Keezer cycling question

[AntDoctor]

I know this seems to get brought up all the time, but I'm worried my homemade keezer is cycling too often. I think it's a 5 or 7 cu ft freezer, without any external modifications (I just ran two wires in under the lid and gasket). I'm using a temperature probe that's hanging and measuring the air temp and I have a small fan inside to hopefully circulate the air.

Below is the temperature graph over time, points are roughly each 10 min apart. It cycles about once per hour. The keezer is essentially empty right now, which definitely increases how often it cycles, but I'm worried.
The temperature can increase more than 1.5°F in ten minutes and that it takes ~25 min to cool back down.

How is it heating up so fast? I don't think the deal is bad, because I didn't modify the outside at all, and the gasket is only interrupted by two small wires.

Should I be worried, or is the empty keezer and the fact I'm measuring air temp the real explanations?

 

[Kent88]

I'm not an expert, but if I understand the graph correctly it looks like it's running 3-4 times in a three hour window. That seems fine to me.

 

[myndflyte]

If you put the probe is a bottle of water, it would probably cycle less often too.

 

[jseyfert3]

What freezer model do you have, and how old is it? Also what's the approximate average external temp?

 

[day_trippr]

That plot is a classic example of a temperature probe dangling inside an empty chest freezer. I can show that in the same (10 day) plot that later shows what happens with a half full keezer (4 of 8 kegs with beer) and the temperature probe strapped to a full keg under an inch thick foam pad.

The cycle time went from around 30 minutes to 4 hours...

Sorry 'bout the capture, first time doing that on this 'Droid tablet...

Cheers!

 

[AntDoctor]

What freezer model do you have, and how old is it? Also what's the approximate average external temp?

No idea about the freezer brand, it's pretty old and second hand. Temp is set at 38?

Thanks to the advice here, I think I'm going to insulate the probe or put it in a glass of water!

 

[Stonehenge360]

It’s less about insulating the probe, more about giving it some thermal mass. I have mine stuck to the side of a soda can with some HVAC aluminum tape.