GE chest freeze won't get cold

ice cream is always the last to freeze and a temp of minus -10 degrees is usually required to get it to get hard. if you put the ice cream in the door it will be especially tough to freeze. a good thermometor is a good investment as you can observe the temps. usually ten degrees or 20 degrees is what they run. yes they do cycle on and off as long as they hold temps thats good. the outside of the freezer gets warm because the hot compressed refrigerant is spread through piping near its surface giving up its heat of compression . setting the stat to max will freeze the ice cream eventually but utility bill suffers . good luck

When you say "cleaned", did you defrost it? And. if so, could you have damaged the internal lining? Often the coil inside the wall of a chest freezer can fracture if hit or stabbed at during defrosting.
Other than that, is the compressor running (you would hear it)? it may have overheated. If not running, see if it feels hot (siezed) or cold (no power from thermostat). If cold, put it on fast freeze and see if it kicks into life (thermostat faulty) or not (compressor fault, time for a new freezer!)
Let me know how you get on!

If it doesn't get cold at all, then your compressor is not running. Which could be the start relay or start capacitor or even the compressor. The relay and capacitor are not that expensive and pretty easy to replace, but if it is the compressor then you might not want to put that much money into an older unit.

I'd turn unit off...unplug it for a few minutes...plug it back in...and turn it back on setting the thermostat again.

Hopefully, you'll hear the compressor kick in and start cooling again.

Hope this helps...

Compressor may be bad. You can try replacing starting device that plugs into side of compressor

your ptc overload relay on the compressor is bad,unplug it off the compressor and get a replacement at an appliance parts store,plug in the replacement and this will solve your problem

switch on and leave it to freeze.approx 24hours.buzzing could be compressor working overtime to get cold.or in fact the freezer is not on a level surface.

Your compressor is partially siezed. It needs replacement.

Alissa,
Try placing two or three jugs of water in the freezer and wait 36 hrs. before opening.. If the water is frozen solid you have no problems.. if its not frozen, the call a service tech..

If the unit's Compressor is not starting you need to bypass everything and test the compressor directly to see if it will run. best done buy a qualified Appliance tech unless your from and electrical background? also when the motor/compressor is tested they can see if the freezer starts to freeze down. Because of the cost of changing the Compressor and the fact that a lot of the gas leaks in these units can not be repaired due to the leak being inside the freezer walls a new Freezer is still the best option. Also when a Fridge or freezer is left to sit for 5 years the Compressor is likely to have seized and rust may ave formed inside units copper pipes. Cheers
I'd recommend a new Fisher and Paykel Chest freezer with a extended warranty. cheers