Auber, Do Tell

[30WCF]

Anyone see the problem here?
No fire going. Usually the Auber tracks dead on with the thermostat all summer long. From the couch, I can look over at the stove in the summer and know within a degree or two where the house is sitting.

Thermostat

Auber

Current weather

F to C conversion

 

[30WCF]

Oooops. Now we’re at 37.

 

[begreen]

Sun on the pipe?

 

[stoveliker]

Weather said cloudy above (if pic taken at the same time)

Take the probe out and lay it somewhere in the room out of the sun. I.e. a location where you know the temp.
What does it say then?

 

[Burnin Since 1991]

Ice water and boiling water are my favorite tests. (do a full reset first)

 

[30WCF]

Sun on the pipe?

That was at almost 3am last night, both the post and the photographs. There was no sun harmed in the making of that post. Just happened to be awake and noticed the discrepancy.

This morning the Auber said 42’ish, while the house was 71.

Right now, 9:14 EDT, both the HVAC and Auber read 72, which is normal when we have the A/C on. They always read the same.

Even a reverse draft at night couldn’t have gotten it that cold at 61F, and I usually can smell a draft reversal when it happens in a cold stove.

 

[30WCF]

I was trying to figure out why the pipe being in the sun would matter.
This morning I realized the conversion I posted may have made you think that the house was 71, and the Auber was reading 39C or 102F. That’s not it, but I can see how it looks that way.
I just googled the conversion to make sure that somehow it didn’t switch itself to Celsius magically. I wondered if 39C was 71F, but no. It would have had to have been 102 inside the house for that to be true, and it was not.

 

[stoveliker]

What is the physical mechanism with which the auber measures? Thermocouple or something else?
@EbS-P may know

I'm asking because of possible water intrusion messing up junctions?

Take the probe out to see...

 

[begreen]

It uses a probe or magnetic surface thermocouple, depending on the application.

 

[stoveliker]

Then I'd use a sufficiently sensitive volt meter to measure the output of the thermocouple (or use a different thermocouple reader) to check if the issue is in the auber or in the wiring/thermocouple.
Given that it's a few mV or so difference between 100 and 60 F you do need a good volt meter to see the difference.

 

[30WCF]

I have a probe about 24” above the stove. Currently 10*F low again.
How do you feel about a Brymen BM235? I have one I never use. I always grab the Fluke T5-600 because it’s easy.

 

[stoveliker]

I don't know the Brymen. I'm partial to fluke

 

[gthomas785]

If it is sporadically reading low and sometimes correct, it's almost certainly a bad connection or defective thermocouple wire.

 

[EbS-P]

K type thermocouple. Mine can be installed with reverse polarity into the box. Bad design. And I have had a wire break. I was able to shorten the cable. It’s solid core wire.

 

[30WCF]

I’ll order a new probe and see if it settles down.

 

[Highbeam]

I too use the auber system as a thermometer all summer. Nice bright digital display.