My new fermentation chamber

Ok folks, just wanted to post up about my new fermentation chamber. I picked up a decent GE 8ish cubic foot chest freezer a few weeks ago from CL for the whopping sum of $20, my first thought was keezer. I wanted to brew this weekend and I wanted some control of fermentation temperatures however and haven't had the time to obtain a ebay aquarium temp controller or to build a chamber for my mini fridge so...... The keezer project was put on hold and the new freezer was pressed in to fermentation chamber duty. My first attempt was to follow Assistantbrewer's course adjustment screw mod. This got me to 40 degrees, too cool for the ales I brew....... So the obvious choice would be to order the aquarium temp controller. But... I didn't want to put off brewing or ferment at room temp again. My solution is a economy thermostat from home depot with bimetal spring rather than the old mercury switch type (so I can just lay it in the basket). This thermostat is wired to a relay that controls an outlet for the freezer. I split the outlets on a duplex receptacle and wired one constant for a repurposed plug in 12vdc power supply to power the relay coil through the thermostat switch. The other outlet on the duplex is switched by the relay. This setup seems to be working well so far, the 10 gallons of amber ale I brewed this morning is in it sitting at 65 degrees as I type this. I may even be able to get lager temps, the thermostat is only marked to 50 degrees but there is travel beyond that marking.

I will try to get a parts list, pics and a simple writing diagram posted soon.

the only risk i see is that i didn't hear anything about dead time enforcement.

A lack of compressor dead time enforcement can cause premature failure of the compressor. if the temp / vibrations, cause the output to cycle on-off-on-off faster than one cycle every 5 minutes you are in for a dead fridge.

The compressor runs very smooth with no noticeable vibration, so no issues there. I just can't see the temperature in this freezer changing rapidly enough cause fast cycling because it is sitting in my spare room not out in the heat. My observations so far also show that this thermostat reacts fairly slowly to changes in temperature so I don't think there would be an issue if it were in the garage anyway. Besides, if the freezer dies I'm out all of $20!

Thanks for the words of warning though, That is very good advise.