Can I save this freezer?

[turkeyjerky214]

Short story long, I decided to get a chest freezer dedicated to lagering. Finally found one that was the right size on craigslist. I don't have a truck, my friend called his cousin who called his uncle. I had to be somewhere else when the guy would be home, so the two of them went to get it. I told him, "if it's pretty dirty, try to talk him down. If it's in really bad shape, don't buy it."

Despite it having about 4 inches of water, tons of rust, and a fair amount of mold around the lid, they gave the guy what he was asking.

After 3 hours of cleaning, this is what it looks like.

The inside is basically clean, just really rusty. Once it's completely dry, would spray painting Rustoleum take care of that?


As far as the lid...

The whole thing looks like that. It won't pop off. I have no idea what to do about it. It's going in the garage, so I couldn't care less what it looks like. It'll sit in the corner with kegs in it, and that's it.

Ideas? Suggestions?

 

[processhead]

I would sanitize the crap out of the interior with bleach solution before putting my HB inside.

Aside from than that, if it cools ok it should be fine.

An alternative to painting: purchase some white fiberglass sheeting, cut them to fit the bottom and sides, and silicone them in place. Just like new again!

 

[Shockerengr]

I wouldn't put the sheeting on the sides....that's where the cooling coils are. It'd be fine on the bottom after painting tho. As for the seal, a 10% bleach water mixture should help, then just paint over it. Anything HB you put in should be sealed anyway since it's gonna have high humidity in there at lagering temps anyway. As long as it runs it should work well!

 

[turkeyjerky214]

Yeah, I used a ton of bleach cleaning it out. I'm gonna try to remove the seal again tomorrow. This evening when I tried, it felt like I was about to break something.

Trust me, I wouldn't put stuff that was fermenting in this. Strictly kegs. I was pleasantly surprised to find I can fit 7 in there. Looks like I'll be adding lagers to my regular rotation. Also, it's just in time to start brewing for Oktoberfest.