[solchitlins]

So I ordered these fairly cheap thermometers from China. I like that they have an alarm if they fall outside the zone I set up...

So anyways, Is it just me or are the inside "in" and the outside "out meaning room temp" reversed?

I have my heater set to almost 80 degrees and these things seem to read the room temp is close to eighty and the tank temp is only 70?

Am I reading these wrong?

 

[thedood]

Those are refrigerator units. Outside is ambient room temperature and inside goes inside the freezer/refrigerator. Products-Digital multimeter,LC meter,LCR meter,clamp meter,Thermometer,Thermo-hygro meter,Environmental meter,Frequency counter,Function generator.

I question if that probe is water proof/resistant.

 

[solchitlins]

It say's it is.
What I'm saying is the numbers seem to be opposite. The in numbers only are plausible as out numbers and the out numbers are only plausible as in

 

[thedood]

I dont think you are reading them wrong. Eliminate the possibility. If it was me I would stick the probe in a freezer for a bit and see what reads what. No ambiguity in that situation.

 

[solchitlins]

Thanks, out must mean outer probe sensor

 

[thedood]

I'm curious how these work for you. Did you stick it in the freezer?

 

[solchitlins]

I stuck them in an ice bath, first one was 1.3 degrees high and the other was 1.4

The alarm settings go up in like 3 degree intervals so I wanted my high alarm at 83 so I set it for 84, low I set at 65

 

[PlantedRich]

When thinking of in tank or out of tank, it will be different that if you are dealing with the more "normal use where the unit is inside and the probe stuck out a window?
For longer use, I find the probes last far longer if I seal them away from full time water. They are what I call resistant rather than waterproof. Waterproof for the occasional rain but not full time?
I use plastic soda straws and seal the bottom end by heating and mashing together. The hot plastic melts together to make a permanent ,cheap seal. Then I silicone the top at the wire to hold it tight.

 

[GraphicGr8s]

Once upon a time I bought 8 of those Coralife thermometers. None of them measured an ice bath at 32. Each was off a different amount at 32. I also measured it in tank water alongside my calibrated analog. Turns out in many cases they weren't linear in the amount they were off. I went back to my old floating thermometers and check them every so often. So far, years later they are still on point.

As thedood mentioned it's made for checking temps in a refrigerator/freeze. The probe is meant to be inside the box. There is nothing wrong on that point. Now accuracy is another matter.

Looking at the product description I can see a point of confusion though. When they say in or out the are talking about the probes. The "out" is the outer probe. "In" is the probe/thermistor in the base unit. It does not refer to inside something or outside something.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

The Coralife thermometers aren't very accurate. I have two, but only use them for rough reference. One tank more or less runs at room temp and the other is heated by an Eheim Pro !! Thermo that has it's own sensor and display. It's pretty accurate.

Tommy