Freezerdor project begins today.

[King Catfish]

Hi everyone. I live in a very old farmhouse with an unfinished cellar. In the back corner of this cellar are two 1960s era freezers. They are too large to remove (I have no idea how they got in here, to be honest), and I have no idea whether they work (I think the home inspector said that they do, but they're so old and inefficient it would be silly to use them).

Anyway, I have been eyeballing them ever since I got into cigars not too long ago. I think you know where this is going.

They are both relatively clean, but have been closed a long time. The air in them is very stale. There is mold on all the rubber seals. Today I chose one of them and began the project. I made up a bleach solution and wiped/scrubbed down the entire interior surface with it to kill the mold. Then I set a fan on it to air-dry.

Next step will be a repeat of the above, but with dish liquid.

Then I plan to install a bunch of Spanish cedar panels on the interior walls with velcro, and lay more on each shelf. Then I plan to put in a Cigar Oasis XL to maintain humidity, and a remote sensor so I can monitor the RH and temp without opening it too often.

Any thoughts? Pics to come soon.

[drew_goring]

Sounds like a great project. As long as the seal is good and there is no remaining odor I can't see why it wouldn't work. Looking forward to seeing some pictures.

[King Catfish]

I was wondering about the seal.... with an active humidification system such as the Cigar Oasis XL, would it matter very much if the seal was less than perfect?

I got the impression from how stale the air was when I first opened it that the seal is pretty good or completely good. But it may not be perfect.

It already seems to have no residual odor. I will of course, when its finally completed, run it for a week or so with no cigars in it to see if it remains stable or has any odor.

[BigMacFU]

Ditto Drew, the seal and the smell. If the seal isn't perfect, you'll be burning through distilled water in that c.oasis like crazy. I would recommend no matter what getting a couple pounds of humidity beads though and keeping them in there along with the cigar oasis, that way, if your oasis runs out while you're away, the humidity likely won't change from that perfect 65% RH.

[ashauler]

Ditto Drew, the seal and the smell. If the seal isn't perfect, you'll be burning through distilled water in that c.oasis like crazy. I would recommend no matter what getting a couple pounds of humidity beads though and keeping them in there along with the cigar oasis, that way, if your oasis runs out while you're away, the humidity likely won't change from that perfect 65% RH.

Agree. You might want to put some baking soda in it during your monitoring phase to completely remove any odors. Are they chest style freezers or uprights? If they are chests, you can compensate for some damage to the seals with some simple foam weather stripping....the weight of the lid will assist in assuring the seal.

Sounds like a great project.

[AshLvr]

How many cigars do you intend to store?

[King Catfish]

Thanks for the replies.

If the seal turns out to be imperfect, I guess I can attempt to replace it. If that cannot work, no huge loss; I'll try the other fridge. :)

They are upright freezers. I am just doing one right now... I would like to keep ~300 cigars in it, eventually. There's room for a bit more, I would guess.

The baking soda and the beads are a great idea, thank you!

Pics to come soon; sorry, I've been super busy.

[WOXOF]

This thread is useless without pics!

[King Catfish]

Sorry, I will try to get a pic up soon. :)

[King Catfish]

I have come upon a stumbling block.

AFter bleaching out the interior of the freezer, then rinsing it, and leaving it open for a week with a fan on it, I shut it for a few days with a big tray of baking soda in it.

Upon opening it, there is a moderately strong, plasticy smell. GOing on the assumption that the freezer is useless as a humidor unless it is totally odorless, I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about a next step.

I have considered vinegar, some new-age "natural" cleaners from the local Fresh Fields... dishwashing liquid... Will any of these work?

BTW, my daughter has claimed my backup laptop to play Webkinz, and until I can get it back I cannot download my pics.