I have an Inkbird ITC-308 temperature controller on my fermentation chamber refrigerator. It’s worked fine for 2 years running the fridge and also has run a small heater on a couple winter-time brews. I don’t brew a ton so it actually hasn’t had to endure massive hours of operation. Last week it failed me - I was afraid my refrigerator was biting the dust because it couldn’t get the beer below 72 degrees according to the Inkbird display with my set point of 69. I use a thermowell in my fermenter. Well, I opened the fridge and discovered the fridge was working overtime and my beer was VERY cold.
Two questions:
Have other folks had an Inkbird fail (I see on a couple other forums brewers have reported this problem and noted it’s likely a temp probe issue, and also noted response to customers at Inkbird has been less than stellar)
If I wanted to replace the unit rather than replace the probe, what might folks recommend for a tried-and-true long lasting dual controller that can connect both heater and fridge?
I had an Inkbird probe on my RIMS PID controller fail. I replaced it with much higher quality unit from the Electric Brewery. When I reported the failure on another popular beer site I was treated like I was badmouthing their mom or something. [emoji23] There are some very brand loyal brewers out there.
I use Auber Plug n Play Programable Dual Channel Controllers for both my fermentation and cold crash/serving fridges. They’ve been on the job for several years now. I forget they’re even there.
You could just replace the probe vs the whole unit if you’re confident it’s the probe.
I too have had an inkbird fail. I wasn’t surprised given how inexpensive they are. I bought another one and its been working fine when I need it to- in the winter months during lager season.
My Ranco is about 10 years old and has outlasted 2 fridges so far. I brew about every 2 weeks, so its almost always working. For the first couple of years it was also used for warming during the Winter.