Ooooh, Ooooh, That Smell! (absorption fridge)

[jimmoore13]

I didn't quite find an answer with search.

Absorption fridge. Runs continuously all summer since 2021. It's cooling perfectly...fridge and freezer.

Our fridge stinks. I've searched for the obvious dead rats and warthogs in the fridge, but no luck. The odor is more like garlic and/or nasty. I just used ammonia for a cleaning project on my boat, and it doesn't smell like ammonia. The drip hose drain is working great...sometime after the smell started, I did a hair-dryer defrost on the cooling fins, and the water ran through the drip hose just fine.

We have been in the rig since mid May, and will stay until after Labor Day...then go home. So I can't shut it down and thoroughly clean it.

We "thought" it might be from leaving the lid off a jar of minced garlic for a day or two, but we resolved that, pulled the crisper drawers and cleaned them and the fridge interior where they reside. Can't for the life of me imagine what the smell might be coming from.

The ammonia I used for cleaning was brand new. Could the smell be ammonia but not smell the same as ammonia in a bottle?

I'm hoping to find the decaying remnants of "something" in the fridge, but barring that, any thoughts on what might cause the odor?

[Grumpy]

Do you have any yellow residue in the outside vent area? Did a critter get in from the roof vent for the fridge? Just things to check.

[jimmoore13]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

Do you have any yellow residue in the outside vent area? Did a critter get in from the roof vent for the fridge? Just things to check.

No yellow that I can see from the ground. Will dig out the ladder later today. I presume that would be ammonia?
To my knowledge, no critters. Will pull the lower panel and take a look...and perhaps blow out the burner tube while I'm there...I'm about to lose shore power and move to a true boondocking site.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[CAG]

Rubber seals have residue in the folds?
Baking soda works to remove smells and may help but obviously the source is important to locate.

[jimmoore13]

Originally Posted by CAG

Rubber seals have residue in the folds?
Baking soda works to remove smells and may help but obviously the source is important to locate.

Thanks...didn't think of that...inadvertent contamination of door seal is easy to do. Will examine closely.

The good news is that the smell is going away. I may have cleaned up the source, and air exchange/pumping is evacuating the odor left in the fridge.