How long will a freezer last like this?

Joined
May 7, 2020
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Location
Ames, IA
The controller panel died on my freezer after opening the door to get pizzas. I know that was the case, as I was working in the garage with no beeping until I got the pizzas, and the freezer began beeping and flashing E on the display screen. An hour later, the freezer died.

After determining it ran with the door controller unplugged, but didn’t shut off anymore due to a lack of a thermostat, I grabbed a timer and set it for 1 hour on, 2 hours off. I placed a remote for an indoor/outdoor thermometer inside the freezer, and it’s been running fine that way for two days.

How long will it last with this set up?
 
You can get a universal thermostat like this:


Your freezer is unlikely to die the way you are controlling the compressor with a timer. I'd be more worried about the food inside. Being in the garage it's not in a controlled temperature environment like your house, and you'll have to adjust the timer to run longer as summer approaches and the garage gets hotter. If you forget to do that, you'll have a freezer full of ruined food.
 
Something that happens a lot on cars is wires will crack where they go between the driver's door and the body, since they flex every time the door is opened. The copper inside breaks even though the outside of the wire still looks OK. This causes power windows and other door-related electric systems to stop working. So don't assume that you have a bad board.
 
Something that happens a lot on cars is wires will crack where they go between the driver's door and the body, since they flex every time the door is opened. The copper inside breaks even though the outside of the wire still looks OK. This causes power windows and other door-related electric systems to stop working. So don't assume that you have a bad board.
That was one of the first things I dove into. Googled it after not finding an issue and found the board in the door to be a common failure item. A new freezer isn’t much more than the replacement parts. We are trying to decide if we want an upright now instead of our horizontal deep freeze. This fix is buying us time.
 
The controller panel died on my freezer after opening the door to get pizzas. I know that was the case, as I was working in the garage with no beeping until I got the pizzas, and the freezer began beeping and flashing E on the display screen. An hour later, the freezer died.

After determining it ran with the door controller unplugged, but didn’t shut off anymore due to a lack of a thermostat, I grabbed a timer and set it for 1 hour on, 2 hours off. I placed a remote for an indoor/outdoor thermometer inside the freezer, and it’s been running fine that way for two days.

How long will it last with this set up?
You could get a smart temperature sensor and put it in the freezer and program it to control a smart plug? You could also set up a high temperature alarm and notification. We have the ihome setup and used it to control an electric heater more precisely than with the internal thermostat.
 
I converted a 5 cubic foot freezer to a drink fridge a half dozen years ago (well known hack for off grid, since they use so little energy)

I used a Johnson Controls remote bulb temperature controller which turns the freezer on and off based on the temperature sensor of the device itself - so essentially what your doing except based on internal temp instead of time. You set a temperature for it to come on, then turn off, and a minimum on and off time.

I have since used this one for a different application, and it worked well also. Much cheaper than the JC one I have on the freezer https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y2FDR4K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
 
I have a small 2cu ' fridge in the garage for my RC Plane batteries. I use a timer like you do so I can also plug in a 12" fan to blow on the condensor coil. Been running that way for 4-5 years. I just need to keep the batteries cooler than a hot Texas garage gets, but it stays around 50.
 
I installed the thermostat recommended above. It’s been running great since then!
 
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