Removing styrofoam insulation from inside freezer walls

I've got a number of commercial stainless steel freezers and refrigerators that I'm scrapping. The freon was correctly evacuated, and I'm down to the outer walls of the units. Each one has real dense styrofoam insulation sprayed inside the walls that I'm thinking needs to come out before I take them to the scrap yard.



I have 2 questions:
#1 Do you think the scrap yard will take the stainless steel with the insulation still in it?
#2 If it needs to come out, what's the easiest way to remove it? I tried spraying some acetone on it, but no good. I also tried pouring a little bit of old gas on it, but again, it didn't even start to disolve it. Surely there's some way to get it off the doors and walls.

Thanks for your help

Welcome to the forum. Feel free to introduce yourself. The only thing that could be added to Mattinthehatt's post is ask the scrap yard how they would remove it. Then decide if it is worth your time.

Any way you could cut it into smaller pieces and then scrape off the insulation with a coal shovel?

A 'hotwire' setup may work. It'd take some making though, nichrome wire from a electric heater, car battery, two wooden handles etc. Probably wouldn't happen...

Turps thinner normally turns polystyrene into snot, dunno if its 'styrene or polyurathane (sp?) though.

The scrap dealers do normally take the iron with the insulation still on it, just at a lower price. Is it worth your time?

been there
done that

a nice solid but sharp scraper-as mentioned by Matt

the only thing to watch out for is styrofoam flying all over the place.

I have a quick question for you, are you sure the walls are stainless steel? i have done quite a few and never had one stainless steel, now some of the hardware on the doors could be aluminum or brass, and the floor aluminum but the walls stainless i don't think so.OBOY time for the magnet test i think.

Since you poured gasoline on it already careful with what you use... Don't make any sparks. I would take a thin piece of metal and try to scrape it of kind of like tile with a scraper, if all fails and your in a secluded area burn it off, people have done worse. Good lucky