Australia's Science Forum

it seems like the 'death fridge' is a rite of passage for labbys.

I too have had it happen!

I had the same problem a few years ago with a freezer - I refused to clean it, and they sent it to the tip, contents still included.. got a new freezer.. NO WAY was I going to put my health at risk cleaning up that mess!

I too, have had a "death fridge" or two or three over the years. And the "I just left the hearts in the fume hood to breed blow flies, but I didnt realise it would smell so bad" teacher?????
And now as the new fumehood was to go in over the holidays the HOD cleared out the display cupboard and all the surrounding areas and put it all on science room benches. But it's now on hold, so first day back I put everything back, no display cupboard anymore so had to create space??? threw out all my accumulated odds and ends, Classification, insulation etc. Cleaned. Then tradies came in to prep room and demolished a massive built in cupboard and the huge obselete heating system. Today I have a big hole in the floor, the ceiling, and still no plaster over where the display cupboard was. Cleaned. Now there's plumbers in the science room and my prep room reconnecting all the plumbing they have mistakenly removed over the holidays. But the cant match the antique fittings. Over it!!!!!!!!(But both the fridges are OK.

Hey David,

Had the same thing happen to me when the HNIC turned off everything in my prep-room after a power outage. Trouble was in those days I didn't work Fridays, AND it was a long weekend! SO...I lost a whole ox liver, rats, toads, and preciously imported-from-Gympie dissection hearts. We had a blowfly population with accompanying maggots UNDER the fridge in the pooled residue from a defrosted liver. Blah blah. The smell was definitely retchworthy.

Interestingly, the almost-retired chem teacher mixed a strong solution of potassium permanganate and placed some in a bowl inside the fridge and more under the fridge and that worked better than any commercial product on the market.

Thanks for the tip smiley, its been 3 weeks and the smell is still awful. Im guessing the fridge was off for at least a month.....it was another world in that fridge. The only thing that stopped me from throwing up was a peg on the nose and still I could only handle it for a minute at a time.

Done a bit of reading up on Potassium Permanganate and looks liek alot of other people have had similar success with removing odours.

Thanks

Dave

Dude, you work in an all boys school in the Tropics. One where they have to wear a uniform that includes LONG socks!!

How can your fridge smell any worse than Yr9 boys after lunch??

One freezer gave up the ghost and it was a bit before I found it. When I opened it, the smell was so bad from rotting undissected offal that people from the next building over wanted to know what the heck science was doing! We chucked the entire freezer out, lid firmly in place.
This time, the test tag people didn't plug a small freezer back in and I found it only a week later. Still pretty rank - rotting brains, octopus and toads. Fortunately, I seem to have no gag reflex for bad smells, so I separated the offal from the wrapping so it can be put in the green bin for composting. I love being a science assistant! (No, really...)

The tag man service should pay for a new freezer and items to go into it. It happened to us, way back, see your Head, good luck.

Wow, it's actually a common problem. Hilarious. Love the tip about a bowl of strong KMnO4 to get rid of odours too. We've sent off a request to the test tag people to get their insurance to pay for lost stock

Do let us know how you go please.