Rusty Kegerator - Can It Be Salvaged?

[BrewDrinkRepeat]

I'm fearful of the answer, but here goes...

I get a lot of condensation in my kegerator, enough that two EvaDry units can't keep up. Every so often I have to pull the kegs out and ShopVac standing liquid @ the bottom.

The last time I did this, I was dismayed to see the lining of the freezer was coming off in chunks, exposing the metal underneath. I dried it out as much as I could, put the kegs back in and planned to look into what to do.

Cue me getting insanely busy both at and outisde of work, and now a couple of months have gone by.

Went in there today, and was horrified to see that everywhere the lining came off is now horribly rusty. (Pic below. The black-ish area to the top-left of the rust is a piece that came off today, that is the "normal" surface underneath the white lining.)

I'm not sure what I can do at this point, if anything. If I pull the kegs out and spray Rustoleum or some other coating over the bottom surface, I'm guessing that won't stop the rusty areas from continuing to rust. And I assume if I do nothing it will eventually rust through, dripping kegerator condensation onto the floor and -- more importantly -- rendering the kegerator junk.

Is there anything I can do at this point, or should I just get a new chest freezer and start over?

Thanks in advance...

 

[bjhbrew]

Yeah my fermentation freezer looks kinda like that (although not quotes as bad). That said it already had rust when I got it (for free) and I’ve used it over 2years without it actually getting noticeably worse. You can get rust products that are supposed to convert rust to a stable state, rust-mort is one, and then you could paint over it. There is white or black appliance paint sold at Home Depot but I think I’d probably skip the rust converter and just brush some tremclad rust paint over it.

 

[dx250]

I would look at one of the rust stabilizers that BJH suggested and then use the diy spray in bedliner from the parts store to keep it from rusting again. I made a plywood sink for a darkroom using the diy spray bedliner and it is still going 3 years later.

 

[BrewDrinkRepeat]

Sorry for taking so long to reply, was a crazybusy week... thanks so much guys, I will look into everything you recommended! I really don't want to have to replace it (and possibly build a new collar) if I can avoid it... but of course I also don't want water leaking all over the floor, either!

Unfortunately there's nothing I can do to prevent the condensation, my kegerator is in the laundry room, which leads to the screened-in back porch, and we leave that door cracked open much of the time so the cats can go in and out as they please. Plus the heat from the dryer increases the temp and humidity in the room, which doesn't help.

In a perfect world I'd have a finished basement, with the brewery and the kegerator down there as part of a bar setup. But that ain't gonna happen in this house!

 

[BrewDrinkRepeat]

PS. I had to go in there this morning to switch some connectors around, and there's a bunch of standing liquid in the bottom. Not just moisture, but standing water. And it's only been a week since I vacuumed it all up last... sigh...

 

[Transamguy77]

You could try Por 15 who’s is an epoxy paint that is designed to be painted over rust. After using that I would use fiberglass mat that you can get at an auto parts store and then cover over that with the mat to prevent any further rusting.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

My kegerator is in the corner of the basement in a temp and humidity stable environment. Last week I removed my kegs to rearrange things and was disappointed to see that condensation had frozen at the bottom of the keezer making removal of the kegs problematic. I have my keezer set at 33F with the temp sensor located at the bottom of the box.I turned the freezer off, left the lid opened and I finally got all the kegs out. I gently chipped the large chunks of ice off with a spade and dried the remaining moisture as best as I could. You certainly want to ensure the bottom of your freezer remains dry and structurally sound. Where is your temp sensor and what do you have the controller set at?

Also, have you verified the lid is sealed air tight to the collar, and how often do you open the lid? The moisture is getting onto the box from somewhere.

 

[BrewDrinkRepeat]

I only open the lid when I have to get in there (change a keg, adjust CO2 pressure, etc.). Far less than once a month on average, and only for a minute or two.

I'm pretty sure we put some sort of weatherstripping-type thing on the bottom before we put the collar in place; I had a buddy help me with building and installing the collar, and he did most of the heavy lifting (literally and figuratively).

I'm so utterly inept when it comes to things like that, if I end up having to buy a new kegerator I will try to find one of the *exact* same dimensions so I can just take this collar and move it over to the new freezer.

Yeah, I know... I suck.