Chaney Instrument 00985 Wireless Refrigerator Freezer Thermometer Alarm Set
by Chaney
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List Price: Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Chaney Instrument 00985 Wireless Refrigerator Freezer Thermometer Alarm Set
Customer Review: Garbage
Summary: 1 Stars
This product is absolute garbage - don't waste your money. I bought this after a near-disaster with our chest freezer in the garage losing power for a few hours. I figured the wireless unit would be better than the cheaper units that have leads with sensors into the actual freezer.
First off, I could never get both sensors to work. Either one worked, or the other, but never both in tandem. That really didn't matter to me since I'm using this for a freezer and only needed one unit.
Then I learned that the main unit can't be more than a few feet from the sensor. So instead of having the sensor in the house (even in the mud room attached to the garage where the freezer is, only about 5 feet from the unit through a door), the unit had to be in the garage and practically on the freezer where the sensor was.
Lastly, the unit sporadically lost the signal. This almost appears to be a battery contact issue - there's a "sweet spot" position that the batteries must be in order to make contact and power the sensor unit(s). This takes A LOT of tinkering and can be frustrating.
Maybe I just got a bad or defective unit, but I'm returning it and going with a different product.
Customer Review: Good Product - Can Save You Money!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
We had a problem - kids leaving the freezer door open. Twice we had to throw out almost everything in the freezer.
I have owned this for over a year now and no more problem. I put one sensor in my kitchen freezer and one in my basement freezer. I did have to find a good place to put the main unit so it could read both sensors - the range is only about 25 feet or so at most! I still have not replaced the batteries in the sensors, although I think I will soon. I have replaced the batteries in the main unit twice now. They recommend lithium batteries for the sensor units, but I put regular alkalines in and they work okay. The setup of the unit is just a bit tricky, but the instructions are pretty good - I had it set up in just a few minutes.
If you have a similar problem that I had, I would definitely recommend this product!
Customer Review: Good Product-Not a GREAT product.
Summary: 3 Stars
After my freezer crapped out and I lost a lot of food,we purchased this to guard against another freezer failure.
Good-Easy to read and install
Bad-Seems that I have to reboot (remove batteries) and let the main unit find the remotes again at least once a month. My freezer is located one floor away from the unit so I am not sure if this is the problem. I have a real problem trying to set up the alarms.
I will say that recently I noticed a temperature increase in my freezer and found that it had quit. Paid for itself in that one instance.
I would buy this product again-I just wish the alarm settings were adjustable.
Customer Review: Good Product. It Has Paid For Itself
Summary: 4 Stars
We have had the Chaney 00985 Wireless Refrigerator Freezer Thermometer for about two months. It does not come with batteries. You need to buy 2 lithium AA; 2 AA alkaline; & 2 AAA alkaline batteries. It seems to work best to have the sensors directed toward the monitor. The sensors can be placed in a freezer or fridge in one room and the other sensor in another freezer or fridge somewhere else in the house. The monitor can be set to the desired high and lows for either freezer or fridge with separate alarms that can be turned "On" or "Off". The monitor is magnetic so it can attach to the front of the fridge or it can be used on the counter top or hung on the wall. The sensors do not work well for "Frost-Free" since those temps rise too high...unless you left the alarm off. Please note that the monitor does not alarm if it loses signal. This could be a problem if the batteries got too weak or if something got in the way of the signal (such as metal pots and pans).
Although not perfect, I was grateful when the fridge alarm sounded early one morning recently. During cold weather, our garage temp dipped and the fridge temp had dropped to 33 degrees. I had fresh fruit and other items that would not handle being frozen. I had placed the sensor in the fridge because I had feared that the door might be left ajar (again) and everything would get too warm. The cold morning wake up also alerted me to other cold weather issues that needed immediate attention.
Our sensors are located about 25 feet or so apart. One is in the extra fridge in the garage. The other is in the freezer located several rooms away. Our monitor works best somewhere in between, but closer to the freezer. During our learning curve, we experimented with where to put the monitor so both fridge & freezer readings worked continuously. I finally discovered that pots & pans in a certain place on the counter top were stopping the signal from getting through. It takes a few minutes for the sensor to send a new signal or to "E" (error). It has taken a few days to find the right place for the monitor. In the end, it is located about 6ft up on the wall nearest the freezer and is receiving continuous signals without interference.
Update: It has several taken weeks to find "another" right place to get the monitor reading continuously from both sensors. Not sure what electrical signal(s) have been interfering. It seems to be okay now, although the monitor doesn't work where I would like it to be. I phoned Chaney Instruments. Was told, by a helpful customer service rep, that the product has a one year warranty & the range is up to 100 feet. In this cold weather, the fridge alarm has gone off several more times because the temp had again dropped to near freezing. The fridge is effected by its surrounding, not just the setting. So, for me, it is worth another try.
Update: We have had these two temperature alarms for well over a year. It is great to being able to monitor the garage fridge from the kitchen. We have noticed the fridge temp goes up or down depending on the garage temp & the thermostat needs to be adjusted with the temperature changes. I would not have had any idea this was happening without this device. I really like this product and would not want to be without either unit I have.
If you are having problems with your unit, try removing all the batteries for a few minutes and reinstalling as per instructions. You might need to install the exact type of batteries the manufacture/customer service says to install. I went round and round and round again before mastering how to make them work. Now they work just fine.
Customer Review: Good idea, iffy execution
Summary: 3 Stars
One of the two sensors arrived non-functional. The seller, DTMDirect, was fantastic and immediately shipped me out another. One of the sensors on the new one also failed within a few days. So between the two of these, I have the equivalent of one full working unit. I like the idea of this product and would buy another in the future if it were more reliable. I do recommend the seller.