Mold in Freezer??

[fuzziebutt]

See if there is a tray underneath the whole thing that collects water drips. It is built in on most fridge/freezers, and is a small hose that runs down from the freezer to the tray, for when the freezer automatically defrosts. It drains into that tray, and can get really funky if left long enough. If that is what it is, empty the tray and wash it really well. I put some Pine Sol in it, so that each time a drip lands in it, it smells the kitchen like pins sol.

 

[sourland]

Quote:
This is what I was trying to say.

 

[Laurajean]

Quote:
This is what I was trying to say.

Wait, are we talking about a drip pan UNDER the entire fridge? Or a slide out tray somewhere else? You mean a hose that goes from behind the unit down to a drip tray at the bottom?? I don't even see a drip tray, do they all have one? I suddenly feel so fridge-stupid.

 

[SallyF]

If you have a frost-free freezer, there are a couple of places to check. On the one I used to have, the bottom of the freezer was a tray that pulled out so you could reach things. The condensation from the "defrost" cycle on the freezer would run to that spot then down the back of the refrigerator wall and end up under the vegetable crispers which were on the bottom. There was a drain there with a plastic plug where the water drained to the drip pan under the fridge. Periodically, I would start at the top: pull out the freezer tray and clean under it, wipe down the back wall inside the fridge, pull the crisper drawers out and wipe down the bottom of the fridge, pull the plastic plug and clean out anything there and in that drain, and then clean the drip pan (had to take off a grille piece on the front of the fridge for that, sort of like a toe-kick). I used a bleach/water solution to kill any moldies that might be growing anywhere.

 

[WingingIt]

I would guess it's the gasket or the drip pan, too. On ours you access the drip pan by removing the plastic grid thing down at the front bottom of the refrigerator. After you take that off, you'll see a wide shallow pan in there - that's the drip pan.

 

[fuzziebutt]

The drip pan is what I was talking about. I don't explain myself well. Sorry!

 

[Laurajean]

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No, I'm sure it's not you, it's me; I am apparently refrigerator illiterate despite having used one my whole life.

I'm still looking for the darn drip pan. I checked under the fridge at the bottom (where I know I've seen them on other fridges) and I've checked the freezer. I don't see one at all! Is it possible it doesn't have one?? It is a new fridge, maybe they make them different now? I have no clue. I still need to empty the whole thing, so maybe I'll see something in the freezer that I'm missing, but I don't see anything resembling a drip pan at the bottom of the fridge.

 

[fuzziebutt]

I wouldn't know about new ones. sigh. But ours has a plastic cover across the front at the bottom. That snaps off, and the tray is under there. But I'm sure there is somewhere yours is holding water and smelling somewhere. Did you look in the rubber seal around the doors to see if there is mold on the seal?

 

[Laurajean]

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I did check out the seal of the freezer and the fridge; no visible mold or mildew, it's still so clean and new. Like I said, it's less than a year old and I live alone, so it's really not even yucked up or anything. I have noticed however, since my first post, that I can smell the mildew smell in the fridge part too, as opposed to just the freezer. So obviously something is happening somewhere. I need to empty it out entirely, obviously clean it, but also once it's empty I will search more for this alleged drip pan, LOL. The front bottom doesn't have a face plate, you can look right under it and see the steel bottom, so I seriously think there is no drip pan, as illogical as that seems. But tomorrow night after work I will fully empty it and do a thorough search and a thorough cleaning!

Incidentally, I don't know if this is coincidence or not, but we have had a ton of rain lately, I mean A LOT. Today I noticed the sunflower seeds in my birdfeeder are sprouting! I've also noticed various other things are mildewy; not so much inside the house, but in general. Opened up the can of chicken scratch today in the shed and there's meal moths in it. So things around here are very damp in general, although that may be a total coincidence.

 

[Frogdogtimestwo]

My fridge is newer also and I smell the odors from the refrigerator in the freezer section, if something is strong smelling in the fridge it will make the ice smell. The other suggestions are probably what it is but I thought I would throw that out there and double check for something in the fridge itself that has gone moldy.