I have a zanussi frost free fridge/freezer model Model zx99/5si which is just 4 years old and it is now giving off a revolting smell. The smell is not from any disgarded food it is the appliance producing this smell. My breakdown insurers Domestic and General will not cover my claim as they can not find the cause of the smell and Zanussi/electrolux have also fobbed me off!! Has this happened to anyone else and if so any suggestions

Lee - cardiff, August 2008

does anybody know how is this liquid called ?

chris, June 2017

Thanks Ken. I twisted the evaporation tray and pulled upwards and it came off. Gave it a good wash and it slid back into place with ease. What a relief!

Jim, November 2016

just tried Steradent tablets in the tray and used a funnel to run kettle water into the tray fingers crossed.
Had to use nasal spray to rid my nose of that ghastly . smell!

Robbie, August 2015

The evaporation tray at the rear bottom of the fridge is probably full of rancid smelly water. It's a common problem and I've just had to clean mine out. It's mounted on top of the compressor which gets hot and is supposed to evaporate the water away but sometimes it will fill with spilled things dripping from the fridge such as milk. Mine was fixed with a non return plastic catch and was very tricky to get off. I had to swivel and pull it towards me and it eventually gave way. Terrible design in my opinion. Something like this should be made easy.

Ken, March 2015

same . Mine is an auto-defrost upright Fridge /FreezerFor weeks fishy smell. Threw out all fish in freezer, Put fridge fresheners in/ baking power/onion/lemon but still the smell I have discovered it is coming from the airvent at the back(bottom) of the fridge. So it's a circulation problem, Zanussi don't want to know . I have cleaned ev ry conceivable place Can't take the back of the f/f off because it's sealed HELP!

mary, July 2014

Further to my comments about my smelly Zanussi fridge freezer in March, the smell in the fridge came back the next day. Maybe it was because I had the fridge door open for a long time and the smell seemed to disapear. I investigated the door seal some more, cleaning into the corners only to find a little hole in each bottom corner. I used a knife to clean between the side seals and accidentally slit the bottom seal and a orange, thick smelly liquid came out. I was nearly sick. I slit along the seal trying to avoid the seal with the magnetic strip. Loads of the orange stuff came oozing out. After cleaning it with bleach and soapy water, the smell did eventually disappear. My conclusion is that some milk had somehow run down the door and onto the seal, seeping through the two holes at either corner of the door. PS. I didn't make the holes in the corners of the seal!!

Ann Marie, April 2014

For over a week I've been trying to eliminate a very bad smell in the fridge part of my zanussi fridge freezer. The smell is a fishy/plastic odour. I've cleaned the fridge several times and then thought the smell was coming from the small drain hole at the back of the fridge. So I took the drain pipe from the condenser tray and flushed it with disinfectant several times and yes there were bits dropping into the bowl. Cleaned the condenser tray which had some black pieces in it. Thought I'd sorted the problem. To my disappointment, the next day the smell was still there. At this time I was desperate to get rid of the smell, that's when I found this site (thank God), and read all the problems with Zanussi fridge freezers. I eventually found the smell, it was coming from the seal at the bottom of the door. Hidden within the seal was an orange flaky
substance and this was the source if the smell, it was disgusting. Again, several more cleaning sessions eventually got rid of the smell. Thank you so much for this forum. :-)))

Ann Marie, March 2014

Just read Big Tone The Fridge Man.. his advice solved the problem in minutes for me after days searching the kitchen for imaginary mice!

Herb, April 2013

I have the same problem. A fishy smell which we have located to near the indesit fridge (only two years old). It does not smell inside and is clean and we have thrown away any food that it could have been, cheese milk cream etc. I assume it is the drip tray on to the condenser but cannot access it as it is an integrated fridge and I cant see how to get it out. I cant even get to where it is plugged in.
There is a type of plastic key in the hole but I cant see what it does. Will pouring bleach into the hole work?

Geoff, January 2013

My Zanussi is built into the cupboard so i can't get it out or access the drip tray! I eventually poured neat bleach down the little hole INSIDE the actual fridge - where the excess liquid drips into. seems to have cured the problem!

rosemarie, January 2013

We have a Zanussi fridge which intermittently emits bad smells. It happens when the "evaporation tray" (at the back on top of the motor/compressor) fills. Drips from the fridge end up in here and the water evaporates. However any spills also end up here being gently warmed! So it will go off! (Very Bad Design Zanussi). What is worse I can't see a way to get it off to clean it. I've used kitchen paper towels to clean it out and just tried putting baby bottel steriliser in it. See what that does!

Rhidian, March 2012

I had the same problem and cleaned the tray out with some tissue paper and bleach as I couldn't get the tray off the compressor. I pulled quite hard up and towards me and it still wouldn't come off

Di, September 2011

i have a smell in the fridge i have cleaned it many times but the smell is still there plz can anyone help

big bill fae kennoway, May 2011

I have an electrolux refrigerator too. It was made in 2003. just recently the frig has been emitting a foul odor like rotten shoes or a decomposeeing dead mouse. The frig is ALWAYS kept clean and all debri underneath was cleaned...still had the smell.I just went and got a different brand name, as the time/repair cost was about equavalant to getting a new frig.

Brad, April 2010

i cannot get the drip tray out !!

kt, February 2010

Hi I have zanussi fridge freezer ZNB 323W which has had a bad problem intermittenly with odours I recently discovered that the bottom door tray allows spills (significantly milk)to escape into and through the lining of the door into the door itself and stay there. I discovered this while trying to clean the seals around the door and putrid liquid was escaping I have now cut open the seal and a lot of curdled and bad milk was there in liquid and solid form however I cant seem to accesss all of it as this very bad smell persists, this fridge was expensive and is only 1 and an half years old.. how can I get the door open to clean the inside... it is a very bad design fault here ! you should test it out yourself, the tray for milk ( with the white plastic fingers to hold stuff in place) sits into the bottom part of hte door... if you spill liquid into this you will see the problem

eltham, November 2009

its the water in the drip tray at the back. How can i remove the drip tray

gb, November 2009

hi,if u thinking to get red off this fridge,i have the same i need some parts of it plz,like the fridge door holders plus the shelves.many thkx zaki

zaki ben, March 2009

We are having the same sort of problem. Horrible sickly smell but can't access the integrated fridge freezer drip tray. Have been told that the drainage hole leads to tray which evaporates. Have been told to try open box of bicarb of soda which I've just done. Will let you know if it helps!

Shep, November 2008

Hi. We too have a disgusting fish smell coming from underneath the larder fridge we have. We tipped the fridge slightly and a whitish fish smelling liquid came out. The engineer came today and said it was the drip tray but the drip tray did not smell. He has gone off to consult someone else. Will keep you posted. Zanussi by the way also did not have any explanation.

Tina, October 2008

I have a Zanussi Fridge Frezer about 4 yrs old as well and we have just found out that it needs re gassing, by the Zanussi engineers. Our temperature control was either too high or too low freezing too much as symptoms and our food was going off.

If you find out any other cause please email me on dashon@talktalk.net

dash, September 2008

Hi Lee,
If possible I would check out your defrost collecting tray.
It will be sited at the back probably on top of the compressor.
The heat from thr motor (COMPRESSOR ) evaporates the defrost water collected in this tray.
You may have accidently split milk or meat juices in the fridge, which has made it into this tray, and is now stinking.
This is a common problem.
Remove the tray and give it a good wash.

Big Tone The Fridge Man, August 2008

are the door seals in good condition.check for splits.please give a description of smell as this would help (fishy, plastic etc)

ck, August 2008