Elitech Digital Temperature Humidity Data Logger Medical Refrigerator Thermometer Vaccine Fridge Temperature Monitor, RC-4HC, 10 Pack

Needed a device to monitor my new HVAC system to address some issues. I saw units range from $24 (this one) to well over $1000. I chose this one for the external probe as well as an RC5+ internal probe. The unit is really sensitive as while I was trying to decipher the Chinglish used in the instructions, the probe was touching my knee and showed a temperature rise! The unit is at least as precise as they claim. The software is a bit weird but hey, it was <$25! Your stuck with a yyyy/mm/dd;hhhh/mm/ss time stamp that can't be changed apparently (I only need time not date) but hey, it was <$25! I contacted tech support to see if the time stamp could be changed and they apologized for taking 24 hours to get back to me! I just wish the Chinese companies would engage some poor college students to translate their instructions into colloquial English instead of sending these really nice units out with Chinglish instructions.

You have to install proprietary (free) software in order to use this device. This is on contrast to some other USB-based devices that allow you to access the device as if it was a thumb drive and simply copying a data file. You also have to use the maker's software to change settings like how often the temperature/humidity sample is taken. The ability to control the device itself is limited pretty much to just staring and stopping the logging. Finally the data can only be saved as a PDF, a complex Excel spreadsheet, or an archive format that can only be read by the maker's app.If you have no issues with these requirements and limitations, the device itself is easy to use and works well. My first use case was to see how long it takes for a new air condition to cool down a bedroom to the desired temperature. For recording the temperature, either the internal sensor can be used or a plug-in sensor is supplied. Unfortunately the device will not record readings from both the internal and external temperature sensor. But then that would make this a 3 channel data recorder (internal temp, internal humidity, external temp) which I suppose is asking a bit much give the relatively low price. But it would have allowed doing things like comparing inside and outside temperatures for things like rooms and refrigerators.A tip on using the graph view on the application. There are very few timestamps displayed on the X-axis and you cannot change this (AFAICT). But if you place your mouse cursor on the curve itself, a pop-up will be displayed showing the recorded value and timestamp at that point in the curve. A better X-axis scale would still be nice to have.

This review is for the Elitech RC-4 Temperature Data Logger. This unit comes with a big 2450 coin cell battery, and temperature probe. After downloading an app from Elitech on my windows computer, I was able to get the unit working. You must download and run the companion computer app to configure the unit and to collect its data. (I don't think there is a phone app, and you'd somehow have to hardwire to your phone to make a connection.) With the app, you need to configure your collection parameters. After data is collected and data is downloaded into the computer, you can and must clear the unit for the next round of testing. To clear, you must save configuration parameters even if parameters aren't changed. Graph view presents all of the data in one picture. The list view shows raw data points, but I can't scroll with my mouse wheel or keyboard arrow keys in this view. The history tab shows older data sets. If data retention is important, I recommend backing up the data with the export function. Some of my older data is no longer listed in the history tab and I did not export it for safe keeping.I am able to adjust the sampling delay by 10 second intervals or minutes (I have not used hours). At one sample every minute, the unit will record upto 11 days worth of data (16000 data points). Then it stops collecting new data. It does not discard old data to keep recording the most recent temperatures. So, this is great if you want the recorder to keep data from the start. I would prefer to keep the most recent data and overwrite older data. If you need much more frequent data, plan on collecting that information before the recorder fills up. There is no setting to change this behavior that I've found in the companion app.Results seemed accurate and useful. I can clearly see when temperatures change, how low and high temperatures range in my home refrigerators. I put the entire data recorder in the fridge and did not use the temperature probe.Other than the recorder stopping when it fills up, I'm happy with my purchase. I wish the description was clear that the recorder stops when its memory is full.

Beware, the side contact for the battery was incorrectly bent on both the loggers I bought. Not knowing this, the first time I installed the battery, it squashed the side contact flat and the logger wouldn't work. I finally figured the problem out and bent the contact up so it touched the side of the battery. I see another reviewer has also encountered this problem, so it's a systemic issue. Just look carefully at the battery enclosure and make sure to bend the little "humped" contact so that it contacts the side, rather than the bottom face, of the battery.After that, both data loggers worked great. I'm using them to monitor run time on my home heating boilers, with the external probes attached to the sheet metal vent stacks. So far, so good. 5 stars, with one deduction for the bent battery contacts.

I am using on a Mac, so these comments apply to that:The setup instructions are way out of date. File names in the instructions do not correspond to the download. The files I did download were flagged by my system as needing to be updated to be loaded. I did go to the CHAT which was very helpful. They walked me through it. I was a bit nervous to override the Apple warnings about the files needing updating for security reasons. But I did so as I wanted to get this working. When the program loaded it advised that there was an update, which I downloaded. I am unclear if this new update fixed the problem Apple was being cautious about?Operating wise it all seems to work fine. But the Manual is quite vague and you need to do some trial and error to really see how to set things up. I am still unclear about some things, but I am logging what I need to log and able to download to XL format, so that works for me

Acabo de recibir mis instrumentos y Descargué e instalé el software versión 6.3.0; al conectar el instrumento no me aparecen todas las opciones de configuración que he visto con otros dispositivos Elitech, por ejemplo la opción de configurar la hora programada de inicio, la opción de generación el archivo PDF al conectar el instrumento ni la opción de configurar varias alarmas o inhabilitarlas; estas configuraciones las he podido realizar antes con otros instrumentos de la misma marca y modelo; la facilidad de configuración que había observado fue lo que me llevo a adquirir estos instrumentos; si hay algo extra que debo realizar o si estoy haciendo algo incorrecto, me pueden indicar, de otra forma tendré que devolver los 10 instrumentos que adquirí

I'm extremely confused by the good reviews on this product because it's simply just doesn't work. The software on their website is not even downloadable. It is a broken link. I needed this to prove to my landlord that the house I live in is not insulated. I can't do that now. Please save your money and get one that actually works. I didn't want to mention this, but there are typos right on their website. Not a good sign.

I originally thought the RC-4 data points could not be cleared thus the device would be filled up and became a throw away.. Not so, thanks to information received from Elitech Support. I received this via email from them: "When you export the data then click Save Parameter, the historical data will be clear and the memory will be released for continuous recording. " It works perfectly!

I downloaded the elitech software for my MacBook to work with the data logger as recommended by the manufacturer. However, the system does not permit me install it saying it is not approved by Apple.