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-   -   Circuit breaker tripped while on vacation, how to get smell out of refrigerator? (https://www.diybanter.com/home-repair/78837-circuit-breaker-tripped-while-vacation-how-get-smell-out-refrigerator.html)

Dan K November 26th 04 03:37 PM

Circuit breaker tripped while on vacation, how to get smell out of refrigerator?
 
We figure a couple days into our 2 week vacation the circuit breaker tripped
on our refrigerator (due to a light on a timer plugged into the same
circuit, but thats another story). You can imagine the mess and smell that
greeted us when we got back. We have removed everything, washed the inside
of the refrig/freezer down with a germacide (that works great in the laundry
for perspiration smells), and left baking soda in for 24 hours but it still
stinks to high heaven. The smell seems to be in everything plastic, and
theres a lot of plastic in the 2 year old (brand new as far as I'm
concerned) fridge. Any tips to get the smell out?



zxcvbob November 26th 04 04:21 PM

Dan K wrote:

We figure a couple days into our 2 week vacation the circuit breaker tripped
on our refrigerator (due to a light on a timer plugged into the same
circuit, but thats another story). You can imagine the mess and smell that
greeted us when we got back. We have removed everything, washed the inside
of the refrig/freezer down with a germacide (that works great in the laundry
for perspiration smells), and left baking soda in for 24 hours but it still
stinks to high heaven. The smell seems to be in everything plastic, and
theres a lot of plastic in the 2 year old (brand new as far as I'm
concerned) fridge. Any tips to get the smell out?



There's a hospital disinfectant called "quaternary ammonia", or quat for
short. I buy the stuff at Fleet Farm in the dairy supplies under the
brand name "Steramine". The active ingredient is something like
"n-alkyl (50% C-50) benzyl ammonium chloride" or benzalkonium chloride.
It kills bacteria, fungi, and even virus, and it has an oddly "fresh"
smell. It does a tremendous job of deodorizing things. Don't splash
the concentrate in your eyes. If you can't find the stuff, look for a
humidifier algicide or waterbed conditioner with the same active ingredient

Also, a lot of the smell will disappear just by turning on the fridge
and getting it cold again.

Good luck,
Bob

willshak November 26th 04 04:39 PM

On 11/26/2004 11:21 AM US(ET), zxcvbob took fingers to keys, and typed
the following:

Dan K wrote:

We figure a couple days into our 2 week vacation the circuit breaker
tripped
on our refrigerator (due to a light on a timer plugged into the same
circuit, but thats another story). You can imagine the mess and
smell that
greeted us when we got back. We have removed everything, washed the
inside
of the refrig/freezer down with a germacide (that works great in the
laundry
for perspiration smells), and left baking soda in for 24 hours but it
still
stinks to high heaven. The smell seems to be in everything plastic, and
theres a lot of plastic in the 2 year old (brand new as far as I'm
concerned) fridge. Any tips to get the smell out?



There's a hospital disinfectant called "quaternary ammonia", or quat
for short. I buy the stuff at Fleet Farm in the dairy supplies under
the brand name "Steramine". The active ingredient is something like
"n-alkyl (50% C-50) benzyl ammonium chloride" or benzalkonium
chloride. It kills bacteria, fungi, and even virus, and it has an
oddly "fresh" smell. It does a tremendous job of deodorizing things.
Don't splash the concentrate in your eyes. If you can't find the
stuff, look for a humidifier algicide or waterbed conditioner with the
same active ingredient

Also, a lot of the smell will disappear just by turning on the fridge
and getting it cold again.

Good luck,
Bob


It's also the active ingredient in "OdoBan" available in almost any
supermarket or household product stores.

jeff November 26th 04 09:04 PM

"Dan K" wrote in message ...
We figure a couple days into our 2 week vacation the circuit breaker tripped
on our refrigerator (due to a light on a timer plugged into the same
circuit, but thats another story). You can imagine the mess and smell that
greeted us when we got back. We have removed everything, washed the inside
of the refrig/freezer down with a germacide (that works great in the laundry
for perspiration smells), and left baking soda in for 24 hours but it still
stinks to high heaven. The smell seems to be in everything plastic, and
theres a lot of plastic in the 2 year old (brand new as far as I'm
concerned) fridge. Any tips to get the smell out?


Hi,

The smell seems to be in everything plastic, and
theres a lot of plastic in the 2 year old (brand new as far as I'm
concerned) fridge. Any tips to get the smell out?


You -may- not get all the smell out if it has permiated int othe
plastic liner or if anything ran into the insulation :(

Some odour helps:
http://www.applianceaid.com/fridge_odor.html
http://www.applianceaid.com/cleaning.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_112122_refre...rigerator.html
http://www.misterfix-it.com/Solutions/12Odors.html
http://www.mrlandlord.com/odorxit/

Sorry can't help more,

jeff.

Eric November 26th 04 11:57 PM

zxcvbob wrote:

Dan K wrote:

We figure a couple days into our 2 week vacation the circuit breaker
tripped on our refrigerator (due to a light on a timer plugged into the
same
circuit, but thats another story). You can imagine the mess and smell
that greeted us when we got back. We have removed everything, washed the
inside of the refrig/freezer down with a germacide (that works great in
the laundry for perspiration smells), and left baking soda in for 24
hours but it still
stinks to high heaven. The smell seems to be in everything plastic, and
theres a lot of plastic in the 2 year old (brand new as far as I'm
concerned) fridge. Any tips to get the smell out?



There's a hospital disinfectant called "quaternary ammonia", or quat for
short. I buy the stuff at Fleet Farm in the dairy supplies under the
brand name "Steramine". The active ingredient is something like
"n-alkyl (50% C-50) benzyl ammonium chloride" or benzalkonium chloride.
It kills bacteria, fungi, and even virus, and it has an oddly "fresh"
smell. It does a tremendous job of deodorizing things. Don't splash
the concentrate in your eyes. If you can't find the stuff, look for a
humidifier algicide or waterbed conditioner with the same active
ingredient

Also, a lot of the smell will disappear just by turning on the fridge
and getting it cold again.

Good luck,
Bob


And the smell will also disappear if you hold your nose.
In this case the smell equals bacteria, and hence the risk of having food
contaminated. if it wont clean up i would replace it. Have you talked to
your Home Owners insurance co? They may cover it or they may be able to
point you in the right direction to get it properly cleaned.
Eric


zxcvbob November 27th 04 12:09 AM

Eric wrote:
zxcvbob wrote:


Dan K wrote:


We figure a couple days into our 2 week vacation the circuit breaker
tripped on our refrigerator (due to a light on a timer plugged into the
same
circuit, but thats another story). You can imagine the mess and smell
that greeted us when we got back. We have removed everything, washed the
inside of the refrig/freezer down with a germacide (that works great in
the laundry for perspiration smells), and left baking soda in for 24
hours but it still
stinks to high heaven. The smell seems to be in everything plastic, and
theres a lot of plastic in the 2 year old (brand new as far as I'm
concerned) fridge. Any tips to get the smell out?



There's a hospital disinfectant called "quaternary ammonia", or quat for
short. I buy the stuff at Fleet Farm in the dairy supplies under the
brand name "Steramine". The active ingredient is something like
"n-alkyl (50% C-50) benzyl ammonium chloride" or benzalkonium chloride.
It kills bacteria, fungi, and even virus, and it has an oddly "fresh"
smell. It does a tremendous job of deodorizing things. Don't splash
the concentrate in your eyes. If you can't find the stuff, look for a
humidifier algicide or waterbed conditioner with the same active
ingredient

Also, a lot of the smell will disappear just by turning on the fridge
and getting it cold again.

Good luck,
Bob



And the smell will also disappear if you hold your nose.
In this case the smell equals bacteria, and hence the risk of having food
contaminated. if it wont clean up i would replace it. Have you talked to
your Home Owners insurance co? They may cover it or they may be able to
point you in the right direction to get it properly cleaned.
Eric


You didn't read the first part of my post.

The smell doesn't equal bacteria, the smell is caused by bacteria. If
you kill all the bacteria (the quat will do that, easily) some of the
smell may remain because it was absorbed into the plastic. However,
once you clean it up, the smell may not be that bad when the fridge is cold.

Bob

fridgeman November 27th 04 01:55 AM

Get a shoebox and punch holes or cut slots on the top
and all 4 sides. Fill it 3/4 full with fresh dog poop.
Put in the the fridge for 72 hours. If it still has
the odor, repeat the procedure.

On Fri, 26 Nov 2004 09:37:54 -0600, "Dan K"
wrote:

We figure a couple days into our 2 week vacation the circuit breaker tripped
on our refrigerator (due to a light on a timer plugged into the same
circuit, but thats another story). You can imagine the mess and smell that
greeted us when we got back. We have removed everything, washed the inside
of the refrig/freezer down with a germacide (that works great in the laundry
for perspiration smells), and left baking soda in for 24 hours but it still
stinks to high heaven. The smell seems to be in everything plastic, and
theres a lot of plastic in the 2 year old (brand new as far as I'm
concerned) fridge. Any tips to get the smell out?



effi November 27th 04 02:03 AM

"Dan K" wrote in message
. ..
We figure a couple days into our 2 week vacation the circuit breaker
tripped
on our refrigerator (due to a light on a timer plugged into the same
circuit, but thats another story). You can imagine the mess and smell
that
greeted us when we got back. We have removed everything, washed the inside
of the refrig/freezer down with a germacide (that works great in the
laundry
for perspiration smells), and left baking soda in for 24 hours but it
still
stinks to high heaven. The smell seems to be in everything plastic, and
theres a lot of plastic in the 2 year old (brand new as far as I'm
concerned) fridge. Any tips to get the smell out?



unplug contaminated refrigerator

remove contaminated refrigerator

install new (uncontaminated) refrigerator

end of current problems



Philip Lewis November 27th 04 02:30 PM

I've tried a couple things...
plain amonia in a dish closed in the fridge for a while helps
considerably...
If that doesn't work, then go to your favorite warehouse club and get
a gallon of the imitation vanilla. wipe the interior down then leave a
plate of it in the fridge.
worked very well in a fridge in which i had that had some meat go bad.

good luck!


--
be safe.
flip
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lurking licker December 10th 04 04:30 PM

Make some 'activated' charcoal by crunching up 5 or 10 pounds of good hardwood
charcoal . Each briquet into fourths or so on down to pea gravel, just not a
lot of dust. In the oven at around 250 for a couple of hours, watch it so it
don't ignite, stir it ever so often. Driving the water out is what "activates'
it. Put it in some toss away aluminum roasting pans. Couple more pans of
kitty litter, doesn't have to be that kind with the 'frehening' crystals, but
wouldn't hurt. Put them in the reefer with a small fan, turn the fan on. close
the door for a day. Ever hour or so stir the charcoal and litter. Take the
reefer outside and let the sun shine into it for a day or two.


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