Inkbird itc-308? $35 gets you wired, 2 stage temp controller.
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Whirlpool EH220FXGW00
I am not super worried cause I will probably use a Johnson A419 to control the freezer, but in case it craps out it is always good to know these things will work
Did you look at the serial plate and/or on the compressor?
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Stealthcruiser
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I was getting ready to order a couple of these a few days ago, and remembered the wiring issue.
I P M 'd Inkbird, and inquired about the wiring correction, and was told by them they had all been corrected, and no more improperly wired ones were available for purchase.
I P M 'd Inkbird, and inquired about the wiring correction, and was told by them they had all been corrected, and no more improperly wired ones were available for purchase.
They replaced my incorrectly wired one ages ago, like in August or so. It's been working great ever since.
Same here. They quickly replaced my incorrectly wired unit a couple of months age and I've had no problems with the replacement.
sleepy_brewer
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Just ordered one and should be here on Saturday. Will report back once I have had a chance to check it out.
sleepy_brewer
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Mine came in today. So this might be a dumb question, but if I am using it on a Kegerator for fermenting purposes...should I plug the Kegerator into the heating or cooling plug? What would necessitate using one or the other (heating plug vs cooling plug)
Plug your kegerator, or anything else you want to cool your beer into the "cooling" outlet. If you also wanted something to heat your beer, you would plug that into the "heating" outlet. There is a setting for what you want your beer to be at, and one for both heating and cooling differential. Whenever your temp rises above the set temp plus the cooling differential, it turns on power to the cooling outlet. When it drops to the temp setting minus the heating differntial, it sends power to the heating outlet.
sleepy_brewer
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Thanks. So should I just set the Kegerator to 'max cooling' and let the Inkbird do the adjusting?
PlinyTheMiddleAged
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Sleepy,
You are correct - set the kegerator to max cooling and let the inkbird act as the thermostat. That's how I use mine and it works great.
Cheers!
Yep, my has be running the fermentation chamber/beer fridge ever since it was replaced. Great deal!
Mine has been holding a zombie dust clone at 64 degrees perfectly since Friday.
Free full size fridge/freezer plugged into the cooling terminal and a seedling heat under the carboy plugged into the heating terminal.
Notable that once the temp of the fridge was stabilized it hasn't had to heat or cool all that often....as it shouldn't as my ambient is about 60 right now and the fridge is essentially a big insulated box.
Free full size fridge/freezer plugged into the cooling terminal and a seedling heat under the carboy plugged into the heating terminal.
Notable that once the temp of the fridge was stabilized it hasn't had to heat or cool all that often....as it shouldn't as my ambient is about 60 right now and the fridge is essentially a big insulated box.
sleepy_brewer
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Nice. Should be brewing an IPA this weekend and looking forward to my first temp controlled ferment. Normally I set the carboy in my basement....which stays between 72-78....but on my last beer I think that was too high. Tired of banana beer.
Getting ready to order a thermowell. Would you say the fit in this one is tight? Or any chance it might fit in their other one with ID of 0.25 rather than the 0.305 of this one? I understand that the tighter the fit, the more accurate the readings.
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We did a 10% discount for Inkbird ITC-308 now. Only $35.09 by code No. 3ZEG3VYX. The effective date is until Oct, 31th. Get it right now.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011296704/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011296704/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
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Here is the link.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011296704/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
If you buy it before Oct, 31th by the code 3ZEG3VYX, you can get 10% discount.
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The Inkbird probe fits perfectly in the thermowell from Brewer's Hardware I mentioned before, not too tight, but not so loosely that it could be accidentally yanked out, although that's always a possibility depending on how much force is exerted... I've attached some photos of how the thermowell is installed in the lid of one of my Big Mouth Bubblers (Yeah, the original glass one. I like to live dangerously, I guess) using a 5/8" grommet from Home Depot. The 12" thermowell is perfect for this fermenter.
Also, I don't really think it's how tight the probe fits as much as how well it makes contact with the bottom of the thermowell. You would definitely not want it so tight that you would have to pull on the cable really hard to get it out. The rubberized surface of the Inkbird cable provides a good amount of resistance against the stainless surface to hold it in place, IMO.
Thanks for the detailed reply, and the pics! I'm going to go with your recommendation. I'm going to get the 16 inch length. Surprizingly, it's the same cost. I use the 6.5 gal plastic big mouth bubbler, and that has a lot of headspace in my normal 5.5 gal batch size. I want to be sure plenty of the thermowell is submerged.
I have a True GDM 26 that the specs state is 115/60/1 (voltage) and 7.2 (amps). Can I use this Inkbird ITC-308 controller for this? I don't know what it will draw on start up and I believe the Inkbird is rated to only 10 amps. Will this controller be OK to use and if not is there another option I should consider?
If you want to be safe, you could have the ITC-308 drive a second, higher current relay (120V coil), and hook the fridge to the second relay.
Brew on
Just bottled the first batch I used the inkbird for. This was also my first temp controlled fermentation. From holding at 64, to bumping up a couple degrees a day to 72 to encourage the yeast, to cold crashing at 34 degrees the controller was flawless. Sure it isn't automatic but it only takes a couple seconds to make a change.
If you want to be safe, you could have the ITC-308 drive a second, higher current relay (120V coil), and hook the fridge to the second relay.
Brew on
Hey doug293cz, thanks for the suggestion. Now for my next stupid question, How would I do this? Any simple diagram or "how to" info would be helpful for my challenged self.
How many amps does your freezer draw? If it's less then 8 then you don't need to do this.
Edit: I saw your previous post. You will probably draw more then 10 amps when the compressor turns on, but it will decrease rapidly. All motors have spiked amp draw when first start up. I wouldn't worry about it.
You'd wire it something like this:
It would have to go into a project box of some sort. You could use a relay like this one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0030G8SC8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20. Whether the start up current for your fridge/freezer poses a risk to your ITC-308 is something you will need to decide.
Brew on
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Man, that is fantastic! Thanks for the reply!
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