Inkbird Heater Controller

[dugthefish]

Inkbird ITC-306T Pre-wired Electronic Heating Thermostat Temperature Controller and Digital Timer Controller for Aquarium, Seed Germination, Reptiles, Hatching ect, Without Cooling Controlling https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01486LZ50/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_gBUaCb17PXFDR

Picked this up over Black Fridsy, been running 2 days now, powering 2x250W in 140 gallons. Experiencing quite a bit of play in the temperature calibration area. Roughly a .4-.8*F swing, my other 3 thermometers in different areas of the tank all stay within .1* at all times.

Anyone experience this, have ideas how to achieve the ideal constant water temp or a true calibration, or am I just being too picky?

 

[Flippers4pups]

Inkbird ITC-306T Pre-wired Electronic Heating Thermostat Temperature Controller and Digital Timer Controller for Aquarium, Seed Germination, Reptiles, Hatching ect, Without Cooling Controlling https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01486LZ50/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_gBUaCb17PXFDR

Picked this up over Black Fridsy, been running 2 days now, powering 2x250W in 140 gallons. Experiencing quite a bit of play in the temperature calibration area. Roughly a .4-.8*F swing, my other 3 thermometers in different areas of the tank all stay within .1* at all times.

Anyone experience this, have ideas how to achieve the ideal constant water temp or a true calibration, or am I just being too picky?

This may not be indicative of all inkbird controllers, but mine drifted to the point of not being able to calibrate it anymore. Took it offline and threw it in the trash.

I used a fluke temperature meter that was calibrated to verify the inkbirds temperature. After three months I had to check it everyday. After much research, it's became clear there isn't a factory reset option for them.

I would come home and the thing would be alarming. Grab the fluke and check the temperature in the tank. It would be wildly off. 2-3 degrees. Maxed out the calibration on the inbird and that's all she wrote.

 

[dugthefish]

This may not be indicative of all inkbird controllers, but mine drifted to the point of not being able to calibrate it anymore. Took it offline and threw it in the trash.

I used a fluke temperature meter that was calibrated to verify the inkbirds temperature. After three months I had to check it everyday. After much research, it's became clear there isn't a factory reset option for them.

I would come home and the thing would be alarming. Grab the fluke and check the temperature in the tank. It would be wildly off. 2-3 degrees. Maxed out the calibration on the inbird and that's all she wrote.

Well, that's not good.....

 

[jda]

They are not a high quality piece of equipment... they can drift and they can have some large tolerances. This is perfectly fine for a piece of equipment in this price range. Be sure and set the thermostats on your heaters to turn off about 1 degree higher than the inkbird is set for.

I would probably use one and live with the issues so that I could have redundancy on my heaters. In the mean time, if you are budget crunched, be on the lookout for a used Ranco... these are a professional grade piece of equipment that lots of industries use to protect very expensive products.

 

[Bayareareefer18]

I found inkbirds to be worth their weight in gold when I was keeping freshwater fish. I have a feeling they are not so reliable with salt water

 

[Salt1972]

We had to replace the thermistor on our Inkbird after about 10 months. The calibration was maxed out. We keep another digital thermometer in place to double check. If I had it to do over again, I'd go with a controller. By the time we bought the Inkbird Heater controller, ATO, Lighting controller, and wired all the outlets to manual switches, we could have bought an Apex. FWIW, our Inkbird (with new thermistor) allows about 1.5 deg F variation.

 

[dugthefish]

Hmmm, played around with it today, got the tank temp fairly well dialed in aroun 78.5F. Have the controller set at 79, one heater set at 78, the other at 77. Wilp just have to keep an eye on it but as long as it dont stray too far it will at least do the job of protecting against overheating, no?

 

[Fin]

I think the problem with these is that the probe that comes with them is not really meant to be submersible. I replaced the temperature probe on mine with one of these 12 inch stainless steel probes from Inkbird. I check it every few days with another digital thermometer and the readings are usually within 0.1° - 0.2°.

https://www.ink-bird.com/products-accessory-12in-Sensor.html

 

[Flippers4pups]

The probe I had is hard wired in to the controller body. You can't replace the probe without cutting the wires.

Going back to the Ranco. I have used them in the past with good performance and accuracy.

 

[Salt1972]

The probe I had is hard wired in to the controller body. You can't replace the probe without cutting the wires.

Going back to the Ranco. I have used them in the past with good performance and accuracy.

Inkbird sent us a new probe and we had to solder the new one in place. I think @Fin Fin is correct that the probe is not meant for submersion even though many say that it's OK. Every time I get fed up with the Inkbird and start looking at Apex, I wish for a quality Apex competitor. The costs indicate there is not enough competition in the control system market.