Inkbird ITC-308 Froze my Keezer

[Clint Yeastwood]

I went out to get a beer from the garage keezer. The temperature is set at 35. The actual temperature was below zero. The display temperature is about 48.

The calibration instructions are not great.

Is there a way to fix this, or do I need a new Inkbird?

I stuck an idle Inkbird on the keezer to bring it back up. Not sure what will happen.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I found out the probes on these things fail. Inkbird sells a replacement probe for $10 on Amazon.

The probe on the controller is hardwired, but the replacement comes with a new strain relief doodad that replaces the one on the original. You open your controller up, remove the wires from the board with a soldering iron, remove the old probe entirely, solder the new wires from the doodad in, close the controller, and plug the new probe in. The doodad has a jack, and the new probe has a plug. Once the jack is installed, it is no longer necessary to open the case to fix future failures, because you can plug a new probe in.

This is what I have read. We will see how it works out. I decided to get a new probe AND a spare controller, and I am also programming my controllers to warn me via wifi if temperatures go nuts. If I had done this in the first place, I would have been able to prevent my keezer from freezing. I think.

I wonder how long it takes a keezer to thaw out.

 

[IslandLizard]

I wonder how long it takes a keezer to thaw out.

With the lid closed it can easily take 2-4 days (or longer) depending on ambient temps and how good the insulation is.

Is that a metal probe, crimped at the wire? They may get wet inside, which ruins them.
The old style probes used in the STC-1000 had the sensor hermetically sealed within molded plastic. They were impervious to moisture, and could be submerged.*

* For many years I ran our (Samsung, ugh!) kitchen refrigerator on 2 of those plastic molded STC-1000 probes (mounted in parallel, to get the correct resistor value). I finally replaced them with the proper (OEM) sensor, that needed its wires extended, due to a well-needed different placement.

It's totally crazy one needs to hack a $1600 (?) refrigerator (back in 2010) to make it work merely correctly (without totally freezing up every 4-6 months).
I must say, once I moved the temporary, and later, the OEM sensor to its "new" location, the fridge has been running very well, as it should have from the get-go. I haven't had to manually defrost it ever since.
Location, location, location...

 

[mac_1103]

Too late for the OP, but FWIW to future readers... the ITC-308S comes with a waterproof probe that is replaceable without opening the controller (i.e., it comes with the doodad).

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Thanks for the suggestion. I believe that model's probe also fails, though, and since it doesn't have wifi, the keezer won't tell you when it freezes.

The keezer is only up to 22 degrees. I better open the lid. I didn't want bugs in there.

 

[mac_1103]

I believe that model's probe also fails

Right. Just don't need to open the box and do any soldering when it's time to replace it. Didn't know yours was one of the WiFi versions.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

It would be nice to have a detachable probe AND wifi. I guess I'm about to.

I didn't know I actually needed wifi until now. I thought it was just a fun gadget.

 

[mac_1103]

It would be nice to have a detachable probe AND wifi.

It would be nice if they all had detachable probes.

I didn't know I actually needed wifi until now. I thought it was just a fun gadget.

That could definitely be a fill-in-the-blank type statement.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

So what is the freezing point of a quad?

 

[ClaudiusB]

I went out to get a beer from the garage keezer. The temperature is set at 35. The actual temperature was below zero. The display temperature is about 48.

The calibration instructions are not great.

Is there a way to fix this, or do I need a new Inkbird?

I stuck an idle Inkbird on the keezer to bring it back up. Not sure what will happen.

Does the Inkbird have a parameter for alarm setting?

 

[ClaudiusB]

So what is the freezing point of a quad?

What Temperature Does Beer Freeze?

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Does the Inkbird have a parameter for alarm setting?

It sure does! I learned all about it.

After it was too late.

 

[day_trippr]

Working link for the "Beer Freezing Temperature Table" https://mancaveadvisor.com/what-temperature-does-beer-freeze/

Cheers!

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

The new probe came. In case anyone is interested in the repair job, I will give details.

You're supposed to open the Inkbird up, use a soldering iron to remove the two wires from the old probe, insert wires from the new female jack, and solder them in place. This is what I was told, but when I got it open, I saw that the old probe was not soldered to the board. A small plastic receptacle is soldered to the board, and the old probe's wires are permanently attached to the matching plug.

You have to remove the receptacle. I heated the pins, and the plastic melted, causing the receptacle to release from the board. That made things easier, because then I was able to grab each pin with pliers and pull on it while heating the board on the opposite side.

The original probe has shrink wrap around the wires leading to the plug, effectively turning them into one cable, and this cable is very thin. It goes between two black electronic components on its way to the board. The new probe's wiring will not fit between these components, so you have to snake it around them. If you don't do this, the front and back of the case will not come together.

Anyway, it does work.

I think anyone who owns an Inkbird should buy the repair kit in order to be ready. You could lose a lot of beer if you have a problem.