I am a functional mushroom grower. After trying many of the cheaper brand controllers and cooling/heating monitoring devices etc. I decided to buy the AC Infinity Controller 69 Pro and some UIS control plugs to connect my non-ACI humidifier and two external air conditioning units.
It was the most rewarding purchase I have ever made! However, despite searching high and low, I could not find out two pieces of information.
1. Will the controller work with non-AC Infinity products?
The answer is YES, but there are some limitations.
Your intended appliance (aircon in my case) must be one that when power is cut by the controller and then resupplied, your unit will automatically turn back on and maintain its settings. This is very important to be 100% sure of before buying either product.
So if you buy a Controller 69 Pro and the UIS Control Plugs, the USB-C connection from the Control Plug will power the Controller 69 Pro, as long as it is connected to a power supply (plugged into the wall).
In Australia you will need two US adapters for each UIS Controller Plug to make it work. (Note to ACI: please make AU plugs ASAP!)
2. Can the Controller 69 Pro be powered by a power pack connected via USB-C?
As I did not have time to experiment (I had blocks fruiting and just needed the tent functioning properly during a heatwave) I have no definitive answer.
What I have read is you can, but you lose one of your ports and really given you will be running control points, why give up that slot? In my case purchasing an air exchange fan was inevitable and the ACI unit I got is FANtastic!!!
After two weeks of operation I can honestly say this is the best controller I have ever used and I would never go back to the something-bird or the Otherthing-sun products (which I ran along side for a week and proved their inaccuracy was too much to gamble with fir gourmet mushroom cultivation). While I have kept them as emergency backup units, I would never trust anything but ACI to run my environment again.
As far as QBL are concerned 10/10 from me.
Excellent customer service, very fast delivery and when you need to sort out any kind of issue, they step up fast, friendly and effectively.
Soren and his team are truly the exemplars of the industry and I cannot thank them enough!