Ranco blows...My 2 cents.

[giono2]

My Ranco died a couple days ago after about a year and a half of use. It threw up the "E2" error code which by all accounts on the net is fatal. I tried everything I could find online but, it proved to be futile. So with that I swapped it our for a Love controller and am moving forward. I'm not looking for a flame war, I just want to add to the discussion for anybody else considering either unit.

 

[jakecpunut]

My Ranco died a couple days ago after about a year and a half of use. It threw up the "E2" error code which by all accounts on the net is fatal. I tried everything I could find online but, it proved to be futile. So with that I swapped it our for a Love controller and am moving forward. I'm not looking for a flame war, I just want to add to the discussion for anybody else considering either unit.

My buddy has one in his winery that gave that error, I did some searching and seen that switching it over to Celsius made it start working again, we tried it and it came back to life. Still going! Still sucks that they have so many problems though!

 

[wildwest450]

I'm not looking to start a flame war, but Ranco blows? Newsflash, electronics fail. I have 3 that have been working flawlessly for 2+ years.

 

[giono2]

I'm not looking to start a flame war, but Ranco blows? Newsflash, electronics fail. I have 3 that have been working flawlessly for 2+ years.

That's awesome. I'm glad to hear you're getting such good use out of them.

I just wanted other people to know that they didn't last more than a year and a half for me, and I consider that unacceptable.

What do you think the acceptable use life of this should be? At what point would you think "you know what, it died, but I got some pretty good use from it"? If that number is longer than a year and a half than we are in the same boat my friend.

Also, the celsius thing didn't work for me.

 

[Catt22]

That's awesome. I'm glad to hear you're getting such good use out of them.

I just wanted other people to know that they didn't last more than a year and a half for me, and I consider that unacceptable.

What do you think the acceptable use life of this should be? At what point would you think "you know what, it died, but I got some pretty good use from it"? If that number is longer than a year and a half than we are in the same boat my friend.

Also, the celsius thing didn't work for me.

+10 A high quality solid state electronic device should last indefinitely. Ideally, they should become obsolete before they fail. What I'm seeing is a much higher than normal failure rate for the Ronco's. I must agree that a 1-1/2 year life span is totally unacceptable. What really baffles me is that the manufacturer seems to have been doing nothing to correct the high failure rate. This has been going on for a while IIRC. I once considered buying a Ranco and this is the reason I did not. Probably never will either. None of myy several analog mechanically switched Johnson controllers have failed and one of them has been operating for almost 10 years. I would expect a solid state controller to easily outlast an analog unit.

 

[stlbeer]

My Ranco has been working just fine for 2+ years. For the price paid I'd expect it to work for at least 5 years. It's controlling my kegerator in my garage. Even though I'm in St Louis, the temperature extremes run -10*F to 110*F. So far, no break down.

What did Ranco say when you called them for support?

 

[NoNothing]

I just wanted other people to know that they didn't last more than a year and a half for me, and I consider that unacceptable.

That will start a flame war IMO.

ITT Now: "My ranco works" and "I also think they suck"

In other news, eBay aquarium controller FTW.

 

[giono2]

What did Ranco say when you called them for support?

I didn't bother calling support since the problem is well documented on the web, and it is also a generally fatal error. I just didn't think, based on what I read, that support would add anything to the process.

 

[Catt22]

That will start a flame war IMO.

ITT Now: "My ranco works" and "I also think they suck"

In other news, eBay aquarium controller FTW.

It doesn't make any sense that reporting an equipment failure would start a flame war. Are people really so brand loyal that they would get all butt hurt over a report that a stupid temperature controller failed prematurely? I hate Fords.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

My ranco has been running fine for 3+ years. At the same time I will never buy one again. LOVE controllers are more stream lined and have way more functionality.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Have had 2 Rancos ( a dual stage and a single stage) now for 4 years. No problems.

 

[stlbeer]

My ranco has been running fine for 3+ years. At the same time I will never buy one again. LOVE controllers are more stream lined and have way more functionality.

That's a great reason for using Love controllers. I've considered using LOVE controllers in a new brew rig. A self enclosed controller like a Ranco seems well suited for slapping on a kegerator. Plug-n-play simplicity.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

To be honest, the next time I need to make a plug and play device, I will probably go this route:

http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=166

 

[SweetSounds]

I like mine.
I love my Love too though... It's handy, in some applications, to be able to control the duty cycle.

I think they all have a purpose and a place.

 

[McKBrew]

Can't remember what error I had on mine when I thought it was broken, but it ended up only being that one of the switches on the inside got knocked out of position when it fell.

Have you opened it up and looked on the inside to see if you can visually determine the problem? Might be a simple fix.

I could understand it being a crappy product if they continued to fail every 1.5 years, but there is always a lemon in every product occasionally.