Started to smell a bad acidic smell coming from the bottom of my fridge.
This is the model: https://mcappliance.com/brands/magic-chef/4-5-cu-ft-compact-refrigerator-665679004973.html
Tried the cleaning methods of inside the fridge, baking soda etc.
I believe the cause is this strange flaked copper buildup on top of the motor.
I have no idea what this is or how to safely clean it.
The manual doesn't provide any knowledge about this part.
There doesn't appear to be any leaks.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Best Answer
The tray under your refrigerator is there to catch condensation is it goes through its normal operating cycles.
The water might building up and overflowing or other there is direct condensation in the other areas. The color and smell is from the typical things that grow in stagnant water (mold, etc) and can be cleaned up with the same normal cleaners. It probably got a foothold in the tray, and if the tray is not overflowing, then also got to the other wet locations easily from the tray colony.
This is then a typical household cleaning issue that you can approach as normal.
Things you can do to improve the situation: some water in the tray is normal so it's not an option to not have water there but we can make it unfriendly to the little buggies: put a few drops of chlorine bleach in the tray once in a while to keep it non-life supporting. Since there is an issue outside the tray, this indicates that your house might have a lot of moisture. If so, a (portable) dehumidifier can bring down the humidity to something more reasonable