Inkbird 306 for over temperature protection - Question?

[Totallytollied]

Hi,

Can anyone advise a suitable controller to use as a failsafe on heaters. I was planning to run two undersize heaters either Ehime or AquaEl and to use an Inkbird 306 controller to protect as second failsafe avoiding any possibility of overheating the tank.

My preferred option is to use the thermostats (after calibration) on the heaters to control the temperature of the tank and the Inkbird as the failsafe, however I note from a past thread on this site that this is not possible as the Inkbird controller has a built in “constant heating” setting which will give an alarm if the temperature set on the controller has not been reached in a maximum of 72 hours and that this feature cannot be turned off thereby negating use in this way.

I would be grateful for any other options especially if anyone has any information as to whether the Inkbird has been updated yet.

 

[Nano-DaveJ]

I’ve been running an Inkbird 306T as an over heat protection for two years and never had any alarm go off. My thermometer is set to 78 and the inkbird is set to kick on at 77 and shut off at 79.

 

[piranhaman00]

Ya the inkbird 306 has that debilitating feature of auto shut off which made me return it. It also cannot detect temp changes of <1.0 degree F. So your tank will at a minimum have 1F swings, not bad but not good if you have a large tank.

I would highly recommend the Bayite temp controller. It is not WiFi which I assume you are looking for in the inkbird but it is much more accurate and just overall works better. The probe is stainless so it needs to be siliconed are they sell plastic tip probes seperate.

I went down this rabbit hole of trying to find a wifi temp monitor not Apex, I ended up with an Apex. Good luck!

 

[Totallytollied]

I’ve been running an Inkbird 306T as an over heat protection for two years and never had any alarm go off. My thermometer is set to 78 and the inkbird is set to kick on at 77 and shut off at 79.

Mant thanks for the info, but i am intending to use it the other way where it is the heating thermostat that is doing the work and that is where the problem lies.
Many thanks
Paul

 

[Totallytollied]

Ya the inkbird 306 has that debilitating feature of auto shut off which made me return it. It also cannot detect temp changes of <1.0 degree F. So your tank will at a minimum have 1F swings, not bad but not good if you have a large tank.

I would highly recommend the Bayite temp controller. It is not WiFi which I assume you are looking for in the inkbird but it is much more accurate and just overall works better. The probe is stainless so it needs to be siliconed are they sell plastic tip probes seperate.

I went down this rabbit hole of trying to find a wifi temp monitor not Apex, I ended up with an Apex. Good luck!

 

[Totallytollied]

Hi

Ya the inkbird 306 has that debilitating feature of auto shut off which made me return it. It also cannot detect temp changes of <1.0 degree F. So your tank will at a minimum have 1F swings, not bad but not good if you have a large tank.

I would highly recommend the Bayite temp controller. It is not WiFi which I assume you are looking for in the inkbird but it is much more accurate and just overall works better. The probe is stainless so it needs to be siliconed are they sell plastic tip probes seperate.

I went down this rabbit hole of trying to find a wifi temp monitor not Apex, I ended up with an Apex. Good luck!

Hi,piranhaman00, many thanks for the reply. Will go and look at the Bayite temp controller now.

Cheers

Paul

 

[Totallytollied]

Not sure that Bayite temp controller is available in Europe at the moment, any other suggestions?

 

[ReeferWarrant]

@piranhaman00 I read somewhere if you do Celsius you can get it to tune to a more finite temperature, yet to test it out though.

I havent had any issues with mine and it has been running for 8 months now.

 

[Reef.]

I have the inkbird and whilst that feature was irritating at the time, I am since very happy with the inkbird, I have since found out it can link up with amazon Alexa too.

To get round the issue I have just set the heater stats to just above the inkbird temp, so if the inkbird were to fail, the heaters then become the failsafe. I would also think the inkbird stat is more suited to the constant on/off cycles so may not fail as soon as the heater stats.
Controlling the tank this way still has a safe guard against a failing stat.

 

[Totallytollied]

I have the inkbird and whilst that feature was irritating at the time, I am since very happy with the inkbird, I have since found out it can link up with amazon Alexa too.

To get round the issue I have just set the heater stats to just above the inkbird temp, so if the inkbird were to fail, the heaters then become the failsafe. I would also think the inkbird stat is more suited to the constant on/off cycles so may not fail as soon as the heater stats.
Controlling the tank this way still has a safe guard against a failing stat.

Hi Reef.
Many tanks for your reply, I had hoped to run it the other way round however but the Inkbird seems the best available at the moment in my price range so this may be the way to go.Can I ask which heaters you run with it.
Paul

 

[Reef.]

Hi Reef.
Many tanks for your reply, I had hoped to run it the other way round however but the Inkbird seems the best available at the moment in my price range so this may be the way to go.Can I ask which heaters you run with it.
Paul

My tank is a 14g , I have 2 50w, both are Eheim but one is the preset Eheim so the temp is set at 25c and can not be adjusted, it’s quite a bit smaller than the other.

 

[Totallytollied]

My tank is a 14g , I have 2 50w, both are Eheim but one is the preset Eheim so the temp is set at 25c and can not be adjusted, it’s quite a bit smaller than the other.

Many thanks, will probably run Ehime heaters so glad to know that they run fine with the Inkbird.