Trials and Tribulations of Chest Freezers

I saw an ad on Craigslist last Thursday for a chest freezer. For $50, I could find the end of my temperature control worries and a stable environment for aging beers during the summer. Kate rented a zipcar, and we went over to Inman square to haul this monstrosity out of a house's basement, drove it back, and lifted it up to our second floor apartment. It was no easy job, as this freezer isn't young and doesn't have handles. After breaking quite a sweat and nearly destroying two of Kate's fingers I plugged it in. The compressor rattled pretty badly for 30 seconds, then settled into a nice hum. I put a water bottle in the freezer and let it sit over night. I woke up Saturday morning to find that it was only 62 degrees. That's no good.

I emailed the nice lady who sold it to me, and she said that she'd get a refund check in the mail ASAP. Now I just need to figure out how to dispose of the beast, and I must resume my search for a fridge/freezer to convert or a thermo electric thermostat. Of course, at this rate, I may just punt and use the freezer converter thermostat from most home brew supply places.