Manual Johnson controller/freezer problem

I have an older Montgomery Wards chest freezer that has been working fine for almost 16 years and decided to get a pre-wired manual johnson controller and get back into brewing. I decided to fully defrost the freezer and clean it out, then plugged it in and let it cool to about 68F. After that i set the controller to 65F, plugged the freezer into the controller, then plugged it in. I heard the compressor kick in for a second, which sounded really slow, then it stopped. Wondering if something went wrong i unplugged the controller and plugged the freezer back in without the controller. I can hear the thermostat click on the freezer, but the compressor will not turn on. The outlet does have power. Did i miss something and unknowingly kill my freezer?

-Steve-

All the temp controller does is switch the power on and off to the outlet so you couldn't really have done anything wrong or shouldn't have an issue with the controller.

When you say it's been working for almost 16 years is this the first time it's been unplugged for a long period of time or defrosted?

Since this was my Dad's home i would say that that was the first or second time it has been defrosted, but I am happy to say the freezer is working again after i let it sit for 2 hours.. My guess is that after i had un-plugged it for 30 seconds, then plugged it back in, the compressor may have froze up during that time. I have let it cycle twice so far with no problems, but then again it is an old freezer.

-Steve-

That is good news. May your future brews ferment at a stable temp now

A compressor protects itself from rapid cycling, if it starts and stops then it probably won't start again for a few minutes no matter what you do. It may be related to why you had trouble with the thermo control, but I'm pretty certain its why it didn't come back on when you plugged it in directly. I'd try again and just be patient with it.