Biohazard Lab Freezer, any way to sterilize?

$50, so I would love to pick it up for a fermentation chamber for my ss conical, but I also don't want to get an infection in my beer and kill everyone.

Anyone familiar with the federal sterilization protocols these undergo (they say they have been sanitized, but I don't know to what extent) or if it's possible/worth the risk to do it yourself or hire someone?


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That is awesome. Buy it and don't look back. Wipe it down with a mild to medium strength bleach and water solution, should kill everything. Hit it with star san in a spray bottle afterwards for extra security.

^ all that and holy cow! What a deal!

Those units are bulletproof. That cover on the back wall comes off to expose the fan/evap coil area clean that cover as stated a mild bleach solution will kill just about anything, after cleaning take it down as cold as it gets to drop anything else. Great find

We had one of those in the lab I worked at, cost much more than that new. Just wipe her down with bleach like everyone says, then rinse so it won't corrode. Make sure to find that evaporation tray at the bottom, everything nasty spilled in the fridge goes there.


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Going for it, if die, burn hard drive

wimartin said:

going for it, if die, burn hard drive

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lol!

The biohazard decals must remain for the cool factor

Can you share the seller, well not yours specificity but who sells these this cheap as surplus goods? Schools? Medical institutions?

What was in it? What was it used for? Some institutions require those stickers on everything, just in case you happen to put a little vial containing DNA or simple chemical in the fridge. My gas was simple 4°C supplies - you'll be fine. If it was good enough for a lab, it's fine for your purposes

Just get a get some lemocide or make a bleach solution and wash it all down and let it dry out. Been a medic for years and I can say you are more likely to come in contact with something on your couch way gnarlier than you are going to get out of a washed out medical or lab fridge. That being said you can always refer to good ol Bamforth in that the simple rule is there is nothing that can grow in beer that can kill you. Might break your heart losing a big batch and labor hours to an infection but you will never die from drinking beer. Amazingly just not a viable growth medium for things that can kill you. Yet another reason why "Beer Saved the World" (que echo WORLD WORLD WOrld World world world). Seriously though it is a steal and so long as it runs you could easily wash it down with a simple cleaning agent. Just make sure that if you go the bleach route you get the right ratio as you know that bleach and SS don't mix. Looks like a school sale room like we had at UC Davis. Get some seriously discounted stuff from the vet schools and med schools not to mentions computers and desks and what have you. Good luck.

$50 to buy
$100 to move it (and will still need to help)
*$1000 to remove a wall in order to get it into place
$25,0000 in hospital bills after getting hurt moving it
$250/yr on electric bill
$20,000 on lawyer and legal fees for the divorce your wife wants after you installed this thing
$3,000/mo in alimony and child support
$1000 storage fees during the divorce procedures
$150 accumulative in late storage fees
$250,000 on a new house
$100 on moving fees to get the fridge to the new house

Home brewery coolness....Pricess! (Especially if you keep the the bio hazard stickers on it)

They probably used it to store piss in anyway. It's sterile. You're fine.

* is optional

Try and get background on the freezer if you can. I imagine the most likely possibility is that it was used for something in the medical field, like blood packs at a donation center. Odds are good that anything considered "biohazardous" (i.e. pretty much anything medical that comes from or touches the human body) is kept sterile prior to disposal, so if the fridge is from a medical background it's probably seen no more biohazardous material than a bit of dandruff from a nurse.

I strongly suspect that any equipment that had even the slightest potential to pass on some hazardous biological material would be destroyed rather than resold, so you should be pretty safe with a bit of bleach regardless of the background.

I am going to look at the decommission papers today to figure out what was in it before. I will share once the transaction is completed so you guys can't find me in real life ha.


No Brains, No Headache

FatDragon said:

I strongly suspect that any equipment that had even the slightest potential to pass on some hazardous biological material would be destroyed rather than resold, so you should be pretty safe with a bit of bleach regardless of the background.

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That's what I was thinking. If it held bubonic plague virus they probably wouldn't sell it. But I've been wrong before.

Came from one of our clinics and not a lab it turns out. Has been deemed no bio hazards, chemicals, or radiation. Now just got to figure out if anything is actually terribly wrong with it


No Brains, No Headache

wimartin said:

Came from one of our clinics and not a lab it turns out. Has been deemed no bio hazards, chemicals, or radiation. Now just got to figure out if anything is actually terribly wrong with it


No Brains, No Headache

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Wait, you don't know if it works? That might be a deal-breaker...

Freaking Revco !! AWESOME find for $50. If it was radiation, it wouldn't have a Biohazard sign, it would have a Radiation sticker on it. Also you can look on the sides for a diamond with 4 colors and numbers in it. The colors and numbers designate what type of chemicals were inside for storage. Biohazard is usually only for blood or blood contaminates, including anything that involves the storage of blood components with therapeutics or antibodies. You could've had anything from a blood bank, therapeutic blood treatments, monoclonal antibodies, to well.. contagions. More than likely not contagions since due to Fed regulations, you would've been given a disclaimer. I wouldn't be worried about what was stored in it, sterilize with appropriate bleach to be on the safe side, air out, sanitize, and get it going.

It works, but I don't know how well yet or if the temp alarm is going to go off constantly.

Wipe it down with bleach and scrub it real good and you will be fine! Great find

I have one just like tho a little older. Most labs spray them down with isopropyl alcohol let it sit for a while then wipe them down. Also anything stored in these is in sealed containers and cleaned regularly per there lab protocol. You can do the same just to be assured it is clean using Starzan. Don't worry about the alarm mode you can turn that off. You can also call Thermo Fisher tech line and they will email you a manual. Now you have to step up your brew days to fill it up. Just one side of the fridge will hold almost 14 cases! I keep 4 kegs and the 20lb CO2 tank on one side. I'm in the process of covering it with beer labels. Enjoy!

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Dude, you got to keep the biohazard stickers. Maybe it will keep people out of your beer!