Chaney Instrument 00985 Wireless Refrigerator Freezer Thermometer Alarm Set
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Chaney Instrument 00985 Wireless Refrigerator Freezer Thermometer Alarm Set
Customer Review: Chaney Instrument 00985 Temperature Alarm
Summary: 5 Stars
Chaney Instrument 00985 Temperature Alarm works better than expected for local low-impact equipment and room temperture monitoring. I purchased this item to monitor and alert an air conditioner failure in small computer equipment room, and it does the basic job very well! Economical to purchase and easy to install when compared to other Hi-Tech alarm sensor and alarm systems that are out there, this battery-operated unit has two separate and independent zone-monitoring capabilities, digital readouts, and min-max temperature data storage. Each alarm can be programmed to sound-off the built-in tone alarm warning at different temperatures. The main receiver/monitor panel is wireless, in turn has two remotely-located wireless wall-mounted transmitters (that can be placed into different areas), uses common AA and AAA alkaline batteries, and allows two different physical zones to be temperature monitored with custom-programmable temperature values.
Originally designed to read-out separate refrigerator and separate freezer compartment temperatures and notify when these temperatures are exceeded; I was able to use this system to monitor both a computer room and next-door photocopier room using the same main panel, but programmed-in two different temperature ranges. The computer room is now set-up to monitor the performance of a small dedicated built-in air conditioner pre-set at 67 deg F. The Chaney Alarm is set to sound-off if the room temperature goes either below 62 degrees F / or heats up over 70 degrees F (this is zone #1). The photocopier room is set up to be monitored when its temperature exceeds 78 degress (this is zone #2). The Chaney Alarm has a built-in alarm sound-off delay of 15 minutes, which prevents false alarms from sounding when an area door is opened or momentarily left open to service equipment, access supplies, or if a sudden (short time) change in room temperature should occur such as with heater or AC cycling.
The two wireless transmitters are each separately placed inside the 2 rooms, and each is wall mounted using a standard screw. The receiver panel is located on the other side of the wall from the 2 transmitters, approximatley 5 feet away. Current temperatures for each of the two room zones are continuously displayed on the main receiver panel along with Minimum and Maximum Room Temperatures. The alarm tone is very noticeable (like a microwave oven tone) but is not ear-splitting as is the case with some formal or wired alarm devices. This system does not auto-dial an outside phone number, doesn't offer a recorded message, doesn't hook-up to a larger alarm system, transmit information over long distances, or sound a large outside bell as do some systems.
However, for the purposes of monitoring the temperatures of 1-2 rooms, 1-2 small zones, monitoring equipment compartment temperatures; or as an econonomical approach to wireless local monitoring (with Human responders sitting or working close-by); the Chaney 00985 unit is a very good equipment purchase. Weatherbug.
Customer Review: Works reasonably well.
Summary: 4 Stars
Despite serious flaws in the product's ability to monitor its own health, it is still useful.
I've been operating two sensors in one deep freeze for nearly a month now. Both of them worked straight out of the box and seem to be well calibrated. I'm using lithium batteries since my temperatures generally run between -18 Fahrenheit and zero Fahrenheit. I have the monitor mounted magnetically on the freezer since the wireless transmission range is poor given the metal freezer and a wall or two. Since the freezer is placed in a garage it is sufficient to have the alarm located with the freezer since the garage gets a lot of use and it's still loud enough to hear from our kitchen. The magnets on the back of the display are great since it makes installation trivial. The display literally looks like it could be part of the freezer since the color matches so well.
The sensors are a bit bulky for use in a freezer. The suction cups won't work in the cold, and I can see no point in clipping the sensor to something. I keep the sensors near the top of the chest freezer where the temperatures run warmest. If the sensor goes off line (for example if the battery is removed or dies) the display will show an error but there will be no audible alarm nor could I discover any way of clearing the error short of removing batteries from both sensors as well as the display to reset the entire system. This is a very poor design. There is no reason why the software in the display couldn't generate an audible alarm if a sensor times out. Furthermore, changing batteries shouldn't necessitate resetting the entire system.
The minimum and maximum temperatures are quite useful since it may take hours for a freezer to go through a cycle. It's also nice to know how warm your food actually got during a failure. The ability to choose your minimum and maximum temperatures works in 1° increments and is just what I would expect.
I run another piece of temperature monitoring equipment which also uses the same frequency. Something around 400 MHz. It presents no interference issues with WiFi or typical cordless telephones.
In summary, I like the fact that the system runs off of batteries since it will continue to monitor temperature despite a power failure which even a high-end freezer is unlikely to do. I like the fact that there are no cables to affect the seal on the freezer. The alarm goes off if the temperature threshold is exceeded until it is cleared, which is appropriate. The main drawbacks to the system are the fact that the battery can fail, or a sensor could fail and no alarm is raised, the entire system has to be reset when changing batteries in a sensor, and the wireless range is pretty poor.
Customer Review: I purchased this item after reading the reviews, and am happy to confirm that it does indeed work
Summary: 5 Stars
I read many of the reviews prior to purchasing this item, and was concerned about negative reviews suggesting that they didn't work as described for some buyers.
I wonder now if those buyers have since changed their minds after writing their reviews, as I too thought that it wasn't working correctly when I first set it up.
Putting the batteries in the devices I immediately noted the sensors flashing and the room temperature register on the display. I put the sensors in the fridge and freezer compartments, and looked eagerly at the display waiting for the temp to immediately fall as the sensors got colder. It didn't happen.
Something wrong here I thought.
I opened the door of the fridge and waited until the sensor flashed, and immediately noted that the display changed to the current temperature. I opened the freezer door; waited for the sensor to flash and sure enough; the display showed the current freezer temmperature.
Damn thing won't work with the doors shut I presumed, just as other reviewers had written about.
I then set about testing the device to see if I could establish a pattern of when it would work, and when it wouldn't.
Imagine my surprise when after a few hours testing I realised that the device works perfectly.
The problem was that in my haste to see it working, I didn't wait patiently enough to allow the sensor to transmit a signal to the display module. I suspect that as the temperature approaches the set temperature, the transmitter activates at longer time intervals (I may be incorrect in saying this) to conserve battery life, which was what was confusing me as I was expecting a faster response after putting the sensors in the fridge.
Anyway I took the sensors out of the fridge and waited until the display changed to the room temperature and then put them back in the fridge; I did this with the display next to the fridge, 5 mtrs away from the fridge, and in the house which is 25 mtrs from the shed where the test fridge was.
The sensors outside the fridge would transmit all the way to the house, but after putting them back into the fridge they would no longer transmit that distance.
I now have the sensor about 5 mtrs from the fridge and it works perfectly.
The High / Low displays are very reassuring, and the alarm function is turned off but I will probably use that function when we go camping.
Summary:
This device works perfectly as described.
It will give me reassurance when camping that all is good with the fridge/freezer.
Just be patient and give the device time to function correctly.
Customer Review: Story with a happy ending
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this thermometer/alarm when my refrigerator seemed to be having intermittent problems with the controls, although it would work fine for weeks at a time. I just didn't want to trust my luck.
After using this Chaney unit for about three weeks, I awoke at 2:00 AM yesterday to the piercing sound of the temperature alarm, and I discovered that my refrigerator's thermal control had finally failed entirely. With no backup and no time to waste, I disassembled the freezer section enough to hot-wire the compressor and fan so they would run constantly, but without any thermostatic control. In that state, unplugging the unit was the only way to turn it off, but it sure kept my food cold. Many hours later that day, I was finally able to get the refrigerator properly diagnosed and repaired. The happy ending is that I was able to entirely avert the loss of a freezer full of food, as it was still just beginning to thaw by the time I finished hot-wiring the refrigeration unit. Without the alarm, all the food would have been a soggy, bacteria-laden mess by the time I even discovered the failure.
When I ordered the Chaney unit, I decided to try rechargeable batteries instead of more expensive lithium, so I also ordered some Sanyo Eneloop AA batteries for both freezer and refrigerator sensors. The Eneloop batteries have been working fine on their original charge (they ship precharged) for the last three weeks, even down to -8 degrees F. at one point, although typically in the 0 to 4 F. range. I will expect shorter battery life between recharges, though, because of the low temperatures, but at least they work.
This Chaney unit's features are terrific, and the only item on my wish list would be slightly more frequent temperature transmissions. One sensor transmits readings every six minutes, and the other sensor does so every 7.5 minutes.
I'll wind this up with a mini-rant against Chaney and many other manufacturers who violate this basic design principle. If unit size is not critical, USE AA BATTERIES INSTEAD OF AAA! The Chaney external receiver/display uses those little AAA batteries, which store MUCH LESS THAN HALF the energy of the AA cells and therefore have to be replaced much more often. The tiny size increase necessary to use AA batteries in the external display unit would be meaningless. No one would be complaining if the display were 1/8" thicker to accommodate the extra size of an AA battery, and the increase could even be taken up in width rather than thickness. This utter infatuation with AAA batteries is madness! (Rant over)
Customer Review: Not What I Was Looking For
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this freezer alert for my deep freeze in the garage which is packed with ~$600 worth of deer and hog from hunting season. Last year someone did not shut the door correctly and I lost everything.
Even though I got the lithium batteries for the remote I put in the freezer, I could not get the display to show a good reading consistently. Initially, I put one remote in the refridgerator side of our side-by-side in our kitchen, and I put one channel in the deep freeze in the garage. I never could get a trustworthy reading from the freezer in the garage. We keep the display on the side of our side-by-side in the kitchen and I would say the deep freezer in the garage is between 15-20 feet away with one wall between the display and the freezer. I even tried putting the display on the other side of the wall from the deep freezer, but as close as possible, so it was only about 4 feet away. It still would not register the temp in the deep freeze through the wall reliably and consistently.
I am going to order a non-wireless type for the deep freezer, but am having a hard time finding one that has wires that are 15-20 feet long so if it alarms, it will be in the house instead of the garage.
I finally ended up leaving the Chaney unit on the side of our side-by-side in our kitchen while it monitors both the freezer and fridge of that unit. It does okay on that, it alerted my wife last week of the fact that she had some groceries sticking out too much in the freezer after putting away the groceries which was causing the fridge to go above 40 degrees.
I've only had to remove and reinsert the batteries a few times in the remotes to make them re-register communication between the remote and the display unit since every now and then it shows a backwards 3 for error I guess. Also when I get this error, I can use a staple to activate the reset switch on the front of the display unit which will make it re-register. The weird thing though is that the unit does not produce an audible alarm when it is in an error state, so if someone leaves the freezer door open while it is in the error state, your food will begin to thaw.