Ridding a fridge of black mold?

[aangel]

So I bought a used beer fridge. Had a fair amount of black mold on the door seals. Cleaned it up pretty well, scrubbed *everywhere* and used a ton of lysol (bleach cleanser) to do it. Thought I was safe...

Ended up storing some beer-making gear in the fridge as my kegerator conversion has been delayed. A 1/2" NPT end-cap with plumber's tape on the thread was left in the fridge for a couple weeks. I took it out today and the tape had nasty black fungus growing on it, and not a small amount.

How do I, for once and for all, rid my fridge of mold? And since when does mold like plumber's tape? It was DRY!

 

[day_trippr]

The evaporator and ductwork are likely loaded with mold. You'd need to expose the former to be able to do anything useful, and probably run some kind of swabbing through the ducts (and fan housing if there is one).

If you can find an exploded view of your fridge from a replacement parts site it'd likely be helpful in figuring out what can be removed...

Cheers!

 

[imasickboy]

I'm assuming the fridge was not running at the time. Correct? I'm not optimistic about ridding the fridge entirely of mold, but it shouldn't be growing if the fridge is cold.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Please don't get on the "black mold" bandwagon. There's a difference between black mold and mold that is black. Fun fact: "black mold" can be pink, white, black, grey, or any other color mold comes in.

Hit it with some mildew stain remover (X-14, Zep, Tilex, etc) and call it a day.

 

[YeastMode]

I use the ZEP mold and mildew cleaner all the time in my fridge. It's in a blue bottle from Home Depot. Just make sure that you are in a ventilated area and spray the hell out of everything. Then wipe it down and turn it on for a few days and see what happens. If needed, you can remove the seal and soak it in a diluted bleach solution. It won't always remove all the black color, but it will help with preventing new growth. To be a complete clean, you really need to be able to spray some cleaner in the fan/duct area, so see if you can get it open. If not, do the best you can. A good clean goes a long way and I am sure you can salvage this thing. The most important part is to get it running after a good clean.

 

[northcal]

I think you will come to just endure it!

Mold is everywhere water is.

Pick your battles and keep it out of your beer. :rockin: