Engel smell

The bi-carb is the way to go afaik......but you need to leave a saucer of it in the bottom and run the fridge continuously for however long it takes.

Vanilla essence is also good for a moderate smell, but that is only good for wiping the inside of the fridge.

These are just my personal experiences.

Cheers

Roachie

Somebody previously posted on here about a pineapple cut in half ( or more ?) sitting in an empty container to remove the smell of cigarette smoke from a vehicle. Might be worth a try if all else fails :)

Thanks, i'll give these a try and hopefully no more smell.

Regards
Stev

My SWMBO suggests you stuff the Engel full of dirty socks. She figures it might get rid of the fish smell.

She's got no idea how to get rid of the smell of dirty socks! :-)

Steve, I really wish you all the best with this awful challenge - it's a terrible, I was going to say rotten but thought that might be insensitive..... thing to happen.

Please be aware when fridge's break down and food goes rotten inside, they are usually just tossed out and never tried to be repaired due in part to the way the smell gets into the plastic. It might be different if the bait had stayed cold, but with the fridge off and sealed up, a lot of heat would have been generated and permeated the plastic. Maybe you will need to heat the plastic up again at the same time as using the charcoal, pineapple, bi carb, vanilla etc etc to remove the odour. Never had to do it, but maybe leaving it in the sun with the lid off might help.

You could also invite your friends camping lots and use the Engel to store their food. Might help them contribute to a new one......

Tim

Hi Steve, I'd give it back to your "friend" and tell him to return it when the smell has been removed.
Personally, I wouldn't be loaning out that sort of equipment. Someone who is that slack with the care of borrowed equipment doesn't deserve your kindness.
I know a car fridge rental co. wouldn't be as lenient, and would probably charge for the replacement of the fridge.
Am I being too unkind?
Cheers, Gerry

Simple I have left bait in eskies plenty of times, 100% bleach and lots of it

My SWMBO recons that you will need to leave it open for quite a while, wiping it out with white vinigar regularly. If you must slose it up, make sure it is cold and put an onion cut into two inside. The onion will absorb lots of the bad smells but you will need to replace the onion every 4 or 5 days for it to work. She regularly puts onion peices in the house fridge if we've had garlic or strong smelling food in it. IT DOES WORK.

I recon you should print this page of responses, give it to your mate and get him to fix it, or replace it.

Lets face it, that was a rather expensive mistake that you shouldn't have to pay for. Fair's fair mate !!!

scoop out half a lemon and fill it with salt. Place it in the fridge (turned on) for a few days and see how you go!

Saw it TV....never tried it myself.

Thought from left of field. Did anyone see the Myth Busters where they put 2 pigs in a car in a sea container for a month to see if they could get it back to saleable condition (still the funniest thing i have ever seen on TV) well a guy that makes his living out of cleaning up places that have had long dead bodys put them onto some sort of enzyme cleaner
- does anyone remember what that was?
(It should be noted they couldnt get the car back to a reasnable saleable condition- Myth plausable)

take the fridge to your mates place and tell him to get rid of the smell....if they cant do it (And Permenantly) by the time you need to use it the best option is to give it to your mate and demand a new replacement!!!

Hello - I have heard that Vanilla Essence is the go (ie wipe over inside with it) - never tried it myself.
Cheers
Greg

My rule is "you f#*k it - you fix it"

If it still smells, guess what - you're mate has bought himself a secondhand Engel that smells of fish for future trips and you get a new one that doesn't stink. If he doesn't think that's fair, he's not a mate anyway.

Good suggestion about printing this out and showing him too.

BTW, do you know the rule of the three M's when it comes to lending things?

It goes something like this..........

The three things you never loan out are your motorcar, mower or missus because they will always come backed f#*ked! The workshop foreman told me that when I was 18 and I've never forgotten it.

Hi there mate,
do not worry too much. You can get this smell out. I had a similar experience when my freezer full of dead rats and mice decided to trip the safety switch in the middle of summer. After about a week, when it was time to feed the python, I went to the freezer and wondered what all the flies were around for. Turns out they can pick up the smell of rancid flesh before I could.
Anyway, it stunk like you would not believe, and there was a good inch of decomposition juices in the bottom.
So first things first, hose it out. Second thing to do is like someone suggested. Sodium hypochloride (liquid pool chlorine 12.5 v/v)which disassociates into chlorine gas upon mixing with enough water. You may need about 500 ppm concentration or more. About a cup into a bucket will vastly exceed this level, and kill all this anaerobic bacteria.
An engel is made with polypropylene walls I assume? It does not sound like fiberglass walls, because fiberglass is a lot easier to clean, being much less porous.
Anyway, wipe this down well with this solution, and leave the moist fridge closed for about a day. Then hose it out again, and you should have gotten all the bacteria dead.
Then sunlight becomes your friend. The heat of the sun will remove any remaining chlorine gas trapped in the walls, and then you want the UV B to take over from the chlorine bacteria destruction.
You will need to repeat this several times. If you have access to ozone generator, it will also help. Put it in the fridge with the door closed. These can be made with a high voltage source (20,000 V and some aluminium foil and brine). LEt me know if it still stinks and I could send you plans for it.
The fridge is recoverable, no problems, but it may take a few weeks.
Cheers
Shaggy

Steve,
I am surprised no one suggested the old trick of using tea bags to get rid of the smell.Just put a few tea bags in the fridge and replace every day yill smell has gone.They also work well when storing things in the tropics to prevent mould when it gets very humid.---good luck

Vinegar to get rid of the smell and a spray bottle of vanilla to make it smell nice

stevep,

Give this a go.

Put a few drops of lavender oil on a couple of tea bags. Hang the tea bags on the fan inlet and run the fridge. Change the tea bags every few days.

This I heard on ABC Brisbane night radio a couple of months back. There is a lady who does a half hour about once a fortnight where people ring in with unmentionable and immovable stains and smells on almost anything. She is a professional restorer. I have listened many times and I have never heard her stumped with a challenge. You could possibly try contact the radio station to get her details or find out when she will be on and phone in. I have searched through the ABC web site but can't find anything.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

stevep,

Give this a go.

Put a few drops of lavender oil on a couple of tea bags. Hang the tea bags on the fan inlet and run the fridge. Change the tea bags every few days.

This I heard on ABC Brisbane night radio a couple of months back. There is a lady who does a half hour about once a fortnight where people ring in with unmentionable and immovable stains and smells on almost anything. She is a professional restorer. I have listened many times and I have never heard her stumped with a challenge. You could possibly try contact the radio station to get her details or find out when she will be on and phone in. I have searched through the ABC web site but can't find anything.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

(Sorry this will only work for a thermo electric fridge. You would have to put the tea bags inside for a compressor fridge. Worth trying to contact these people anyway)

Have you tried Nilodour?

Steve,

You may still be interested regarding my last reply. I found the name of the lady who is on ABC radio who WILL have the answer for you. Her name is Shannon Lush and it looks like she is on ABC radio in every state. She has a web site

shannonlush.com

I tried to ring in on Brisbane radio tonight with the pungent fridge but couldn't get on - sorry. I did find out though that you can use milk curd and white spirits to remove permanant marker from clothes and that to remove smoke stains from walls you can use cigarette ash and water. "I'll be buggered" was the response from the little old lady who phoned in.

Maybe you could post how successful you were getting the smell out. Most punters would have the odd smell in their Engel or Waeco.

Many thanks for your help and follow up. I have tried the teabags, bi-carb soda, fridge freshener & lemon, the smell is not as bad but it is still there.
I will try the website and see if she can help.

Once again I really appreciate your help.

Regards
Steve