Hey ya'll.
I recently became the owner of the AI+ Controller and am generally very satisfied. Do have a full 120x60 ACI Setup now with a Sanlight EVO 5-120. Did a few runs before with a totally different setup without much automations or Controllers...
I am located in Germany/Europe.
Few major problems i face with my setup.
But one major question for you upfront:
HOW DO YOU CALLIBRATE YOUR RH / TEMP PROBES ??
Insufficient fine calibration of the hygrometer temperature probe:
What unfortunately bothers me heavily is that the calibration of the temperature-hygrometer probe does not function adequately. There is a significant lack of “fine” adjustment options within the app. Currently, only adjustments in whole units are possible, which leads to considerable deviations from the actual environment and inaccurate VPD calculations.
In my opinion, it should be possible to adjust values in increments of 0.1, as is common with other manufacturers of digital hygrometers. This feature should be relatively easy to implement via an app update and is likely high on the feature request list for many users.
Proper calibration and adjustment of the probe must be a central component to ensure accurate results for the core feature of calculating VPD values—one of the main functions of the AI+ Controller. The current coarse adjustment in whole degrees or full percentage points leads to significantly inaccurate VPD readings.
This issue is likely due to the system being adapted from the American Fahrenheit-based model, where whole-number adjustments are more practical than in Celsius.
Note on factory calibration:
So far, I have purchased 4 new probes. All of them showed significant deviations, especially regarding humidity. The deviations were consistently between 4% and 10% RH. Additionally, all units showed temperature deviations ranging from 0.3 to 0.8 °C. These values are definitely no longer within a negligible range.
General information for users regarding probe calibration:
There is also a lack of an official FAQ or guidance on calibrating/adjusting the probe. I usually calibrate my hygrometers using a saturated salt solution, but this is not easily possible due to the probe’s cable connection.
There is a clear lack of information for users who need to calibrate their probes. It would be very helpful if AC Infinity could provide official documentation explaining how they recommend performing probe calibration.
Ability to monitor values at multiple points within a measurement zone / tent:
The AI+ Controller includes multiple sensor ports. However, it is currently not possible to measure temperature and humidity at more than one point inside the tent. When a second probe is connected to another sensor port, the app does not allow it to be used as an additional internal measurement point; instead, it is defined as an external measurement, and the built-in sensor is disabled.
In practice, multi-point measurement within a tent is essential, as temperature and humidity distribution can vary significantly even within a small space.
It would be extremely helpful to enable the use of multiple hygrometer-temperature probes connected to the available ports. At present, I would need to purchase a second controller just to measure and optimize two points within the tent, which should not be the solution.
I understand that sensor splitters have been announced. Will these allow multiple measurement points to be used and integrated into the AI-based optimization and microclimate calculations within the tent?
Is there any information on when these splitters will be available in Europe?