Inkbird failure.

[Oldbloke]

I've had one for about 6 months now. Rather suddenly the cooling cycle will not kick in.  Just alarms continuously.  Could I be doing something wrong?

Sorry for crap pic.

Purchased off ebay.

 

Brew is now in its 9th day and I'm going camping for a few days. So, I've just plugged the fridge in to the power point and set the thermostat for about 10c. 

Will bottle Wednesday or Thursday. No worries there. 

[Oldbloke]

This is a much better pic.

[Shamus O'Sean]

Hey @Oldbloke, only a suggestion, and you have probably already tried this.  But turn it off and unplug it for 10-15 seconds, then plug it back in and turn it on. 

I remember having something similar happen once before.  The cooling light came on, but the freezer would not.  A power off and on fixed it.  I am still not sure if it was the controller or the freezer with the issue.

[Oldbloke]

@Shamus O'SeanI think I tried that. But I'll try it again when I get home.

Actually 8 months old. But a fail at 8 months is pretty shet.

[Pale Man]

Its not a too cold or too hot alarm? Have those settings changed for some reason?

[Oldbloke]

3 hours ago, Pale Man said:

Its not a too cold or too hot alarm? Have those settings changed for some reason?

Well, it's in alarm so cool or heat should come on. I adjusted it and heat came on as I would have expected. Can't get cool to work. Will try again when I get home.

On a very positive side. I contacted the seller on ebay. For the cost of post ($10) I have a replacement on the way. 

I thought that was pretty good for 8 months old and ebay. He is in hong kong. Should arrive in about 10 days. 

[iBooz2]

@Oldbloke , just make sure you have the fridge plugged into the cooling lead / outlet not like another forum member did quite a while back but we won't mention that will we.  Check all your settings, actual control temp and high alarm temp and low alarm temp settings.  If you have or someone else has been mucking around and or fiddling then maybe a FACTORY RESET on the inky is in order.

To test if the inky is working on cool, set a control temp of say 20 C on it and then plug a working desk lamp or reading light into the cool lead / outlet.  Put the temp probe into a cup of hot tap water and see if the indicated temperature changes to show the temp of the water and that the lamp actually turns on.  If it does then inky is ok.

You could do the same with the heating side only use ice water to see if the lamp turns on when the probe is put into the icy water.  Hope that helps. - AL

Edited April 3, 2023 by iBooz2

[Oldbloke]

9 hours ago, Pale Man said:

Its not a too cold or too hot alarm? Have those settings changed for some reason?

Sheesh, yes too hot alarm and cool is not switching on. Only I touch the unit. It was working fine about a few days ago. 

 

Repat  I have a new one on the way.

[Oldbloke]

1 hour ago, iBooz2 said:

@Oldbloke , just make sure you have the fridge plugged into the cooling lead / outlet not like another forum member did quite a while back but we won't mention that will we.  Check all your settings, actual control temp and high alarm temp and low alarm temp settings.  If you have or someone else has been mucking around and or fiddling then maybe a FACTORY RESET on the inky is in order.

To test if the inky is working on cool, set a control temp of say 20 C on it and then plug a working desk lamp or reading light into the cool lead / outlet.  Put the temp probe into a cup of hot tap water and see if the indicated temperature changes to show the temp of the water and that the lamp actually turns on.  If it does then inky is ok.

You could do the same with the heating side only use ice water to see if the lamp turns on when the probe is put into the icy water.  Hope that helps. - AL

@iBooz2 "FACTORY RESET" how do I do that?

is it in the manual?

[Cheap Charlie]

37 minutes ago, Oldbloke said:

I have a new one on the way.

Pretty good to get a replacement from OS.. hopefully you score two good ones if you are able to restore the first one (crossed fingers)

[Oldbloke]

1 hour ago, Cheap Charlie said:

Pretty good to get a replacement from OS.. hopefully you score two good ones if you are able to restore the first one (crossed fingers)

Yep,  very happy with them.

Well even if the old one only heats it will do to keep the stubbies warm for secondary fermentation. Will be able to leave both set up all the time  instead of having one for two uses requiring it to be moved around.

[Uhtred Of Beddanburg]

@OldblokeI plan on doing same once keg stocks are up far enough. Use a fridge with heater pad and inkbird just to carbonate some bottles. Store  over winter in spare room after carbonation.

[Shamus O'Sean]

9 hours ago, Oldbloke said:

Yep,  very happy with them.

Well even if the old one only heats it will do to keep the stubbies warm for secondary fermentation. Will be able to leave both set up all the time  instead of having one for two uses requiring it to be moved around.

I am wondering if setting your hot and cold alarm temperature close to your Set Temperature could be causing any internal issues with your Inkbird?

I set the hot and cold temperature alarm about 10°C either way of the expected fermentation and cold crashing range.  So if fermenting at 20°C, the hot alarm is set to 30°C and for 0°C cold crash, the cold alarm is set to -10°C.  As a result, the alarms on my Inkbirds will never come on unless things get pretty bad.  Maybe my method makes the alarms somewhat useless, but at least they are not coming on nearly every time the temperature rises or falls.

Perhaps push your alarm temperatures a few more degrees away from your Set Temperature.  It may not help, but might be worth a try.

[Oldbloke]

15 hours ago, Cheap Charlie said:

Pretty good to get a replacement from OS.. hopefully you score two good ones if you are able to restore the first one (crossed fingers)

Yep,  very happy with them.

Well even if the old one only heats it will do to keep the stubbies warm for secondary fermentation. Will be able to leave both set up all the time  instead of having one for two uses requiring it to be moved around.

 

Thx Shamus. I'd did change some settings before I started this brew. I'll take another look at them when I get home.

From memory my settings were:

20c plus or minus 1 or 2c.

I don't recall what the alarm was set at. But if the alarm is on I would think the cooling would come on?

 

All was good until I reduced the temp down to about 15c because fermentation was complete and was going camping for a couple of days with the intention of bottling when I return.

[NBillett09]

Hey @Oldbloke I believe the alarm is just a warning sound and not a control input per se. As in, the controller only switches ports on or off when it reaches your set temp, or your upper or lower differential temp. So if set to 20 deg +/- 0.5 deg, then it will turn ON cooling when it gets to 20.5 deg and turn cooling OFF when it reached 20, and turn heating ON when it reaches 19.5 and OFF when it reaches 20. The alarm just tells you that the temp it’s reading is too high/low above your set temp, by whatever amount you asked it to alarm at.
So if your HIGH alarm is below your set point, you will be perpetually in alarm until you change the alarm point but it won’t change when it turns cooling on or off. Does that make sense?

[NBillett09]

Having a second look at those pics and what you originally wrote, if you set it to ST 10.0 deg and your AL is set to 15.2, then that’s why it’s constantly alarming, because your set temp is lower than your low alarm point. As for the not turning the cooling point on, the lamp idea mentioned above is a great idea to test, would be good to know what your current set point is and then the two differentials. Maybe the alarm is distracting from the temp actually being fine??

[kmar92]

From my experience with a few Inkbird controllers I have found them very reliable and about the only problem that I have ever had was that I melted the insulation on the temperature probe on one of them during a boil when I had inadvertently turned up the gas burner too high on my Nano BIAB

One thing that I do find a little annoying with them is that the power receptacle for the power for the heat and cool circuits is of pretty ordinary quality and sometimes I have minor problems getting the plug inserted properly. I know that it is a pretty obvious but have you checked to make sure that the plug for the fridge is inserted properly into the power supply receptacle on the Inkbird?

[Oldbloke]

On 4/3/2023 at 9:06 PM, Cheap Charlie said:

Pretty good to get a replacement from OS.. hopefully you score two good ones if you are able to restore the first one (crossed fingers)

Yep,  very happy with them.

Well even if the old one only heats it will do to keep the stubbies warm for secondary fermentation. Will be able to leave both set up all the time  instead of having one for two uses requiring it to be moved around.

[Oldbloke]

Well  got home today and needed to fill the fridge with about 30kg of meat.

Reset temp to 6c

Reset low alarm for about 4c

Reset high alarm about 9 or 10

Guess what,  working as it should.

Silly me must have set the temp lower than what the low alarm was,,,,I think. Now I'm confused. Lol

 

Sooo,  I think Shamus got it right

Edited April 5, 2023 by Oldbloke

[Oldbloke]

Go on, have a good laugh at my expense.   I'm the one that's getting a new replacement now for $10 postage. 

[Kegory]

13 minutes ago, Oldbloke said:

Go on, have a good laugh at my expense.   I'm the one that's getting a new replacement now for $10 postage. 

With ya, mate, not at ya.

[Cheap Charlie]

Nice one

[Hoppy81]

16 hours ago, Oldbloke said:

Go on, have a good laugh at my expense.   I'm the one that's getting a new replacement now for $10 postage. 

You could always message him and say there is nothing wrong with it, it was Operator error hahaha

[Oldbloke]

17 hours ago, Kegory said:

With ya, mate, not at ya.

Yeh, I know.

Funny isn't it. Usually they send shet and you have to fight them for warranty.  

 

This bloke didn't even ask about checking settings. 

[Oldbloke]

Well FMDrunk its arrived already via express post. Best service ive ever had via ebay. I only messaged them on Monday.  Just bottled that brew this morning.

Weather still being fairly warm I wasn't going to bother heating the stubbies for secondary fermentation. 

But I had to test it so it's getting a run for for its money for a few days.

If you want an inkbird get it from   Gooasis on ebay. Can't go wrong in my book.

 

Edited April 6, 2023 by Oldbloke