We have a ge pds20mcr bottom freezer ref and have a foul odor coming from the bottom of ref.

More than likely the board is going to have to be changed. This is one of the most common repairs for GE Refrigeration

If you need further help, I’m available over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/jason_4570d45317834dd3

Yes their is a defrost water pan (in a normal working ref. the water will evaperate)it can be accessed by pulling the ref. out and removing the lower back panel, in a few cases in my 30years of repairing appliances i have seen sometimes where mold grows in that pan

change the main board

you could possible be right on if your frig has an electronic disp control put your nose their and sniff if seem close to what you earlier smelled you solved your problem pcb control '

I had the same problem, but just fixed it. I have a maytag bottom freezer and when the fan blower comes on, there was a foul/stale smell that permeated the kitchen. There is no drip pan that I could remove to clean.

I just removed four screws from the back cover of the fan blower area, reached in with a small cup of organic odor remover and poured it into the drip pan just under the fan blower.

Any odor remover would work. probably vinegar or enzyme odor remover would work, too.

I now have fresh smell when the fan blower comes on.

I'm sorry that I don't have a solution, but we have the exact same problem with an older model KitchenAid side-by-side. Did you get this problem solved? If so, can you share what you did?

Hi,

Problem was fixed by removing the drain tube- which was full of "sludge"- cleaning it out and the connecting piece. I also removed all the built up dust from all of the coils that I could read. I think the main problem was the stopped up drain tube. The foul odor is GONE!!!

Mamafaye

Clean the refrigerator thoroughly fresh food and freezer under all drawers. Then place charcoal briquettes in each 8 or 10 total. 4 or 5 in the bottom of the fresh food section. leave the for several days. If that doesnt take away the smell consider if a mouse may have gotten into a fan blade and well that can create a really bad smell.

If the icemaker motor or heater short out it will cause a foul odor. I have never heard it described as cooked broccoli, but it can be pretty bad. Remove the icemaker and inspect the bottom of it where the heater element is and remove the white cover of the motor and look in there. You can take the three screws out of the motor module and see if anything is burned on it.
If you can rule out the icemaker, the next things to check would be the evaporator fan motor and defrost heater. Generally, if a fan motor starts causing an odor it will stop running completely and if a defrost heater goes out it will quit defrosting. It is possible, but unlikely, that something has gotten into the evaporator area and is sitting on the defrost heater so that it is "cooking" during the defrost cycle.
Check the icemaker first, it is the most likely cause of the odor. Post back with complete model number if you need further assistance and we will go through checking everything else.

Something to check for. Is the top of the refrigerator door lower than the freezer door? If so the ref. light may not be turning off all the time. Pull bottom panel off to expose hinges. The ref hinge should have an adjuster. Adjust door up to be level with freezer.