, there was no odor from the fridge!

Amanda is back on the job and I have closed all of my browser tabs having to do with buying a new fridge.

Thanks for all of your attention, and Jake may now label this thread as FIXED.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all the readers and moderators at this forum ! !

Gary
PS: Now what do I do when I do need a new fridge?

 

[Robert4]

Consumer Reports oftentimes recommends Korean brands for things like larger capacity or more features, but more features means more parts. More parts means more possible problems. Top-freezer refrigerators are the simplest design though, and generally won't have as many problems as say a French door fridge. I know you replied to another thread where I posted recently about a guy who had multiple problems with certain Whirlpool top-freezer fridges. We had a bunch of neighbors with Maytag top-freezers that had Chinese compressors that all started to fail after a couple of years. I was thinking that those fridges he was having problems with likely also had Chinese compressors, because otherwise Whirlpool-made top-freezer fridges with the standard Embraco compressors are very reliable. Either that or the control panel installed in the fridge might have been for a different model, but that guy never replied back, so who knows. (Why do people ask for help, but don't even come back to get help?)

My gal and I decided to take the gross artificial lemon scent out to test how bad the actual dead mouse smell was.

<Angels singing from the heavens> On the morning of Christmas Eve, the lemon smell as almost completely gone, and all bad smell was absent. On Christmas morning, there was no odor from the fridge!

It's a Christmas Miracle! I love old appliances, because you just can't buy anything that lasts anywhere near as long as something made 30+ years ago. Sure they use more energy, but if they last 2x-3x as long, isn't that before for the environment in the long run?

I have looked at one-star reviews for every fridge I've been interested in, at the Home Depot website. I want to know what "could" happen. Those reviews on every fridge I looked at, scared the crap out of me! People with their 4th delivery after failures. DOA machines. Bad door seals with accompanied frosting and icicle problems. Noise.

A Sears technician told me that since the pandemic began, there are more manufacturing defects than there were just a few years ago because manufacturers rushed production lines in order to catch up when demand was higher than normal. Some newer fridge are noisier than old ones.

I've been avoiding GE since I read somewhere that is Chinese owned.

Yeah, GE's appliance division is owned by a Chinese company called Haier since 2016. Mostly their dishwashers have a lot more control board and user interface problems, but I think their top-freezers aren't bad.

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[Jake]

Sounds good Gary, glad that smell is gone.

Thanks Robert for following up.