Need better controller than inkbird, any recommendations?

[Beachwalker]

Had one of the TaoTronics, got about a year out of it before it went kaput.
edit: my water here is also a bit over 200 ppm from the faucet.

Probably like this one I bet, I got almost a year and a half at 100ppm :/

 

[Beachwalker]

I'm curious how many watts your dehu/humidifiers are? Are you sure you didnt overload the inkbird? There is a little mechanical relay in there and it probably wouldnt take much over voltage to screw it up. Have you had any power surges lately?

No it's just a little home unit like this in a small closet I've sealed off and use for drying, inkbird had very light use. maybe a week to 10 days a month

Both work one and work two are staying on at the same time in other words work1 which is the humidifier phase is not cutting out when work2, the dehumidifier phase is turning on

I had wondered if it might have been the malfunctioning humidifier that could have possibly fried it in some way I don't plug a d Huey into it at all so that would be the only other option because the inkbird is always plugged into a surge protector

 

[BloodShot]

Probably like this one I bet, I got almost a year and a half at 100ppm :/
View attachment 900620

Actually it was the exact one you had posted the pic of

 

[Beachwalker]

Actually it was the exact one you had posted the pic of
View attachment 900624

Oh shit this one! okay thanks for letting me know! I'll keep shopping LOL

 

[Dirtbag]

Hmm, that sucks. But honestly for the cost over a titan I'd be tempted to get two and have one for backup. They certainly do not fail very often in my experience. I know a lot of people using them and like I said this is the first I've heard of a failure.

Also you should only ever use RO or distilled in a humidifier. But you can sometimes bring them back by cleaning them very well with a strong florakleen solution to remove the calcium deposits. I've fixed several over the years I got for free because they stopped working for people running tap water in them.

 

[Beachwalker]

Well I've got til the 15 to mull this over I might have a hard time buying another inkbird but the other ones looked even worse and I think this might be like you say a fairly rare situation because ink bird has pretty good reps over the years on the boards I've been reading

I don't know maybe I'm having a run of bad luck with these mundane purchases right now but I got good news at the pulmonologist today so I'm in a much better mood than I was at 4 a.m. when the damn alarm went off believe me! LOL

I might consider another controller instead of an all-in-one unit? Plus I like this new humidifier it's got a big tank & it pumps cool mist like crazy! I'd like to keep it

 

[Dirtbag]

Johnson controls makes a humidity controller, it's probably what any real HVAC person would use and what my buddy has in his large grow, but it's almost $300 after tax in Canada. Titan is an excellent name but I'm not familiar with their humidity units.

 

[Beachwalker]

Johnson Controls I know them well, used to and may still have a huge factory in scenic Brighton Massachusetts

But Overkill for my humble needs. I've sent back the humidifier I bought for 30 bucks and for 34 bucks I got one by the same company, also highly rated with a humistat controller. Loved the new one I'm sending back, so I hope I'm going to like this new one! -thanks again everyone for the input!

 

[MIMedGrower]

Hmm, that sucks. But honestly for the cost over a titan I'd be tempted to get two and have one for backup. They certainly do not fail very often in my experience. I know a lot of people using them and like I said this is the first I've heard of a failure.

Also you should only ever use RO or distilled in a humidifier. But you can sometimes bring them back by cleaning them very well with a strong florakleen solution to remove the calcium deposits. I've fixed several over the years I got for free because they stopped working for people running tap water in them.

To add to that vacuuming out all the vents and filter regularly helps extend their life as well.

Next step would be open the case and clean the cooling coils.

 

[Dirtbag]

To add to that vacuuming out all the vents and filter regularly helps extend their life as well.

Next step would be open the case and clean the cooling coils.

I assume you're talking about a dehu?

 

[MIMedGrower]

I assume you're talking about a dehu?

Yes sorry.

 

[Beachwalker]

Could just be a faulty relay stuck in the on position. You could take it apart and test the relay pretty easily I think

So I kind of did this^ I didn't take it apart but I smacked it against the wall (not too hard just sharply) and now it's working again

unfortunately that humidity sensing humidifier that I purchased will not allow a restart from a controller, and my return window has of course just recently passed :/ so I'm stuck with that, and if I'm honest it wasn't the best option, as it's not very accurate

I think you or someone suggested just buy another inkbird, and in hindsight that may have been my best option :/ but I was kind of pissed at the inkbird and I think it may have burnt out that fairly new humidifier that I recently replaced, although that's just speculation, that could also be just more poorly made imported product

So after the next batch of buds goes horribly wrong in the drying chamber I'll probably end up having to buy both a new humidifier and a new controller :/ ..don't think I'll buy inkbird brand though

 

[Aqua Man]

Yeah I never had an issue with the inkbirds and have used them for many years even before growing cannabis. I was gonna suggest setting the alarm to highest and lowest setting. That's what I have always done since that beeping is fucking enough to make you want to cut your ears off. The other nice thing is they are calibratable.

 

[Dirtbag]

So I kind of did this^ I didn't take it apart but I smacked it against the wall (not too hard just sharply) and now it's working again

unfortunately that humidity sensing humidifier that I purchased will not allow a restart from a controller, and my return window has of course just recently passed :/ so I'm stuck with that, and if I'm honest it wasn't the best option, as it's not very accurate

I think you or someone suggested just buy another inkbird, and in hindsight that may have been my best option :/ but I was kind of pissed at the inkbird and I think it may have burnt out that fairly new humidifier that I recently replaced, although that's just speculation, that could also be just more poorly made imported product

So after the next batch of buds goes horribly wrong in the drying chamber I'll probably end up having to buy both a new humidifier and a new controller :/ ..don't think I'll buy inkbird brand though

Did you set the compressor delay? The inkbirds have a setting so you make the compressor wait however long you want so it's not short cycling even if its outside the set parameter. Setting it for 10-15 mins should be enough to prevent damage to the dehu.

That's on the 308 though for cooling g mode so it doesnt short cycle a fridge, but the humidistat should have the same function.

 

[Dirtbag]

Yeah I never had an issue with the inkbirds and have used them for many years even before growing cannabis. I was gonna suggest setting the alarm to highest and lowest setting. That's what I have always done since that beeping is fucking enough to make you want to cut your ears off. The other nice thing is they are calibratable.

Same, I've ben using them for homebrewing for almost 10 years and havent had any issues with mine.

 

[Aqua Man]

Did you set the compressor delay? The inkbirds have a setting so you make the compressor wait however long you want so it's not short cycling even if its outside the set parameter. Setting it for 10-15 mins should be enough to prevent damage to the dehu.

That's on the 308 though for cooling g mode so it doesnt short cycle a fridge, but the humidistat should have the same function.

Yeah usually 3 min. Is enough on compressor delay. That's what I use for my AC. Longer wouldn't hurt especially if you aren't going that far out of parameters in that time.

 

[Beachwalker]

Same, I've ben using them for homebrewing for almost 10 years and havent had any issues with mine.

I haven't had much experience with this type of controller, but I was a heating technician and I've never seen any controller malfunction exactly like this, in that both power outlets, in this case work1 and work2 were on at the same time!?

I was re-reading what you said earlier about something being stuck and taking it apart and so it's no good like this anyway so I banged it on the wall and now it's working LOL

but before for a couple of months it was getting stuck like that every now and then so it was failing for a while

I don't assume it's going to work properly going forward but unfortunately I have no use for it anymore with this new humidifier that won't restart :/

 

[Dirtbag]

I haven't had much experience with this type of controller, but I was a heating technician and I've never seen any controller malfunction exactly like this, in that both power outlets, in this case work1 and work2 were on at the same time!?

A stuck/faulty relay could cause that to happen. But its gotta be extremely rare., I've never seen it happen either.

 

[Aqua Man]

I haven't had much experience with this type of controller, but I was a heating technician and I've never seen any controller malfunction exactly like this, in that both power outlets, in this case work1 and work2 were on at the same time!?

If the setting is close and the deadband is bigger that might happen. Let say you want humidity to come on at 50% and dead and of 5% dehumidifier to come on at 55% you have a 5% deadband. You are going to get them both running at the same time and that may overload the rated amperage

By deadband I mean upper and lower diff

 

[Beachwalker]

A stuck/faulty relay could cause that to happen. But its gotta be extremely rare., I've never seen it happen either.

The first time it was almost mind-boggling for a minute; I stood there like what the hell is going on here??? And of course the first time it did that had to happen in the middle of the night too