Been using the Inkbird itc-306t since 2014. At one point one of my heaters quit turning off, but I didn't notice until I used it without the controller. Make sure to coat the areas of the probe that will be submerged in water with silicone (letting it dry for 2weeks).
Ink bird controller
- Thread starter jdpeters87
- Start date
Coat it with silicone? I’ve never heard anyone mention that before. What’s the point of this?
To make sure that probe is 100% waterproof. The probes are the first to go in these controllers when submerged in water 24/7.
Own a inkbird thanks to fish tank Travis's advice on here. I'm running a 1000 watt heater on it in a 125 and works like a charm.
Glad it’s working out well for you.
I use them on all of my tanks. The newer models have a replacement probe that plugs in via headphone-style jack and are only $10 for replacements. I have had several probes go out, so make sure you keep a separate thermometer on the tank to double check the temp. When the probe starts going out, it causes the unit to display the wrong temp so you won’t know it’s going out unless you have a second thermometer to compare it to. I coated my most recent probes in silicone grease and they have held up much longer than the previous probes. If I ever have to replace them again, I will probably just coat the new ones in silicone and let it cure before using them.
They are good to 1000W and there is a new model out that is good to 1800W. I have heard of issues with the 306 model, but I have not heard anything bad about the 308 models. I chose to go with the 308 models for my tanks and just use a splitter cord to connect two heaters to the single heating port. They have been working great for a few years now.
Another benefit is that they have high and low alarms. This is useful in case the heater(s) goes out and stops heating, the controller will set off an audible alarm alerting you to the low temp. Same thing for high, but I’ve never heard of an Inkbird getting stuck on.
Do you have hard water or soft water? Just wondering if the TDS has anything to do with the quicker degradation of submerged probes.
My tap water has a TDS of 30 and mine went out after a few months. I contacted them and they sent a replacement probe that converted it to the plug in jack.
The unit kept reading higher every few days, I noticed the tank water was getting cold. I have the 308 which I like for cooling with a fan in the summer.
When the unit was drifting off in temp I would calibrate it every day so it would keep heating the tank. It ended up about 15* off before the new probe showed up.
The unit kept reading higher every few days, I noticed the tank water was getting cold. I have the 308 which I like for cooling with a fan in the summer.
When the unit was drifting off in temp I would calibrate it every day so it would keep heating the tank. It ended up about 15* off before the new probe showed up.
That’s exactly how mine failed, but none of them ever got as far as 15* off. Mine would get to around 5* off. Now, the ones I coated in silicone grease have been holding up very well. I just keep a spare probe or two so I can replace any of them if they go out.
