Keezer temperature offset (hysteresis)

I had a keezer with Ranco that I set to have a 5 degree offset from the temperature setting. It ran find that way but that's quite a swing. I'm aware of the dangers of short cycling a compressor but at 5 degrees it didn't seem to operate that much so I set it to a 3 degree offset.

Shortly after setting it the keezer failed. It seemed to be a loss of coolant because the compressor would still run but the keezer wouldn't cool. I'm not sure that it was a result of short cycling but I don't want to ruin another keezer the same way.

What do you guys set your keezers for? Anyone know the symptoms of a short cycle failure?

You can run the low offset as long as you run the probe in a small buffer like a white labs tube with water in it. You just don't want the high offset constantly triggered by a quick lid opening event.

Any freezer used as a keezer will cycle less than it would as a freezer, so short cycling isn't a real concern. One good idea is to keep the temperature probe at the bottom to minimize the impact of opening the lid. I run my Ranco at 2C with a 1C offset and it cycles about 1/4 as often as the freezer next to it.

Sounds like you have a leak.