Fridge evaporation tray thing

[williamwright]

It's a Miele K 12020S-1, bought March 2018. When the motor is running the evaporation tray gets warm and makes a horrid smell. It looks very filthy. But I can get it out to clean it. What shall I do?

Bill

[John Brown]

williamwright [e-mail] wrote

Presumably you meant can't get it out to clean it.

Bleach should fix that. That will smell a bit initially but will fix the problem once it has evaporated.

[alan_m]

I'm sure Bill can do something like cable tie a dishcloth to a piece of stiff wire to get into the tray. Don't forget to clean the tube that feeds the evaporation tray.

Some on this group have always indicated that Miele appliances were the best in the market place. Surely they haven't overlooked the fact that at some time the evaporator tray may need cleaning? :)

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

I have an intermittent tray filling on mine and when it decides not to go into the tray a mini flood comes into the fridge instead. You feel you need a long mini chimney sweeps brush to ream out the long tube. Bah Humbug. Brian

[alan_m]

Haven't you found the blocked drain tube yet?

[Jeff Layman]

Why is it filthy? It should only have had pure water which has condensed at the back of the fridge and run down onto the evaporation tray. Has some food been spilt onto the back and that's found its way to the tray?

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

The wire that is used to hang net curtains fits very well into tube.

[alan_m]

Approx every two years, and just as the weather gets colder, I get mice coming into the house. In my case poison is the most effective way of elimination and I use that blue coloured poisoned grain. Once when I pulled my fridge out I found a little stack of mouldly blue grain in the evaporation tray, obviously taken their by the mice. Perhaps the tray with the warmth of the motor is an ideal habitat for small rodents?

[The Other John]

I use one of those fluffy, wire centred pipe cleaners. I've had a packet for years. Can't remember where I bought them as we don't smoke!

[Tim Lamb]

Mice store surplus food.

I removed part of a cavity wall in our garage and got showered in Hazel nuts. We had Woodmice (yellow jobs with white fronts) moving our stored walnuts from a cardboard box in the garage about 30m to the loft over our bedroom. And then balancing them on a joist while they very noisily opened them:-(

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

The Other John explained on 06/10/2021 :

Maybe a Blue Peter project :-)

[Jeff Layman]

In which case cleaning it will not solve Bill's problem, as they'll be back. Perhaps a mouse-proof grid is required to prevent access, if it's possible to fit one.

[newshound]

It's usually a mould, you only need a tiny amount of contamination from something organic.

[williamwright]

Probably yes.

Bill

[williamwright]

There are no rodents involved.

Bill

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

No there is not one in the fridge, apparently, the circulation of the air is supposed to dry the air but when the freezer bit at the top fails to drain on a defrost it trickles inside the fridge too fast for it to be evaporated. It can go months fine or just a couple of days, but as the pip goes behind the enclosed back and can be seen poking into the tray underneath where the motor lives, if you swing it out you can see what is going on, but its hardly the most useful of places to position the fridge. Such is life.

Brian

[Brian]

The rear of fridges are ?muck magnets? due to the heat exchanger. The flow of air carries dust etc which collects there, some inevitably falls into the evaporation tray. Giving them a run over with a vacuum cleaner now and then is a good idea. Dehumidifiers have the same problem.