Mold in Kegerator

[Mad Scientist]

OK dammit, I've got mold growing inmy kegerator. Since it cannot get inside my kegs this is a cosmetic issue, but it seems to be all over EVERYTHING.

1. How do I get rid of it?
2. How do I prevent it from returning?

[HogieWan]

this is me twice a summer. I pull everything out, hose it off and hit it with a spray bottle of diluted bleach

[Mad Scientist]

Damn......

[HogieWan]

where do you keep your kegerator?

[cul8rv8]

I'm going through this myself. I pulled the chest freezer to the edge of the garage, hosed it out to get the loose stuff out, then last night I mixed up a batch of Oxyclean and hot water to soak. Tonight when I get home I plan on taking a toilet brush or something similar to brush the hell out of it to get it out, then lastly mix up some bleach and water in some sort of spray bottle or something and do that last.

But like you, I wonder if there's a way to keep it from happening. Mine is in my garage, I'm thinking of taking some wood to modify the lid of the chest and put taps in the side rather than my current setup just using picnic taps. This way I'm not opening and closing as often, hopefully slowing down the mold growth. Also, someone in another post suggested some silica beads, or whatever they are called, to keep moisture down inside. I don't know if that will stop the mold, but I get a lot of condensation in mine, so it can't hurt I'm sure.

[got_homebrew]

try some "damp rid" .... believe me it works had to open up my kegerator to answer the question(couldnt remember what it was called), had bout a quart of water in it

[HogieWan]

I have a collar and don't open the frezzer, but I still get a lot of moisture. I've thought of using damp rid, but there's a LOT of moisture in the summer and bleach is cheap

[Halgarmeister]

Periodically spray it down with 3% hydrogen peroxide. It will do a better job and last longer than bleach, best of all it's non-toxic.

[cul8rv8]

well I went to Walgreens last night, picked up 2 plastic spray bottles and a thing of Damp Rid, all for $6. Mixed up a solution of bleach and water (approx. 3000 ppm) in one of the spray bottles to kill the mold and nasties that are in there now, will hopefully be finishing up cleaning it out tonight or tomorrow morning.

[Mad Scientist]

cul8rv8,
You live in the desert, how can you get moisture in yer kegerator? ;)

Anyway, mine was in the garage until we moved recently, now it is in the utility room.

I think I had a container of damp rid, or something simialr in mine, and it seems that this appeared after it filled up and I forgot to replace it. This problem had started in the fall,and I wiped everything down and got rid of it, but now it appears that it has come back with a vengance.

So peroxide (i do not want to use bleach...smells) will do it? Fast?

[cul8rv8]

I wondered the same thing. I open up that chest freezer and it's damp all around. No wonder I had mold. lol

I just finished cleaning mine, I soaked the bottom with Oxyclean (as stated previously), I then went out and misted a 3000 ppm mixture of bleach and RO water on it, scrubbed with one of those scrubby sponges, rinsed it with the hose, then dumped it all down the driveway.

Hopefully it doesn't mark up the driveway. lol Otherwise, I'll be picking up some muriatic acid in the near future and do the whole driveway. :)

Anyways, after I dumped that out, I left the freezer on its side, spritzed again with the bleach solution, scrubbed again, and rinsed again. Let it sit out this morning to dry, then finished that up with a towel, put in the damp rid, and loaded it back up with kegs.

We'll see how long it is until I get mold again. I still need to clean the tupperware thing I use as a drip "tray" for my picnic taps. It's pretty nasty, still.

I need to get a collar built and put some faucets on there. :) Just don't have the money for three forward seal faucets.

[corkybstewart]

Freezers attract moisture, but since we don't turn it into ice on the sides and have to defrost it annually, it piles up in the bottom as water. Once a year I have to take all my beer out and clean the insides with clorox. And I put some StarSan solution in a bucket. I put each keg into it for 10 minutes to kill any critters growing on the bottom of the kegs. Actually in 3 years I've only had to do it twice and both times it was a month after a keg leaked a bunch into the kegerator.