Issue with Inkbird ITC308S - anyone else had this?

[chrisb8]

I have an Inkbird ITC308S controlling my brewing fridge and have noticed a recurring annoying issue. It seems that the thermometer keeps reading inaccurate temperatures momentarily which causes the fridge to turn on unnecessarily.

For example, if it is set to 20.0 deg with a differential of 0.5 and the readout is 20.2 deg then the fridge should not be on. However, the readout will suddenly jump to, say, 23 deg for a few seconds and then return to 20.2 deg. This has the effect of turning on the fridge until the temperature returns to 20.0 deg. Then a while later the same thing will happen (after the compressor delay has passed of course). This means that the fridge is being turned on multiple times every hour when it shouldn't and I an concerned that this will either damage or reduce the life of the fridge.

I have previously contacted the Inkbird customer service and they sent a replacement but this one does exactly the same thing...

Anyone else had this issue or has any thoughts?

 

[Drunkula]

Slight corrosion where the thermometer lead plugs in. Twist it in the socket a few times to try and clear anything that's formed on the jack. It's like what happens with headphones and they sound scratchy until you twist them a few times.

 

[chrisb8]

Slight corrosion where the thermometer lead plugs in. Twist it in the socket a few times to try and clear anything that's formed on the jack.

Thank you for the tip but unfortunately it didn't work. Anything you can use to clean the contacts maybe?

 

[Drunkula]

You could use a bit of polish I suppose but don't go nuts. One of my cables had a split near the tip of the probe and when any moisture got between it would change the resistance and it went nuts. I ended up having to pot the wire in hot glue inside a piece of 3/8" hose and it's great. Doubt that's your problem but check the entire cable.

 

[chrisb8]

Still having problems with this... Very frustrating. Watched it for a bit last night and the temperature reading will stay steady and then suddenly jump up a few degrees and back down again, of course this turns the fridge on unnecessarily... I have tried it with a differential of 1.5 degrees and it's still doing it.

@Drunkula could I ask what settings you are using?

 

[Drunkula]

My 308 is a normal one, but I've got two Inkbird PIDs and an STC that I've made swappable connectors for the probes on. Some of them use RCA connectors and one uses an RCA to a phono jack (ran out of RCAs to hack) and that caused more problems than the RCAs possibly due to less area of contact so easier for crap to change the resistance. I ended up putting lithium grease on everything. Then I had the tiny split in the one probe I mentioned earlier.

You haven't got anything electromagnetic around that could be causing momentary fluctuations have you? You could try moving it somewhere else for a while as a test to see if it happens elsewhere.

 

[-Bezza-]

I'm wondering if I had a similar issue the other day. I noticed that the keezer flicked on momentarily when it shouldn't have.

@Inkbird might be able to help.

 

[Ghillie]

Send it back.

 

[chrisb8]

I'm wondering if I had a similar issue the other day. I noticed that the keezer flicked on momentarily when it shouldn't have.

@Inkbird might be able to help.

That sounds like what I am noticing. My brew fridge is in our spare bedroom so I hear it keep coming on - I go straight away to check the temperature readout and it shows that it should not be on... I've stood there and watched the readout fluctuate to a higher temperature, turn on the fridge and then go back down again.

I have contacted inkbird and they have been helpful but say they have not heard of this issue from anyone else. I wonder if others don't notice it happening if they have their units in a shed, garage, storeroom etc...?

 

[chrisb8]

Send it back.

Inkbird were helpful and have already replaced the original unit I had, but the replacement does exactly the same thing! I'm in contact with them again now. I wonder if there's a faulty batch... The replacement was fine at first but after 2 weeks my fridge is turning on and off unnecessarily multiple times every hour!

 

[Hoddy]

you are not the only one that has seen this. I too have one and it does exactly the same but i don't even see the temp readout change. It will literally flick on/off just enough for the compressor of the fridge to start spinning up and then stop.

I think it is shortening the life of the fridge but as mine was a freebie from @Inkbird i don't really have that much recourse.

 

[-Bezza-]

How old are the devices? Mine was ordered from Amazon on 27 March 2019 - ITC-308

My older ITC-310T doesn't seem to have any issues.

Inkbird are/is very helpful.

 

[chrisb8]

Mine was also from amazon in march this year and is ITC308S. Seems like it could be a more common fault...

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I have asked Inkbird to take a look at this thread.

 

[chrisb8]

I have asked Inkbird to take a look at this thread.

Thank you :thumba:

 

[Inkbird]

Hello,
Apologize for the inconvenience.
The probe of ITC-308(S) & ITC-310T are identical.
We will check if it is batch problem. If it is batch problem, we will solve it as soon as possible.
Regards.

 

[MrRock]

However, the readout will suddenly jump to, say, 23 deg for a few seconds and then return to 20.2 deg. This has the effect of turning on the fridge until the temperature returns to 20.0 deg.

What's your delay setting? If the temperature reading only changes for a few seconds, it shouldn't switch on the fridge if it's less than the delay setting.

Mine is set to 3 minutes to reduce wear on the compressor.

 

[-Bezza-]

The probe of ITC-308(S) & ITC-310T are identical.

Thanks for looking into this.

For what it's worth, the probe on my ITC-310T is detachable whereas the one on my ITC-308 is not (unless I've missed something). That being the case, it wouldn't be a contact problem as Drunkula has suggested.

 

[Richie_asg1]

It could also be a voltage regulator issue for the sensor or if it is using a switchmode power supply that can cause noise issues on the line. That may be enough to crash the program, which will then restart or give an inaccurate sample.
Maybe inkbird can check what the noise figure is? Seems like a momentary higher voltage blip rather than a constant error.
What is the sampling frequency on the itc-310T? Is it just one sample in say 50 that is incorrect? That could be supply noise.

 

[Drunkula]

What's your delay setting? If the temperature reading only changes for a few seconds, it shouldn't switch on the fridge if it's less than the delay setting.

The time starts as soon as it exits the last cooling cycle, or from when it's turned on, so after 3 minutes a tiny blip would turn the cooling on, but then it not be able to happen for another 3 minutes once it drops back. I set mine to 10 minutes.