I have a walk in cooler, 5x5x6.5'H. I'm using a 10K btu window AC with an Inkbird temperature controller (Coolbot alternative). I can get it down to about 38* with no problem. Add a deer, still no problem. Add two more and the AC freezes up. I assume it's the extra humidity from the warm carcasses, causing condensation and frosting up the fins.
Are any of you familiar with this issue, and is there a remedy? Would I need a dehumidifier inside the cooler? Would a dehumidifier dry out the meat by pulling too much moisture from it?
A friend and I have crop damage permits if you're wondering why we're hanging deer in the summer.
Thanks for any suggestions.

Try calling Inkbird?
The AC unit naturally removes humidity, my guess is you have it too cold, try 42 and see if theres a difference.

We have a walk-in as well, but it is an old beer truck body. Our compressor has more btu of cooling and a great fan. Our carcasses actual dry a bit, which is good.

I don’t think your cooling unit or fan is large enough for several deer. Ask a local refer company to help you size your system. The high volume fan is very important for quickly chilling warm meat.

Thanks guys, I'll try to maintain at 41/42*. Maybe add a fan too.

Some of the portable air conditioners, like ours, pull the excess water from the air and store it in a tank, that occasionally needs emptied. An air conditioner like that might be better for your cooler.

Keith

How old is it ? Could be low Freon if unit runs constantly and never shuts off it can freeze. Dirty coils can also. Not enough air pulled thru. Doubt it’s a humidity level issue. But biggest reason window units are not designed to cool an area that cold. Systems use a different refrigerant for those temperatures. Most units with digital settings only go to 55. Unit never shuts off to allow for coils to defrost

I got 12 crop damage tags but I ain’t shooting deer this time of year. Babies too little

Back in the 80s refrigerated trailer units would freeze up like that hauling swinging meat. Especially when they were loaded to hot. Sometimes we couldn't leave the packer for awhile. Those units were designed to keep the meat cool, not cool it down. Had to wait till the temp came down. Real pain. Units had a defrost button. Had to stop every 3-4 hours, get out and push the defrost button after you got the temp down some and were allowed to leave. Unit would then heat itself, not the trailer, then restart. Water coming out a drain tube. Thats all done automatically now. I think your right about the humidity. Too much for the unit. You may have to shut it off for a bit every few hours till the meat is cooled down.

What kind of crop damage do you have that you can wait til the babies (as you say) are grown. Might as well just wait til season comes in, Depending on what crops you have, but very could well be too by late then to save the crop. Does your damage permits allow you to kill the fawns too ?

Why do you have crop damage tags, but don’t have the mindset to save the crops? Those tags are for killing deer for fun, nothing else!

What you guys are using are called nuisance tags. Even if I shot one this time of year I’d not eat it !
Quick tip to thaw a window unit. Turn to fan only mode. But I think your wrong about humidity causing it from deer being warm. If that was case anytime a person walked in a room the unit would freeze up. Problem is internal with the unit. Low Freon low air flow over coils something. Get you can of coil cleaner use it. Some units spray water up on compressor to get rid of it. If not getting rid of it it can increase chances of freezing up. Drill a small hole in bottom of outside cover. DO NOT HIT COIL OR LINES.
Trust me humidity is not causing your problem. AC work by removing it. He is using a window unit NOT a refrigeration system. Same principle but big difference. Like asking a ford F-150 to move 4,000 metric ton of gravel with more being added to the pile. It might do it eventually but something willnot function right at some point.

We do wait for season. Instead of only taking 1 buck and 4 does from the farm we are ALLOWED to take another 12 antler less deer. Two types of deer control tags here
Crop damage
Nuisance tags

Brian I had the same problem with my cooler. I messed around with the position of the probe in the fins of the ac unit and the set the controller for a longer fan run time in between cycles to defrost the build up.

Just Google it! NO WHERE will you find high humidity!!
https://www.thespruce.com/why-window-air-conditioners-freeze-up-1152665

Top 3 reasons are ones I mentioned

Oh so deer seasons are just for fun? Not to control population?
Think about your statement. 12 less does mean up to 36 less deer with a multiple of 3 on the total each year after that. Yes not allowing for predation.
No these tags are useless in numbers control. LOL .....

How much insulation do you have? I had this problem with mine and put 2 inch blue board on the floor and door and it solved the problem. The air conditioner is running too much and not giving it a chance to defrost. Also, I have my control set to a two minute delay before it turns on to give it time to defrost.

Jbyrd63, I did drill a hole in lowest spot and drained more water than expected. Took longer for it to freeze up again.
Cooler is empty right now. I ran it all day yesterday at a low temp to see when it would freeze again. It was about 38* inside when it frosted back up. The controller was set at 28. I shut it down to thaw and will adjust up to get it back to 42* inside. I'll also adjust AC fan. It was turning on/off just fine before. I suppose it could be a coolant issue.
And why would you not eat the deer, or give it to someone? They are perfectly fine to consume. We wouldn't shoot them if they were going to be wasted (although someone else probably would).

Further research suggests the AC works much better with two controllers, so may just order another. They're only $36.

Scrapper, the insulation is fine, it's a cooler that came out of a restaurant many years ago, and had been in use with a different AC for 35 years. The other AC was commercial with freon, andworkedgreat, It just wasn't feasible to continue using it in my basement without a lot of work and upgrade.

Our crop damage permits allow us to kill all deer, buck, doe, fawn. Although we have four tags, as soon as we report a kill, we automatically have four tags again. So it's unlimited. My permit is for my cousin's farm, corn crops for their cattle. My friend's permit is a different property that grows large amounts of assorted vegetables. One bite is lost profits.

Thank you all for the info/suggestions.

Actually, you think about your statement.

What is the start and end date of those crop damage tags? Do those crop damage tags have a sex limit? Can you shoot a fawn with those crop damage tags?

If I have a problem I want to deal with it now. Not wait for it to be more enjoyable. If you’re not dealing with the problem now, it’s not a problem.

And jbyrd, if shooting all those deer in the Fall/Winter like you are doing is helping, why are there still 12 crop damage tags being issued each year?

Sounds like you need some wolves introduced into your state…..lol
Goes from walk in coolers to a deer argument…haha…classic

Try wrapping the meat in a plastic trash bag to contain keep the water from evaporating.

I have mine set up with a 110 heat - cool thermostat. About $12 online. The thermostat kicks on and turns a 4 watt bulb on, which in turn warms the senor for the air conditioner causing the conditioner to run. I can set up a delay as to how long it takes to turn on. This gives it time to defrost. I get a chance I'll look on youtube and get you the link to it.

That cooler is inside? The AC is not designed to go that low ! Newer models condensation points are higher for energy efficiency. Wrong type of Freon. Set it on 50 degrees. Put abag of ice in chest cavity. You won’t get 30 something with that unit without freezing up.

September 2- January 15 antler less only

CROP DAMAGE tags are issued in Ky based on number of acres determined by that district biologists. 12 on my lease Didn’t say that’s all we kill. We all have 5 doe tags on our sportsman license
Local pumpkin farm has crop depredation tags. Shoot on site any deer any time
Won’t eat hot weather deer because they stink got ticks worms and more likely to be diseased

Well, it worked for the first 7 we put in it. One double in that total. Wasn't until we had a cold one, and added two more that it froze up. So, I know it works inside, down to 38*, which I'm happy with 40*. I was hoping for some insight to why all of a sudden it froze up. The only difference seemed to be humidity. I tweaked the on/off temps, and adjusted the fan timing and it's been running empty at 42* ambient. I think it's safe at 42, but would prefer 40.
I'll leave as is until we put another one or two in the cooler. If it continues, I'll order the second controller.

We haven't seen any worms or obvious disease yet in all the years we've taken warm weather deer, a few ticks, but we get them in winter too.

I'm not a reefer tech but work on them at work work quite a bit. The two biggest issues that cause freezing up are defrost times are wrong (too short or not often enough), and air leaking into the box (door seal or other holes door being left open). Not sure how the coolbot type controllers work but normal walk in systems shut the evap fans off and the flow of refrigerant off to the evaporator. often there is a heater that is turned on for most of the defrost cycle. there will be moisture in the air and sooner or later it will end up on the eval coils. defrost and good drains keep it fro m being a problem
JD

We run Coolbot controllers and had the same problem when hanging a beef in the summer. The coolbot has 4 or 6 settings for defrost time. We just bumped the defrost time a little longer and it took care of the issue. Not sure how the inkbirds are set up but if you can extend the defrost time it will take care of the problem.

Educate me on the controllers. A $30 inkbird does the same job as a $400 coolbot? How much does it cost to run one for a week? I have an 8x8x8 box that needs a cooling unit

Square, you can set the inkbird to turn off at at a certain temp. Then set the other function to turn it back on at a different temp (+3* for me). The coolbot has a heat sensor to trick the AC into thinking its warm, the inkbird uses a separate night light to do the same thing basically. It's easy to set up, but takes some tweaking to be consistent. I had a hard time finding where to put the controller sensor, but got some help from another site. I put it directly into the AC blower, when it hits 28*, it shuts down (usually before freezing up). It stays off for a few minutes and let's the coils warm just a bit before starting again.
Using two controllers is supposed to work better, one sensor for ambient temp in cooler, one sensor for the coil fins, so when it does start to freeze at the fins, the unit shuts down. I'm just stubborn, lol. $72 for two units is still a whole lot better than $350 for a coolbot. I got the 10k AC for nothing. And jbyrd is correct that window ACs aren't made to go below 60, that's why you have to trick them into thinking it's much warmer. Lots of YouTube vids, but only a couple good ones.

Brian, Thanks for the information! It’s always good to learn from someone who has found the issues and solutions.