Inkbird itc-308? $35 gets you wired, 2 stage temp controller.

Phillipotamus said:

Do I need to defrost my mini fridge before turning it on thru the inkbird itc-308?

I'm very new (first post ever), and having trouble with getting the inkbird to stabilize on or near the setting temperature. I'm assuming that my mini fridge goes into the cooling plug, correct? Not the heating side? I'm trying to get 67F.

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If there is visible frost in the mini fridge, then I would defrost it. Otherwise, no.

Yes the fridge plugs into the cooling socket on the ITC-308.

Brew on

Phillipotamus said:

I'm very new (first post ever), and having trouble with getting the inkbird to stabilize on or near the setting temperature. I'm assuming that my mini fridge goes into the cooling plug, correct? Not the heating side? I'm trying to get 67F.

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Have you attached the temperature probe to a thermal mass like your fermenter or a bottle of water? You can put it under something insulating like a thick folded cloth and tape it to the fermenter. This way it will read the temperature of the beer instead of the air temperature which can fluctuate a lot.

Just ordered mine to be used to control a wine fridge for fermentation. My experience with temperature controllers is limited to an analog Johnson Controls unit, so this will be new for me.

I've skimmed thru this thread to see if anyone has details on programming, but haven't seen much other than mentions of it being easy to setup. Can anyone provide details in the form of a "How to set up the ITC-308 for dummies?"

Inkbird ITC-306T Pre-wired Electronic Thermostat Temperature Controller and Digital Timer Switch Controller for Aquarium, Pet, Plant, Hatching ect

New products coming .Anyone interested ? Feedback and advice are welcomed!

Hoppity said:

I got my properly phased replacement unit in the mail yesterday. Great service, good product.

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Same here, but got replacement a couple of weeks ago. Using it to ferment my latest batch and it's working really well.

Hellosluggo said:

I've skimmed thru this thread to see if anyone has details on programming, but haven't seen much other than mentions of it being easy to setup. Can anyone provide details in the form of a "How to set up the ITC-308 for dummies?"

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Hellosluggo here is their manual. In addition Inkbird put up this video: .

My inkbird came in the other day and I've had it hooked up to my mini fridge fermentation chamber over the weekend. I have the temperature probe going into a jar of water to get a more smooth temperature curve. I also adjusted the temperature difference to 1'F and it's been doing a really good job of keeping the temp right around 62'F for a hibiscus blueberry melomel I'm fermenting. It's using D47 yeast so it needs to stay in those low 60's for better fermentation.





I just need to figure out a better mounting solution for the inkbird, but so far i'm extremely happy with the purchase

TandemTails said:

I just need to figure out a better mounting solution for the inkbird, but so far i'm extremely happy with the purchase

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I use an old hard drive magnet and a string to secure it to the side of my fridge.

inkbird said:

Inkbird ITC-306T Pre-wired Electronic Thermostat Temperature Controller and Digital Timer Switch Controller for Aquarium, Pet, Plant, Hatching ect

New products coming .Anyone interested ? Feedback and advice are welcomed!

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So is this version just a simpler version of the 308? Does it only do heating OR cooling instead of heating AND cooling?

jmpreiks said:

So is this version just a simpler version of the 308? Does it only do heating OR cooling instead of heating AND cooling?

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You can see their specs on it here: ITC-306T Outlet Thermostat w/ Dual Time Cycle

It looks like it is geared towards heating and having a day and night heating schedule. It seems neat but I can't think of an application for Beer Brewing.

They claim that you can use it with "electrical equipment for aquarium, pets breeding, hatching, fungus fermenting, and seed germination accelerating". So if you're into any of that you may be interested.

mcgimpkins said:

It seems neat but I can't think of an application for Beer Brewing.

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Agreed, no application that I can think of.

However, I'm sure some people would be interested if @inkbird wants to make an affordable controller that lets you add a few different temperatures steps with a timer for each. Then, for example, you could set it to 65°F for a few days, ramp up to 75°F for a week, and then cold crash at 35°F for a few days to complete the process.

Looks like a number of folks have weighed in on this, but I will give you my 2 cents. I just picked up one of these and it works like a charm. Very easy to program and you cannot beat the price. Although I was given a shipping estimate of 3-5 weeks, mine arrived in about 10 days.

These are on Amazon now and are prime eligible. Should have mine in two days.

I bought one. It is my first temp controller and am only using it as a controller for my keezer but it was simple to program and works great! Freezer pulls 2.9 amps running and startup is 8.2 so no need for an external relay

jmpreiks said:

Have you attached the temperature probe to a thermal mass like your fermenter or a bottle of water? You can put it under something insulating like a thick folded cloth and tape it to the fermenter. This way it will read the temperature of the beer instead of the air temperature which can fluctuate a lot.

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Thanks! that's what I needed to do. I had it simply dangling in the back, fluctuating with the air. Much appreciated.

When you get to that point, a thermowell in your wort is s much better option. During fermentation your wort will be warmer than a probe in a container of water

sketchykg said:

When you get to that point, a thermowell in your wort is s much better option. During fermentation your wort will be warmer than a probe in a container of water

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Agreed a separate container of water isn't so good, but I have seen great results with just taping it to the fermenter under some thick hand towels. Obviously not ideal, but works until I get a thermowell for the bucket lid.

See brewhardware when you are ready. Just got mine there. Works great through the lid of my speidel.

Beat me to it. I use a thermowell from brewhardware as well. Fits right down the center tube of a carboy cap and the second access can be used for a blow off tube. Plus a great feature of the ink bird is that I could clean up my fermentation chamber.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1440609365.460691.jpg

Brewer's Hardware has the best looking thermowells I've seen. I really like that the open end is flared, and the end that is spun shut is perfectly smooth. This is the one that I purchased.

I have 2 of these like the STC-1000 though. They use a RTD sensor and needs to be re calibrated if changing from F to Celcius vice versa. They work great. Thermocouples tend to fail with differential metals in a short time.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistance_thermometer

I live in Toronto and I emailed inkbird directly about ordering one of these. They were quick to respond and ship it to me and I just paid with paypal. Pretty simple! just wanted to let my fellow Canadians know. He quoted me 3-5 weeks shipping but i could have paid for faster shipping if i didn't want to wait.

My ITC-308 is all set up for a test run, but I'm curious if the probe is waterproof all the way to where the metal is clamped onto the (seemingly) rubberized cable? That is, can the probe and cable together be submerged?

With my cheapo Taylor probe thermometer, I've used a length of heat shrink tubing over the joint between the probe and the cable since the probe is long enough to be partially covered. Wondering if I should do something like that with this one.

Hellosluggo said:

My ITC-308 is all set up for a test run, but I'm curious if the probe is waterproof all the way to where the metal is clamped onto the (seemingly) rubberized cable? That is, can the probe and cable together be submerged?

With my cheapo Taylor probe thermometer, I've used a length of heat shrink tubing over the joint between the probe and the cable since the probe is long enough to be partially covered. Wondering if I should do something like that with this one.

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Probably a good idea to bolster the joint with heat shrink. My 1st one has been in a swamp cooler for a week and doing fine, though. The replacement is running my fermentation chamber. The probe is taped to the bucket with a bubblewrap sandwich.

I use thermowells if immersed. However I have found using 2 inch aluminum tape strapped over the sensor behind my plastic fermentors (where air does not circulate) grabs an average just as well as the thermowell. The aluminum carries the heat.

Man, where has this thing been all my life? Thanks for the information, will be ordering one soon.

Just to confirm, the temp probe on this will fit down a regular thermowell, same as on a Johnson A419? That's what I use as well, through a purple carboy cap on my Speidel fermenter.

Thanks

JG

Yes, fits in my Brewhardware.com thermowell just fine.

Inkbird mentioned, in one of these threads on this controller, that the probe is "waterproof".

For what's worth............

Stealthcruiser said:

Inkbird mentioned, in one of these threads on this controller, that the probe is "waterproof".

For what's worth............

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Yeah.... I don't care how waterproof a probe is, I'm still not dunking it in my beer. Seems like a good place for baddies to grow too if you are not super thorough between batches.

You don't put your probe in the beer. You put the probe in a jug of water that also sits in the fridge.

SonicUrineBoy said:

You don't put your probe in the beer. You put the probe in a jug of water that also sits in the fridge.

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Lots of people do that. But during fermentation the wort will be warmer than the liquid in a jug.

ordered mine...

LabRatBrewer said:

Lots of people do that. But during fermentation the wort will be warmer than the liquid in a jug.

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Unless you are using it for a kegerator.

Bubblewrap and painter's tape on the side of the bucket for the probe works great.

Jwin said:

Unless you are using it for a kegerator.

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Good point

SonicUrineBoy said:

You don't put your probe in the beer. You put the probe in a jug of water that also sits in the fridge.

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Why would I care about the temperature of a jug of water while my beer is fermenting?

My new Inkbird 308 didn't come with any instructions. Can someone point me to a users guide for this thing? I tried Google but came up empty for the 308 (lots of 1000 info though). Thanks.

raysmithtx said:

My new Inkbird 308 didn't come with any instructions. Can someone point me to a users guide for this thing? I tried Google but came up empty for the 308 (lots of 1000 info though). Thanks.

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You should be able to download a user manual here: http://www.ink-bird.com/product/det...rmostat_Temperature_Controller/id/12#download.

Brew on

Perfect. Thank you for the link.

Been using mine several weeks now. Works fine. No issues.