Got a free chest freezer. Clean it or sell/scrap it?

[dawn_kiebawls]

I was lucky enough to find a free ~5cf chest freezer online that works fine! But, the reason it was free is the guy accidentally unplugged it and let a bunch of chicken go absolutely rancid. I thought he was exaggerating so I loaded it in the truck and got it home without smelling it...As soon as I opened it I felt my nose hair burning and my toenails curling at the same time. It could knock the buzzards off a s**t truck. It is just downright putrid (but clean, he attempted to salvage it himself)!

So, assuming I have the stomach to even give it a thorough cleaning is this thing worth the effort? Will a mix of vinegar, baking powder, bleach, hot water, dish soap actually get rid of the odor? If I do manage to get rid of the odor is this even safe to use? Any cleaning solution suggestion, or should I just throw some dynamite in it and see what happens?

I wanted to use it as a ferm/lagering chamber but I'm nervous to consume anything that comes out of there. There may not be enough bleach in town to clean this bastard.

Any and all advice is welcome. Cheers!

 

[Jayjay1976]

What's the interior made of? I would say it depends on the condition of the interior. Pics?

Me personally, I'd do my best to rehabilitate it, even if it meant adding truck bed liner or something similar to seal the surface. Roll it out in the sun and leave the lid open. Better yet, remove the lid until you've eliminated the smell. Any time it spends closed up before you clean it out is just driving the stench further into the insulation. The fact that you didn't smell anything until you opened it up is a good sign.

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

The interior seems to be cheap sheet aluminum. I gave it a heavy spray with bathroom cleaner and have it sitting out on the driveway now with the lid open to try and air it out. I took the weather stripping out thinking that was going to harbor more stench than anything else (similar to keg rings...stupid root beer). I gave the weather stripping a small whiff and could smell it so I suspect that is going to be the problem child.

After the bleach has sat for a while I will hose it out, spray it again, scrub it, hose it, scrub with Oxyclean, hose it and allow to air out over night. If that doesn't do the trick I will take her to the scrap yard. If it does work then I may just sell it and use the profits to go buy a new one that wont make me think of this experience every time I pour a beer lol

 

[Jayjay1976]

That interior looks just like mine. Be careful with bleach on aluminum, Oxi clean will do the same thing, essentially oxidizing the source of the stench, but without corroding the aluminum. It doesn't look to me like the chicken soup soaked into the seams, otherwise I would expect to see some discoloration there. Maybe once you have it cleaned up, seal all the seams with silicone. Is that weather stripping something you can replace?

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

That interior looks just like mine. Be careful with bleach on aluminum, Oxi clean will do the same thing, essentially oxidizing the source of the stench, but without corroding the aluminum. It doesn't look to me like the chicken soup soaked into the seams, otherwise I would expect to see some discoloration there. Maybe once you have it cleaned up, seal all the seams with silicobe. Is that weather stripping something you can replace?

I thought the same about siliconing the seams, and am going to look into replacing the weather stripping later tonight when I have some free time. I was worried about bleaching the aluminum, but after it aired out a little bit I could see where the guy I got it from had already bleached it a little bit so I said 'screw it' and sprayed it down. Thanks for the help! I do now think this will clean up enough to be able to use or sell so I'm glad I didn't scrap it.

 

[day_trippr]

I would remove the lid liner (might have to remove the lid first) and see what kind of insulation was used inside the lid.
If it's a batt of fiberglass it will no doubt have the stench permeating through it, so replace it.
Otoh, if it's a foamed lid, wipe it and both sides of the liner with mild bleach solution, then leave it out in the sun for as long as you can.

Also may want to run a tubing brush using the same bleach solution through the cabinet's floor drain...

Cheers!

 

[Beermeister32]

Take it down to a self-serve car wash with a bag of quarters and give it all a high pressure, soapy long wash with the spray wand. Rinse thoroughly. Take it home, use some mild bleach solution and wash it all out. Make sure to rinse the bleach solution well, it can pit aluminum. I like the idea about letting it sit outside in the sun. Rinse it again. Somtimes rubber will pick up odors which are nearly impossible to remove. If this is the case, the only solution there is time, or replacing the seals. I'd also re-do any silicone caulking. On the outside chance any putrid chicken juice migrated into the polyurethane foam insulation behind the aluminum panels, I would go find a dumpster, you won't be able to fix it.

 

[Heaven and Hell]

Sounds like it was cleaned good. Next for me would be ozone.
can get a reasonable ozone generator from amazon.
good luck

 

[jimyoung]

My old ferm chamber (now broken) was rusty and moldy when I got it. I took an orbital sander to it, and bought some trem-clad appliance spray paint. That stuff was amazing. I'm no quality painter, and it dried evenly and smooth, non tacky (I forget how many coats I did). That inside stayed perfect for years, and had a nice new freezer smell

 

[Jayjay1976]

Sounds like it was cleaned good. Next for me would be ozone.
can get a reasonable ozone generator from amazon.
good luck

This is a really cool idea. I bet that will even pull the stank out of the rubber and plastic parts as well, just don't expose them for too long or they will start to break down.

 

[Pvabrewman]

Yeah a cheap ozone for a few days. Also fill to the brim with water and leave to soak. Replace the seals. Toothbrush to all the corners. And then leave to air out.
The smell will go... Just takes time.
I do this for a living.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Yeah a cheap ozone for a few days. Also fill to the brim with water and leave to soak. Replace the seals. Toothbrush to all the corners. And then leave to air out.
The smell will go... Just takes time.
I do this for a living.

A buddy of mine bought a used car that had been parked for some time with a forgotten bag of fried chicken in the back. The dealer couldn't get rid of the smell and it was pretty much undriveable so he let it go real cheap. My friend bought an ozone generator, used it for a while then returned it. Dirty tricks I know, but it got the job done.