Stinky Refrigerator

russotto · 04-05-2002, 04:06 PM

The system has berated me for not starting new threads (or maybe it's just warning everyone). Well, be careful what you ask for...

Last October I moved into a townhouse, to obtain the joys of home ownership... you know, property taxes, water problems, the whole deal. In any case, with the townhouse came one nice sized 2 year old Whirlpool side-by-side refrigerator-freezer with built in water dispenser and icemaker. But it was FOUL. The original owner apparently never cleaned it. I disassembled just everything in the interior, removed the drain pan, cleaned everything with various cleaners including the orange stuff and Tilex mildew killer, and let it sit open and empty for a few days. Then I put it together again, except the icemaker parts which I left disassembled in the garage for a few months.

This treatment destroyed most of the stench, though there are some remnants of it. Unfortunately, there is apparently some contamination inside the water lines. I reconnected the ice maker and ran some water through the water dispenser. The ice and water were fine for a while, but if the water sits for some length of time, it becomes foul again until I run it for a while.

Anyone have suggestions for clearing out the water lines? I think if I can get a bleach solution in there it'll kill whatever remains, but I haven't figured out how to do that. Removing all the internal plumbing to just wash it in bleach seems like an excessively difficult job; I'd rather do it in place.

(the alt.home.repair people were no help... two suggestions to buy a new fridge. Yeah, right, like I'm going to do that after all the time I put into cleaning it already).

04-05-2002, 04:06 PM	#1
russotto Professor Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 1,788	Stinky Refrigerator The system has berated me for not starting new threads (or maybe it's just warning everyone). Well, be careful what you ask for... Last October I moved into a townhouse, to obtain the joys of home ownership... you know, property taxes, water problems, the whole deal. In any case, with the townhouse came one nice sized 2 year old Whirlpool side-by-side refrigerator-freezer with built in water dispenser and icemaker. But it was FOUL. The original owner apparently never cleaned it. I disassembled just everything in the interior, removed the drain pan, cleaned everything with various cleaners including the orange stuff and Tilex mildew killer, and let it sit open and empty for a few days. Then I put it together again, except the icemaker parts which I left disassembled in the garage for a few months. This treatment destroyed most of the stench, though there are some remnants of it. Unfortunately, there is apparently some contamination inside the water lines. I reconnected the ice maker and ran some water through the water dispenser. The ice and water were fine for a while, but if the water sits for some length of time, it becomes foul again until I run it for a while. Anyone have suggestions for clearing out the water lines? I think if I can get a bleach solution in there it'll kill whatever remains, but I haven't figured out how to do that. Removing all the internal plumbing to just wash it in bleach seems like an excessively difficult job; I'd rather do it in place. (the alt.home.repair people were no help... two suggestions to buy a new fridge. Yeah, right, like I'm going to do that after all the time I put into cleaning it already).

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