Hooray! It took some trial and error to adjust the coarse adjustment screw on my chest freezer but it is above freezing now. It can be adjusted between 32, or so, and 42 or so with the regular temp control nob on the outside of the freezer. It could go warmer with more adjustments of the internal thermostat screw. In the meantime, I ordered the controller just in case of failure...so I have some choices. I Surfed around and found used regular commercial compressors for 10x10 coolers for $600 and $800 asking. They looked to be pretty good. Lots of complete sets(box,compressor,blowers) for around 2k & up. Some looked not so good. I would not hesitate to low-ball them....confident that a free or nearly free one is to be had somehow.

This symptom usually results from lid seal and lid insulation failure which permits moist air to be drawn inside the lid from outside where it becomes ice and draws in more moist air. Over time the lid will become so heavy it may not want to stay open. If it isn't worth fixing cost-wise or parts aren't available, stopgap measures might include defrosting the unit and draining the lid on a regular basis by popping the seal at the lowest point if it isn't held in place with sealant.

I've had chest freezers for most of my life and never had any issues with finding food (nor do I hate a chest freezer). I use boxes to organize my frozen veggies (one box per type). I have sections for meat and other frozen stuff. I use baskets for butter and stock. Anything else is labeled with a marker. I rotate the contents with each shopping trip (quarterly or so) or when I make stock/soup/chili etc. I've never lost anything nor have I had mystery product. I also put bottled water in there for storage and to fill up space. I defrost once a year, usually in the fall or early winter. Everyone is entitled to their personal opinion and should use what works best. If you are planning on long term storage, a manual defrost is the best option. The frost free (or self defrosting) units cycle heat to keep frost from building up inside. That seriously diminishes the life of any product you store in the freezer. In terms of size, go with larger. In terms of brands, well, that's personal opinion. You can buy the same products pretty much any where. That's personal preference too. The freezer we had when I was a kid conked out at 40 years old. In the past 22 years, I've had two. The current one is about 10 years old and has spent it's life mostly in an unheated garage (in TN). Having said that, note that manufacturing of appliances has gone the way of everything lately; seems like they are disposable and it's cheaper to replace than fix. Stick with a brand name you're comfortable with and purchase from a store you feel good about. Just keep dead bodies out of there.

I decoupaged a small, white dorm sized fridge with scrapbooking paper and modpodge, it came out really cute. Then I painted the trim to go with it. It ended up with red hibiscus all over it and black trim. A few years later I redid the craft room and painted the whole thing black, now it disappears and doesn't really catch the eye at all.