Kegerator mold madness!!!

So a two month ago there was a TON of mold in/on/around my converted freezer/keezer that I neglected too long due to our brand new son. Finally got to cleaning my small 4 keg keezer plus all my kegs that were THICK with mold one month ago. Rediculously thick. I made a strong bleach soluion in a 5 gal bucket and submerged everything I could in it and poured it on and around my kegerator. All took about 1.5 hrs.

I figured this is because I was very sloppy when filling bottles with my BMBF and everytime I pulled off my line out quick disconnect i get a little beer on the kegs. So I changed everything and I'm super clean now.

NOW I just found small spots of mold coming back!!!

Is this because of my converted freezer? Too much moisture? My bleach solution was crazy strong so any ideas why it's coming back?!?

Bleach everything down and make sure its dry when you put everything back in. I had a horrible mold problem and bleached it out but it came back as well. Try picking up some stuff called DryRid. Its great for picking up moisture out of the air. Toss a box in your kegerator.

are the non-freezer kegerator guys having this issue?

I've been getting mold spots in my fermenter fridge, not as bad as you've described though. I've been meaning to pick up some DampRid but just haven't gotten around to it.

I would try spraying everything down with bleach again AND throwing in the DampRid.

I just placed two DampRid containers in my Keezer. The moisture seems to be less than a couple of days ago.

I've been having a moisture problem and now getting some mold and rust stains are appearing on the side walls.

If I could figure out how to do it, I would install a small computer cooling fan to move the air around inside the keezer.

I'm considering just leaving a spray bottle with a mild bleach solution inside the keezer and spritzing the kegs and fitting on occasion as a preventative measure.

Do you have faucets or are you using picnic taps?
I think the problem comes from opening and closing the lid...
I mean, things need to be clean, but then when you open the lid, you let the outside humidity in.
I have a kegorator and a keezer. I currently use picnic taps on the keezer so the lid is constantly being opened and I have to clean up mold occasionally. I do not have the same problem with the kegorator.

Ed

I would definitely get some DAMPRID to keeo it dry. The above poster was right about air circulation also. I had a refridgerator I was using as a ferm chamber and the freezer compartment was rarely opened... when I did open it after being closed for over a month, there was almost black than white - nasty. The bottom part (that I was opening to check on ferm progress) was fine, however.

As long as it stays dry and you are occasionally opening the freezer (to change kegs, check pressures, etc.), you should be fine.

Ohio-Ed said:

I think the problem comes from opening and closing the lid...
I mean, things need to be clean, but then when you open the lid, you let the outside humidity in.
I have a kegorator and a keezer. I currently use picnic taps on the keezer so the lid is constantly being opened and I have to clean up mold occasionally. I do not have the same problem with the kegorator.

Ed

Click to expand...

Your kegerator probably has air circulation that kicks on occasionly, removing moisture from the air and draining it to a place where it can evaoprate into the room. Dedicated chest freezers, especially cheap ones like mine, have no internal fan to circulate air. Opening it occasionally allows fresh air to "sweep" the inside. Damprid will prevent moisture from lingering, no matter how it gets there.

leave a box of baking soda in that sucker...

I have a keezer out in my garage in humid-as-heck Florida. I also BMBF a lot. No mold whatsoever and I've never used damprid, a fan, baking soda, or anything else.

Ohio-Ed made a good point about not opening the lid.

I always have a roll of paper towels whenever I disconnect a keg or BMBF. As soon as the QD comes off, the QD is stuffed with one piece and the post is instantly wiped down with another. Then I spray another paper towel with Starsan and wipe the post and QD down again. IMO, just put a paper towel dispenser right there and have a dedicated keezer-Starsan-spray-bottle right there.

I have a collar on mine and I insulated it. This was really to prevent condensation on the outside of the collar. But maybe having an insulated collar helps with mold, not sure there.

the fact that chest freezers aren't 'frostless' means we build up moisture easily. DampRid definitely helps. i keep a little bucket of it tucked away in my keezer.

I think that this post is late to the party, but I have similar issues in kegerator and converted chest freezer. The best solution I've found is hang an Eva-Dry dessicant unit in each of them, and remove the unit to plug into the all and evaporate all of the caught moisture. I've had zero issues with mold since I started doing it this way.

The kegerator had also developed a ton of mold in it. I ended up wiping it all down with paper towels and rubbing alcohol, and then pouring the rest of the bottle of rubbing alcohol into a bowl which I left in the closed, unplugged kegerator. After a week or so I put in the Eva-Dry and refilled the bowl with the alcohol. It seems to have taken care of it.

Eva dry is one of the best purchases i made this last year. Got in on amazon and no issues since using and very rarely have to recharge it. Damp rid is no longer even used and it stays nice and dry.


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