Which inkbird controller and why

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universalfrost

Keep your stick on the ice.
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Looking for input on which inkbird pid you would use and why.

Setup is for an electric hlt, and then another controller for a rims and another controller for an element in a boil kettle.

Rims tube is 110v and the other two I can go 240 or 110
 
Inkbird IPB-16, less than a $100 and can control up to 15A. I use a 4500W Element @120V and my march pump but you could use a 1650 and something smaller for sure.
 
For your boil kettle you need something with a programmable fixed duty cycle as a temperature setpoint is no good for maintaining a rolling boil.
I dont know the inkbird product range but if they use relays they are not suitable for controlling a boil. They can maintain temperature but no use to control strength of the boil
 
itc-106vh its the only inkbird pid capable of manual pwm mode for even boil and setup for use with a 240v application.. the prebuilt 15a one above is good for rims or very small setups.

I believe the mypin TD4 hhas a performance edge on the inbird for this and the ezboiul units are better than both the inkbird and mypin as far as bells and whistles and performance.

I have and stopped using all of the above myself in favor of an adruino based system with brucontrol software.
 
itc-106vh its the only inkbird pid capable of manual pwm mode for even boil and setup for use with a 240v application.. the prebuilt 15a one above is good for rims or very small setups.

I am using the same one above for my HLT/Mash & BK. Works flawlessly and they are quite inexpensive.
 
I am using the same one above for my HLT/Mash & BK. Works flawlessly and they are quite inexpensive.
Do you use it in manual mode to control a boil in the BK?

Bobby M (and others) have mentioned the manual mode does not work correctly on these pids like other pids unless you set the temp to 212 or higher to keep it going which should have nothing to do with how manual pwm mode should and normally works on a pid. Some with pid experience might consider this a design flaw or at least something that should be explained somewhere in the directions..

On the flip side this would make them great at limiting maximum power in a multiuse rims application were someone wanted to run the rims at a lower max power for recirculation vs using it to heat strike water or some other purpose.
 
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Do you use it in manual mode to control a boil in the BK?

Bobby M (and others) have mentioned the manual mode does not work correctly on these pids like other pids unless you set the temp to 212 or higher to keep it going which should have nothing to do with how manual pwm mode should and normally works on a pid. Some with pid experience might consider this a design flaw or at least something that should be explained somewhere in the directions..

On the flip side this would make them great at limiting maximum power in a multiuse rims application were someone wanted to run the rims at a lower max power for recirculation vs using it to heat strike water or some other purpose.

Mine is working just fine in manual mode. Although it was a PITA to figure out, once the setting is correct in the menus it is very easy to switch from auto to manual. Its more of a muscle memory for me now and can post a vid on how to on my next brewday.
 
Mine is working just fine in manual mode. Although it was a PITA to figure out, once the setting is correct in the menus it is very easy to switch from auto to manual. Its more of a muscle memory for me now and can post a vid on how to on my next brewday.
does it stay on and working in manual mode regardless of temp setting as it should or do you have to have the temp value set ato boiling or higher as some have reported?
 
does it stay on and working in manual mode regardless of temp setting as it should or do you have to have the temp value set ato boiling or higher as some have reported?

No issues at all throughout all temps. If I set the manual mode to 10, it wont really do anything except pulse the element as I would assume 1/10th of the time. I set to 100 percent to bring to a boil and then scale back to 75 or so. Throughout all that time, the set temp could be 50f for all that matters, still reaches a boil and can scale back easily.
 
Same experience with my ITC-106VH. When I originally tested it out, I switched to manual mode and adjusted the percentage till it boiled, and originally the PID was set for 80 degrees. I am however messing with the CTRL portion of the menu and set it to 0. I won't get a chance to see how much it changes things (which should be the amount of time it switches the relay on....right?).
 
Same experience with my ITC-106VH. When I originally tested it out, I switched to manual mode and adjusted the percentage till it boiled, and originally the PID was set for 80 degrees. I am however messing with the CTRL portion of the menu and set it to 0. I won't get a chance to see how much it changes things (which should be the amount of time it switches the relay on....right?).

I believe so. From that part of the menu is where you enable manual mode IIRC
 
I believe so. From that part of the menu is where you enable manual mode IIRC
Correct.

When I set the CRTL to 0, it does turn the SSR on more rapidly and I was able to keep a nice consistent boil at 0 or set to 1. It was previously set to 4 and it would pulse the power instead of keeping it consistent. I was able to keep a nice boil around 60-65% power as well. I ordered some more camlock fittings which should be in this week so I can finish up my hoses and I'll be able to give it a test brew this weekend.
 
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