Brew builder thermometer & pid

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bottles
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Brew builder thermometer & pid

Post by bottles » Fri May 17, 2019 10:53 pm

Hi all. I have a inkbird itc 100v pid that came with a pt100 thermocouple(?). I also bought a 60mm pt100 probe from brewbuilder.
What confuses me is the probe which came with the inkbird had two couplers (one red, one blue} while the probe from brew builder has (two red, one blue).
What I'm trying to work out is how to wire two red wires to the pid. Without burning out the pid or the thermocouple?
Do I put both red terminals on to a single terminal? Or is one red left blank?
Thanks

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LeeH
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Re: Brew builder thermometer & pid

Post by LeeH » Sun May 19, 2019 10:02 am

This is a guess as I have not looked up the specs, but I would speculate the ink bird is a NTC or PTC, not a RTD (pt100)


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Kev888
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Re: Brew builder thermometer & pid

Post by Kev888 » Sun May 19, 2019 11:08 am

bottles wrote:
Fri May 17, 2019 10:53 pm
Hi all. I have a inkbird itc 100v pid that came with a pt100 thermocouple(?).
A PT100 isn't a thermocouple (it is an RTD); these are different things. Sometimes PIDs can take either, with a change of setting, but sometimes they are limited to one or the other. It isn't clear which you have from the OP, but obviously your PID would need to be compatible with a PT100 in order to use the brewbuilder's.

If it is, then fine. And yes - there are both 2-wire and 3-wire (and even 4-wire) PT100 sensors. Unfortunately I don't have an inkbird PID so can't tell you specifically what the connections should be (though presumably the info would be available in their documentation). But FWIW usually with RTD-compatible PIDs then either there is a third connector for the third wire or if not you can just ignore one of the red wires and pretend you have a two-wire sensor.

(However replacing a two-wire thermocouple with a two or three wire PT100 won't work unless the PID is compatible with both and has a setting changed accordingly)
Kev

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Re: Brew builder thermometer & pid

Post by bottles » Sun May 19, 2019 8:31 pm

Well thanks for the explanation. I've spent the afternoon rewiring the pid. So far it doesn't make any difference if I use two wires, three wires and or have a loop as shown in the instructions.
Also programing the pid for pt100 or k thermocouple doesn't help. The display just shows orAL that is a sensor error?
Yours in confusion
Andrew

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Kev888
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Re: Brew builder thermometer & pid

Post by Kev888 » Sun May 19, 2019 8:57 pm

As mentioned, I haven't got one of these inkbird PIDs but FWIW i just looked at some online specs and it seems they should take PT100 sensors (if all variants are the same anyway).

Are you connecting the odd coloured (in this case I guess blue) sensor lead to connection No.3 and the two similarly coloured leads (in this case it seems reds) to connections No.4 and No.5, and also setting the 'Sn' parameter to 21 to tell the PID it is a PT100?
Kev

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Re: Brew builder thermometer & pid

Post by bottles » Sun May 19, 2019 9:31 pm

Hi. I have had the blue terminal connected to 3 and the other two red terminals connected to 4 and 5.
I have adjusted the settings for pt100 to 21 on the pid.
I'm now wondering if I have a ntc sensor? As the pictures on brew builder they look the same?
Andrew

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Kev888
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Re: Brew builder thermometer & pid

Post by Kev888 » Sun May 19, 2019 11:20 pm

Hmm, it seems that you have done what i also would have done, then. Not sure if there is anything unusual about the inkbird PID or the brewbuilder sensor, perhaps someone who has them could comment.

FWIW If the old sensor was also a PT100 (and so the PID already set to Sn 21) then just replacing it like-for-like with the new sensor (and ignoring one of the red leads) should have work directly.
Kev

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Re: Brew builder thermometer & pid

Post by bottles » Mon May 20, 2019 12:43 pm

Not sure where the problem lies. But I installed the sensor that came with the pid. So far it has a similar problem of not giving a correct reading?
I suspect it will be down to operator error. Just need to spend some time going through the manual and check what setting works.
Thanks
Andrew

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Re: Brew builder thermometer & pid

Post by bottles » Thu Aug 08, 2019 8:43 pm

Well it's taken some time and a few emails to Inkbird. Turns out the type k thermo couple from ink bird was the problem.
They sent a new k thermo couple and refunded the price for a new pid that if bought thinking the pid was wrong.
So very happy with the customer service though it took a couple of attempts to communicate my issues.
Also turns out I order the wrong sensor from new builder as well ntc instead of pt100.
So this weekend is getting the pid wired and trying to get my herms working.

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