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Author Topic: OK I really screwed up...  (Read 13030 times)

Offline tonyp

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Re: OK I really screwed up...
« Reply #30 on: March 23, 2012, 03:25:32 pm »
btw, i'm giving it one more shot. I filled it to the brim with water and 10 scoops of oxyclean. gonna leave it sit for a few days and see if a miracle occurs.
Live from the Jersey Shore!

Phrases for Creatives, #22:
"I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter."

Offline tubercle

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Re: OK I really screwed up...
« Reply #31 on: March 23, 2012, 03:37:55 pm »

[Channeling Billy Mayes]
btw, i'm giving it one more shot. I filled it to the brim with water and 10 scoops of oxyclean. gonna leave it sit for a few days and see if a miracle occurs.
[/Channeling Billy Mayes]
Sweet Caroline where the Sun rises over the deep blue sea and sets somewhere beyond Tennessee

Offline PSUhomebrewer

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Re: OK I really screwed up...
« Reply #32 on: March 24, 2012, 06:19:32 am »
I'd try the baking soda or charcoal after the cleaning. What ever bacteria were there should be dead after sunlight,bleach, and now oxyclean, but their "by products" could be bonded to the plastic. The baking soda or charcoal will absorbe the funk and help.

Last year the freezer of my keggerator had a similar event occur and it reaked of death. Unknown to me my parents decided to store beef in the freezer, but it isn't self defrosting. Needless to say when I unplugged it for the winter and opened the door to the freezer, I was lucky to have my trash bucket next to me. Ended up cleaning it with bleach and putting a charcoal damp rid in it and about 4months later opened the door and no smell at all.

Offline ccfoo242

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Re: OK I really screwed up...
« Reply #33 on: March 26, 2012, 06:29:50 pm »
Hehe...$30 in cleaning supplies later...  ;D
Intra cervisiam est deus.

Offline thirsty

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Re: OK I really screwed up...
« Reply #34 on: March 27, 2012, 04:16:14 am »
Maybe if the Death Cooler held grain for four months it will have to hold the cleaning solution for four months.

Offline tonyp

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Re: OK I really screwed up...
« Reply #35 on: March 29, 2012, 06:44:22 pm »
Just an update, I let the cooler ist over the weekend with oxyclean and the smell is now gone! Gonna let it sit for a few more days to see if it comes back.

and BTW, i get tubs of oxyclean at the dollar store so i think i spent $2 (the bottle of bleach had been sitting on the shelf for months unused...)
Live from the Jersey Shore!

Phrases for Creatives, #22:
"I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter."

Offline punatic

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Re: OK I really screwed up...
« Reply #36 on: March 29, 2012, 07:03:47 pm »
Just an update, I let the cooler ist over the weekend with oxyclean and the smell is now gone! Gonna let it sit for a few more days to see if it comes back.

and BTW, i get tubs of oxyclean at the dollar store so i think i spent $2 (the bottle of bleach had been sitting on the shelf for months unused...)

Bleach deteriorates fairly quickly.  Bleach that has been sitting for several months has lost most of its chlorine.

FWIW a lemon juice solution works well for removing smells too. 

It helps is you live where citrus grows.  Lemons are cheap, or free there.
« Last Edit: March 29, 2012, 07:08:29 pm by punatic »
There is only one success: to be able to spend your life in your own way.


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Offline davidgzach

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Re: OK I really screwed up...
« Reply #37 on: March 30, 2012, 07:01:23 am »
Just an update, I let the cooler ist over the weekend with oxyclean and the smell is now gone! Gonna let it sit for a few more days to see if it comes back.

and BTW, i get tubs of oxyclean at the dollar store so i think i spent $2 (the bottle of bleach had been sitting on the shelf for months unused...)

Bleach deteriorates fairly quickly.  Bleach that has been sitting for several months has lost most of its chlorine.

FWIW a lemon juice solution works well for removing smells too. 

It helps is you live where citrus grows.  Lemons are cheap, or free there.

I would give it a major shot of fresh bleach and let it sit for a day.  Then one more shot of OxiClean.
Dave Zach

Offline gmac

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Re: OK I really screwed up...
« Reply #38 on: March 30, 2012, 07:51:49 am »
Anyone wanna pitch in a buck to buy Tonyp a new cooler?  I'd have thrown in the towel about 30 secs after I opened it.

Offline Slowbrew

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Re: OK I really screwed up...
« Reply #39 on: March 30, 2012, 07:55:25 am »
Anyone wanna pitch in a buck to buy Tonyp a new cooler?  I'd have thrown in the towel about 30 secs after I opened it.

I was thinking the same thing but wasn't going to say anything because I've been known to have my own hard to explain obsessions over the years.  Homebrewing in general comes to mind.   ::)

Paul
Where the heck are we going?  And what's with this hand basket?

Offline tonyp

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Re: OK I really screwed up...
« Reply #40 on: March 30, 2012, 04:52:08 pm »
Anyone wanna pitch in a buck to buy Tonyp a new cooler?  I'd have thrown in the towel about 30 secs after I opened it.


ahahaha! I was so mad at myself for screwing up that i didn't want to give up until i knew i was beat!
Live from the Jersey Shore!

Phrases for Creatives, #22:
"I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter."

Offline jody

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Re: OK I really screwed up...
« Reply #41 on: April 21, 2012, 11:04:57 am »
So in a colossal bout stupidity I left spent grain in my mash tun (coleman cooler) over the winter when i thought i cleaned it out. Opening it for the first time was the most disgusting thing I have ever witnessed in my entire 42 years on this planet. The smell of death and decay and the sight of bugs and maggots was overwhelming to every one of my senses. I just can't describe it in words.

I cleaned it out and scrubbed it over and over and over again inbetween puking, then i scrubbed it some more with oxyclean, then soap, then again with oxyclean, then sanitized it with star-san and did the whole thing over again atleast 5 times over the course of a few days but the smell of death remains.

Is this a hopeless cause? Will anything get rid of that smell? I don't want any grain or wort to come close to touching this thing if I can't even get rid of the smell. I know i can boil the stainless steel parts (weldless valve, bulkhead and bazooka screen) but i can't seem to get rid of that smell in the cooler. It goes away after cleaning it then returns overnight.

Think i should just cut my losses, toss it and spend the $40 on a new cooler or do you think its salvagable somehow?

I feel like such a friggin idiot!@!#$
Spend the money which you have wasted in time and Buy a new Cooler
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Igloo-Quick-and-Cool-Cooler-White-100-Quart-Cooler/14550421?findingMethod=rr  they are cheap

Offline veldy

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Re: OK I really screwed up...
« Reply #42 on: April 21, 2012, 08:00:44 pm »
I think your cleaning will be just fine (I probably would have purchased a new cooler ;) ).  After heating water and crushing grains, I grabbed my coolers and was just about to mash and I find two dead mice in the bottom of the mash tun; puddles of liquid around them.  It took lots of boiling water, bleach and wretching to clear the smell, always with a lingering aroma after hot water hit the cooler.  Perhaps the mind plays some tricks on you though.  I did brew my house pale ale that day and it turned out to be one of my best.  Forever called, "Dead Mouse Ale". 

Don't sweat it :)

Veldy
« Last Edit: April 21, 2012, 08:04:17 pm by veldy »

Offline tonyp

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Re: OK I really screwed up...
« Reply #43 on: April 21, 2012, 08:44:41 pm »
Just brewed with the cooler last week and it was perfectly fine, no lingering smell at all, guess i fixed it!
Live from the Jersey Shore!

Phrases for Creatives, #22:
"I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter."

Offline dannyjed

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Re: OK I really screwed up...
« Reply #44 on: April 22, 2012, 08:39:34 am »
I'm impressed with your perserverance!
Dan Chisholm