itbrvilla
Well-Known Member
Luckily I was one of the winners of the Inkbird ITC-308 temperature controller. Here is a review of my use so far. I hope it is useful to those considering temperature controllers. Please feel free to ask questions and I'll do my best to answer ASAP.
When I received the Inkbird ITC-308 in the post I was surprised at how compact it is. It looks really nice with a simple display as well as having a pretty solid looking build quality. It has 2 LCD screens showing the process value (I.e. the actual temp) and the other the setting value, it has 3 buttons; up, down and set, it has a power lead (~150cm), temperature probe (~200cm) and a double socket labelled with one for heating and one for cooling XXX.
It has lots of values you can adjust including:
- temperature
- cooling differential (i.e. temp difference below set temp before staring heating again)
- heating differential (i.e. temp difference above set temp before staring cooling again)
- alarm high limit
- alarm low limit
- compressor delay time (for fridge/ freezer)
- temperature calibration
- and C or F.
The first thing I decided to do with it being as I currently am unable to use a brew fridge, I decided to see how I could make my brew days slightly shorter. The first thing I tried was to see if I could use it to make the mash easier. I filled my boiler with 24L of water (I BIAB with an insulated electrim boiler), and connected the Inkbird to the kettle element pug and a timer (set to 7am) and set it to 74ðc (cooling and heating differential set to 0.5ðc), put the temp probe into the centre of the boiler as best I could and turned the timer on. When I checked the following morning at 8am the boiler was nice and hot and the temp on the Inkbird indicated it was at 73.8ðc and my digital thermometer indicated it was 73.4ðc, and my glass thermometer between 73-74ðc. So it appears to be pretty consistent when compared to other measurements.
The following Saturday I decided get a brew of Greg Hughes Irish Red Ale on. I used the Inkbird to get the mash water ready, and took some readings during the temperature increase comparing the Inkbird and my thermometer: Reading 1. Inkbird- 36.7ðc, thermometer-37.8ðc; Reading 2. Inkbird 45.1ðc, thermometer 45.5ðc, Inkbird 74.1ðc, Thermometer 73.8ðc. So again pretty tight readings.
Once I added the grain to the mash I unplugged the boiler but left the Inkbird on with its probe in the mash wrapped around my digital thermometer. Again the temperatures were within 1.5 ðc of each other.
Following my brew day, I set up a builderââ¬â¢s trug as I normally do with 10-15L of water and place my fermentation bucket into it with a fish tank heater but instead of using it directly in the mains I ran it through the Inkbird set at 19ð with the temp probe placed at about 2 oââ¬â¢clock from the heater with the electric thermometer probe at about 10 oââ¬â¢clock. The ambient temp in the kitchen is between 14-16ðc. I left if like that for 6 days like and the temperature difference between the 2 probes was generally pretty close although occasionally it sometimes differed by more than 2ðc (probably due to many other factors), but the stick on temp probe on the fermenter was always between 18-20ðc.
After 6 days I increases the temp by 1ðc a day until it reached 23ðc and left it for a day to help finish off fermenting those final sugars. The ferment went from SG 1.052 to 1.017 over 11 days and I transferred to a secondary for clearing before bottling.
Last week I decided last minute to do a brew and quickly put on my mash water to heat using the Inkbird and went to the brew shop to get some grain. When I returned Iââ¬â¢d realised I had plugged the boiler into the cooling socket!!! It was my fault for rushing but itââ¬â¢s a shame that there is no red/blue colour indication on the sockets rather than the grey on dark grey writing.
Overview
As I have only used this for heating and not cooling I canââ¬â¢t review cooling, but imaging it will be pretty good as the probe appears to be pretty accurate and consistent with my other thermometers.
Pros:
+ Easy to use,
+ Lots of settings to customise it for your needs,
+ Out the box temp controller so no need for wiring,
+ Good build quality,
+ Accurate temp reading,
+ Consistent temp.
Cons:
- Probe cable is very fiddly as it is pretty rigid, and the way it was packaged has meant it is in a constants zig-wag pattern and difficult to get straight (may improve over time),
- Labelling on Sockets could be better to help clumsy fools like myself.
Overall a great bit of kit that can have many used for brewing. Hope this was useful!
When I received the Inkbird ITC-308 in the post I was surprised at how compact it is. It looks really nice with a simple display as well as having a pretty solid looking build quality. It has 2 LCD screens showing the process value (I.e. the actual temp) and the other the setting value, it has 3 buttons; up, down and set, it has a power lead (~150cm), temperature probe (~200cm) and a double socket labelled with one for heating and one for cooling XXX.
It has lots of values you can adjust including:
- temperature
- cooling differential (i.e. temp difference below set temp before staring heating again)
- heating differential (i.e. temp difference above set temp before staring cooling again)
- alarm high limit
- alarm low limit
- compressor delay time (for fridge/ freezer)
- temperature calibration
- and C or F.
The first thing I decided to do with it being as I currently am unable to use a brew fridge, I decided to see how I could make my brew days slightly shorter. The first thing I tried was to see if I could use it to make the mash easier. I filled my boiler with 24L of water (I BIAB with an insulated electrim boiler), and connected the Inkbird to the kettle element pug and a timer (set to 7am) and set it to 74ðc (cooling and heating differential set to 0.5ðc), put the temp probe into the centre of the boiler as best I could and turned the timer on. When I checked the following morning at 8am the boiler was nice and hot and the temp on the Inkbird indicated it was at 73.8ðc and my digital thermometer indicated it was 73.4ðc, and my glass thermometer between 73-74ðc. So it appears to be pretty consistent when compared to other measurements.
The following Saturday I decided get a brew of Greg Hughes Irish Red Ale on. I used the Inkbird to get the mash water ready, and took some readings during the temperature increase comparing the Inkbird and my thermometer: Reading 1. Inkbird- 36.7ðc, thermometer-37.8ðc; Reading 2. Inkbird 45.1ðc, thermometer 45.5ðc, Inkbird 74.1ðc, Thermometer 73.8ðc. So again pretty tight readings.
Once I added the grain to the mash I unplugged the boiler but left the Inkbird on with its probe in the mash wrapped around my digital thermometer. Again the temperatures were within 1.5 ðc of each other.
Following my brew day, I set up a builderââ¬â¢s trug as I normally do with 10-15L of water and place my fermentation bucket into it with a fish tank heater but instead of using it directly in the mains I ran it through the Inkbird set at 19ð with the temp probe placed at about 2 oââ¬â¢clock from the heater with the electric thermometer probe at about 10 oââ¬â¢clock. The ambient temp in the kitchen is between 14-16ðc. I left if like that for 6 days like and the temperature difference between the 2 probes was generally pretty close although occasionally it sometimes differed by more than 2ðc (probably due to many other factors), but the stick on temp probe on the fermenter was always between 18-20ðc.
After 6 days I increases the temp by 1ðc a day until it reached 23ðc and left it for a day to help finish off fermenting those final sugars. The ferment went from SG 1.052 to 1.017 over 11 days and I transferred to a secondary for clearing before bottling.
Last week I decided last minute to do a brew and quickly put on my mash water to heat using the Inkbird and went to the brew shop to get some grain. When I returned Iââ¬â¢d realised I had plugged the boiler into the cooling socket!!! It was my fault for rushing but itââ¬â¢s a shame that there is no red/blue colour indication on the sockets rather than the grey on dark grey writing.
Overview
As I have only used this for heating and not cooling I canââ¬â¢t review cooling, but imaging it will be pretty good as the probe appears to be pretty accurate and consistent with my other thermometers.
Pros:
+ Easy to use,
+ Lots of settings to customise it for your needs,
+ Out the box temp controller so no need for wiring,
+ Good build quality,
+ Accurate temp reading,
+ Consistent temp.
Cons:
- Probe cable is very fiddly as it is pretty rigid, and the way it was packaged has meant it is in a constants zig-wag pattern and difficult to get straight (may improve over time),
- Labelling on Sockets could be better to help clumsy fools like myself.
Overall a great bit of kit that can have many used for brewing. Hope this was useful!
