Free kegerator!...You get what you pay for...

[boondocksaint]

Hey folks!

A few months ago I picked up an almost free kegerator. Almost free b/c I gave my buddy a few bucks for the tap, dual guage reg, CO2 tank, etc.

I was planning on getting into kegging in the next year anyway but figured I could use it as a ferm chamber in the mean time. Well...

I opened the fridge yesterday for the first time in a while and noticed what I believe to be black mold spotting the inside of this fridge. It was on the inside of the doors, walls, and inside & outside of the drawers on the bottom. There was a piece of wood set up as a shelf which is where I believe the mold came from. I got rid of the wood and spent a couple hours scrubbing the entire fridge inside with bleach. The fridge is a thousand times better (cleaner) now but I'm still kind of freaked out by the mold. I feel like there could still be nasties hidden in some nook or cranny that I can't even see and I don't think I want to put a keg in there much less a carboy of something I just spent a day brewing.

Dunno, since it's already got a tap drilled and installed maybe I can throw it on CL & trade it to somebody that wants a kegerator for a 'clean' fridge that I can convert myself.

Thoughts? Would you chance it or chalk it up as a total loss?

 

[northcal]

I say use it. It'll get black mold and every other color of fungus eventually, even if it was new.

Just keep your beer in kegs and you'll be fine.

Relax and have a homebrew, you'll be fine.

 

[snccoulter]

You will be fine, just don't get a free one that has had meat go bad. I was given one that smelt nice like fresh bleach until a few days later. Found out it had a meat puddle in it. Off to the dump it went. Thankfully the buddy that gave it to me hauled it and paid the dump fee. NASTY that smell never goes away....

 

[boondocksaint]

I say use it. It'll get black mold and every other color of fungus eventually, even if it was new.

Just keep your beer in kegs and you'll be fine.

Relax and have a homebrew, you'll be fine.

I guess I can see using it for a kegerator as the kegs are sealed, etc. as long as the lines are kept clean (I know, that's a given either way). But, I don't think I can bring myself to use it as a ferm chamber. Just seems like playing with fire, ya know? I don't know if those furry little nasties could make their way into an airlock but I'd hate to find out they can the hard way...

 

[bja]

I guess I can see using it for a kegerator as the kegs are sealed, etc. as long as the lines are kept clean (I know, that's a given either way). But, I don't think I can bring myself to use it as a ferm chamber. Just seems like playing with fire, ya know? I don't know if those furry little nasties could make their way into an airlock but I'd hate to find out they can the hard way...

Do you breathe air? Guess what nasties are in common everyday air.

 

[snccoulter]

Do you breathe air? Guess what nasties are in common everyday air.

All the little nasties from a freezer that has mold in it

 

[northcal]

I really wouldn't hesitate to use it for fermenting.

You must be a new brewer?... LOL- relax, have a homebrew, and enjoy your free gift.

I don't think I can bring myself to use it as a ferm chamber. Just seems like playing with fire, ya know? I don't know if those furry little nasties could make their way into an airlock but I'd hate to find out they can the hard way...

 

[Falcon3]

I agree with these folks- if you're really worried about it, leave it unplugged in the sun on your driveway (Make sure it's back far enough people don't think it's free) and let the sun do the cleansing. Then give it another good go-around with bleach- you can even take the seals off the doors and get in all the cracks- soak the rubber seals in oxyclean and wipe off with bleach- nothing will survive- at least nothing that's not in the air all the time-

 

[Yooper]

I'll take it if you don't want it!

I get some black mold occasionally, as whenever I have an empty and unplugged fridge (yes, I have like 5 fridges and 3 freezers, not including the one in my camper- don't judge me!) someone closes the door and by the time I find it, it is yucky with mold. A good cleaning fixes it right up.

I know that when a fridge or freezer is unused, it should be left open. But even though I leave it open, with towels in the door jam to keep it from closing, some helpful soul closes it.

My grandson closed the fridge in my camper the other day, and by the time I opened it it had already started to look a bit icky. A little sponge and bleach water is all that's needed.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

A couple of douses, ( sprays), with Hydrogen Peroxide work well on themold issues, with a little elbow grease.

I have to "hotel size" refrigerators that I bought at a "cash liquidation" center, both work, but both were grungy and moldy.

Peroxide and a mild scrub brush cleaned them right up, and I put a small pan of non "matchlight" charcoal in them to run for a week, to clean up any off aromas.

I use one for a ferm chamber, and my First Wife uses one for a "cheese cave".

 

[boondocksaint]

Thanks for the sanity check folks!

...Peroxide and a mild scrub brush cleaned them right up, and I put a small pan of non "matchlight" charcoal in them to run for a week, to clean up any off aromas.

I use one for a ferm chamber, and my First Wife uses one for a "cheese cave".

So you burned a small pan of charcoal in them to kill the stank? That's fascinating, I wouldn't have thought of that.

Oh & First Wife? Not that it's any of my business but since you brought it up...How many do you have? . I'm still working on my first (& only) and I adore my wife but if God forbid something happened to us I don't think I could do this again. The training regimen has been a b!tch...Hahahaha

 

[northcal]

So you burned a small pan of charcoal in them to kill the stank? That's fascinating, I wouldn't have thought of that.

Probably unlit to filter out the 'aroma'?

 

[bja]

Thanks for the sanity check folks!



So you burned a small pan of charcoal in them to kill the stank? That's fascinating, I wouldn't have thought of that.

Oh & First Wife? Not that it's any of my business but since you brought it up...How many do you have? . I'm still working on my first (& only) and I adore my wife but if God forbid something happened to us I don't think I could do this again. The training regimen has been a b!tch...Hahahaha

You're doing it wrong.

Oh, and don't light the charcoal.

 

[boondocksaint]

Probably unlit to filter out the 'aroma'?

Haha, that def makes more sense. Especially now that I'm drinking coffee and not at the tail end of a 9.7% bomber!

 

[boondocksaint]

...I put a small pan of non "matchlight" charcoal in them to run for a week, to clean up any off aromas.

Guess the "to run" in reference to the charcoal made me think you were letting it smolder. Didn't seem safe but neither does bungee jumping and people do that s#!t all the time!

I suppose they do make charcoal filters to absorb odors for other applications so you just made your own. Tracking now...

 

[Stealthcruiser]

No, not lit, just as a "filter medium".

And yes, the "First Wife" is the present one.

That's how I introduce her to people, "This is my First Wife......."

She doesn't like it when I add "Sugar Drawers" on the end of that, for some reason...........

 

[negativereaction]

Once you've cleaned out the bottom of a well-used keezer that hasn't seen sponge nor soap for a year, you get pretty numb to the nasties. There is some absurd amounts of evil that can grow in cold wet darkness. A wee bit of black mold wouldn't scare me in the slightest.

 

[dadshomebrew]

Our old fridge died a few years ago and I put it in the garage with good intentions but no motivation to fix it. Well about a year later I get into homebrewing and decided to fix the fridge. That thing was a nasty mold fest.

I hit it with bleach, peroxide and starsan and it has never been cleaner. love that fridge. Just give it a day or two to air out after cleaning before you plug it in. Still running great.

 

[wilserbrewer]

20% bleach and water in a spray bottle will have the mold disappearing right before your eyes.

This is also why I advocate refrigerators over freezers.
A fridge stays nice and dry, while a freezer gets wet moldy and nasty, worse with more humidity.


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/