Inkbird question

Oldsalt01 · Apr 22, 2018

I'm considering an Inkbird temp controller for my tank heater, as a fail-safe. I noticed the temp probe is metal. Has anyone using one of these units had any issues with corrosion at the temp probe? I ask because I was formerly running a small cooling fan on my 14g BC from a cheapo Chinese temp controller, but noticed after a relatively short time the temp probe was corroding. I cut it off and spiced in a plastic sleeved probe from a digital thermometer.

MTBake · Apr 22, 2018

I have an ink bird as my temp controller. Works well. But it's only been in the tank for a month tops. So I can't comment on corrosion. Following to see what others say.

Neo Jeo · Apr 22, 2018

I also have one. I have my 2 heaters set at 76 and the ink bird to shut power off at 80d. The probe still looks new!

I say get it and you can always buy a new ink bird down the road. They are not much $. Worth the $30 for the 100’s or even 1000s in the tank ;)

Salt1972 · Apr 22, 2018

We've been using one since Sept '17. Just checked last week and the problem looked great.

Salt1972 · May 7, 2018

OK. Time to revive... The last few days, our Inkbird has been saying the tank was 2-4 degrees over target. The water didn't feel warm, but I wondered if we had a pump occluded or something else causing a temp elevation. Today I purchased a manual and digital thermometer. Both reported 72.0 while the Inkbird said 80... I just calibrated the Inkbird to the other 2, but even as it heats the water, it's not reporting linear with the other 2 thermometers. Has anyone had an Inkbird fail?

JonJ · May 7, 2018

Salt1972 said:
OK. Time to revive... The last few days, our Inkbird has been saying the tank was 2-4 degrees over target. The water didn't feel warm, but I wondered if we had a pump occluded or something else causing a temp elevation. Today I purchased a manual and digital thermometer. Both reported 72.0 while the Inkbird said 80... I just calibrated the Inkbird to the other 2, but even as it heats the water, it's not reporting linear with the other 2 thermometers. Has anyone had an Inkbird fail?

I run 2 of these (2 tanks) and just experienced the exact thing that you did. When checking one of them against a digital thermometer, the displayed temp kept drifting higher and higher where I had to adjust the calibration to display over 5 degrees under to match actual temp. This happened over a few months time. I replaced it with a new one and no adjustment is needed on it. They are cheap so I am a bit concerned. I will check them against a digital thermometer weekly and if either of them drift again, I'm done with the brand. My heaters have thermostats that I have capped at 81-82 degrees and I keep my house at 75 so I don't think I'd be in danger of cooking anything but in the winter it could potentially get colder than I would prefer.

Bayareareefer18 · May 7, 2018

Some models have replaceable probe and others do not. For the price of an inkbird even replacing the entire unit is not a deal breaker

Salt1972 · May 7, 2018

Bayareareefer18 said:
Some models have replaceable probe and others do not. For the price of an inkbird even replacing the entire unit is not a deal breaker

This was put in service in Sept. '17. For 7 months of service, if it has failed, I'll find another option even if they are relatively cheap. To be sure, if I had known then what I know now, I would have looked more closely at an entry level control system. For what we have in heater control, switches, auto top off, lighting controllers, etc., we could have opted for a controller very easily.

Bayareareefer18 · May 7, 2018

I suppose like any other electronic device they can fail. Even expensive ones do. I suppose that's why reduncy is important. I have used inkibirds for years and have never had a failure but surely have had heater failures. In my personal experience an inkbird saved me well over $1000 in fish on one occasion alone

Ferdman · May 7, 2018

Mine worked fine for a few months, but once water got onto where the probe and the cable meet it went out of whack. Inkbird informed me that the cable is not water proof. I replaced the probe with a longer probe that they have available on their site, that is meant to be put in fluid, not just used in a fridge. I haven't had a problem since the new probe, I just keep the cable well above water height.

ispookie666 · May 7, 2018

Mine has been in tank since 2016 and has been working great. This works as my main controller powering my Teko 1000 via cooling (for both heating and cooling) with my P3 as backup redundancy.

The most accurate temp probe I have had is a cheap LCD one of eBay for A few $

Potatohead · May 7, 2018

I have been using two for a while, one about two years in saltwater and the other over a year in fresh. Both have no rusting at all on the probes.

amashun · May 10, 2018

inkbird recommends to replace the metal prob every 6 months, i replaced them with this:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5M-Long...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

ca1ore · Jul 7, 2018

Increasingly of the view these things are crap. Had two start to read high (stinkbird said 82; actual 74). Replacing the probe did not help. Went back to using the internal EJ thermostat.

Potatohead · Jul 7, 2018

Still no problems, one in service about 30 months and the other about 16. Knock on wood.

Neo Jeo · Jul 7, 2018

Mine is also working 6 months strong!

Bayareareefer18 · Jul 7, 2018

I don't use my inkbird to control my heaters I use it as a failsafe. My neos are set to 78 and tank maintains 78-78.5. Inkbird will prevent overheating as well as alert me of temp out of range.

marlinmon · Oct 19, 2018

I've got three of these on three different tanks. My oldest one (7 months) is drifting significantly away from actual temperature. I do have that probe and cable submerged. Someone here mentioned that is a no-no according to Inkbird. I'm going to replace it and run the longer probe they sell with it and this time keep the cable out of the water and see how it does. To date I've had no over heating events. Guess we're lucky the probe drifts up and not down...

Orm Embar · Oct 20, 2018

I looked at InkBird controllers, and ended up buying one (not set up yet) for fan control. Heater on a Ranco.

My recollection is that the InkBird probes are not saltwater safe, and that the probe/cable junction is a potential point of failure if it gets wet.

I plan on buying heat shrink tubing to seal the probe (and possibly the junction, or at least taping that and keeping it out of the water) from ETCSupply as that's how the Ranco probe is sealed.

If that fails, I may spring for a Ranco dual stage and sell my single stage.

don_chuwish · Oct 20, 2018

Orm Embar said:
I plan on buying heat shrink tubing to seal the probe (and possibly the junction, or at least taping that and keeping it out of the water) from ETCSupply as that's how the Ranco probe is sealed.

If that fails, I may spring for a Ranco dual stage and sell my single stage.

Heatshrink is exactly what I did on the two I'm using. They've been running 10 months now no issues. But Apex does the actual temp control, using it's own temp probe, turning the Inkbirds on or off accordingly. I have the Inkbirds set to 82deg max and let Apex control temp from 77.7 to 78.2.
Good Apex code reference found here:
https://forum.neptunesystems.com/showthread.php?21344-Best-Practices-for-heater-controllers