Your experience? Oasis Caliber IV hygrometers

[GoodStix]

Have 20+ Oasis Caliber IV hygrometers.  To calibrate, I use Boveda 75% calibration kits at 70F.

Cigar Oasis states the Caliber IV hygrometers are all factory-calibrated, and are accurate to within 1%.  Yet even brand-new I find I almost always need to adjust them.  And it’s not merely +/-1%.  Rather it’s often +3 or 4% (and on rare occasion the max +6%).

Do other members experience this too?  Or do your IVs seem well-calibrated from the factory?

[ChicagoRob]

Have 20+ Oasis Caliber IV hygrometers.  To calibrate, I use Boveda 75% calibration kits at 70F.
Cigar Oasis states the Caliber IV hygrometers are all factory-calibrated, and are accurate to within 1%.  Yet even brand-new I find I almost always need to adjust them.  And it’s not merely +/-1%.  Rather it’s often +3 or 4% (and on rare occasion the max +6%).
Do other members experience this too?  Or do your IVs seem well-calibrated from the factory?

I don’t use OC4s, I use Govee. That being said 6% off is an incredible amount. Do you mean they’re +6 when they arrive new?

+-1 isn’t a statement on them being perfectly calibrated at the factory (but damn why can’t they be?!?). +-1 is a statement of accurate reading while calibrated.

[GoodStix]

7 minutes ago, ChicagoRob said:

Do you mean they’re +6 when they arrive new?

Thanks for your reply.

When they arrive new the adjustment setting is zero (which is proper).  Testing with Boveda calibration kit reveals I almost always have to adjust calibration, often +3 or +4, and on rare occasion +6, in order to properly read 75%.

I would have "hoped" (being factory-calibrated) that no adjustment would normally be required.  But the opposite has been my experience.  Wondering if I'm alone or if others are experiencing this too.

[MattxG]

On 3/29/2022 at 5:38 PM, GoodStix said:

I would have "hoped" (being factory-calibrated) that no adjustment would normally be required.  But the opposite has been my experience.  Wondering if I'm alone or if others are experiencing this too.

Yes, I have experienced this.  I have maybe 10 or so Caliber IVs, and I've noticed a bit of an odd trend.  I have no way to know if this is just luck or whatever, but the first caliber IVs I bought were within +/- 2% or so.  I was really satisfied with them.  The last ones bought required higher adjustments, and I even had to return at least one because +/-6% wasn't enough adjustment range to get it accurate.  It seemed as I continued to buy them they just got worse, so I ended up switching to govees for my main storage humidors.  

[ChicagoRob]

Yes, I have experienced this.  I have maybe 10 or so Caliber IVs, and I've noticed a bit of an odd trend.  I have no way to know if this is just luck or whatever, but the first caliber IVs I bought were within +/- 2% or so.  I was really satisfied with them.  The last ones bought required higher adjustments, and I even had to return at least one because +/-6% wasn't enough adjustment range to get it accurate.  It seemed as I continued to buy them they just got worse, so I ended up switching to govees for my main storage humidors.  

I actually just grabbed a IVR and it was -1 at calibration.

My Govees (3 of them) have all been much more work to calibrate. These are the adjustments I’ve had to make on them and where they sit now for calibration at 75% @ roughly 62°F.

-2.3
-4.7
-4.1

[GoodStix]

14 hours ago, MattxG said:

I've noticed a bit of an odd trend....  It seemed as I continued to buy them they just got worse...

Thank you.  That's been exactly my experience too.

[jakebarnes]

5 hours ago, ChicagoRob said:

I actually just grabbed a IVR and it was -1 at calibration.

My Govees (3 of them) have all been much more work to calibrate. These are the adjustments I’ve had to make on them and where they sit now for calibration at 75% @ roughly 62°F.

-2.3
-4.7
-4.1

All 3 of my govee are around +2.3. Took a bit to get there, but easy now that they're set. 

[ChicagoRob]

All 3 of my govee are around +2.3. Took a bit to get there, but easy now that they're set. 

You’re right that once they’re set it’s a thing of beauty. I have the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth version & set it to update every hour.

If I make a change to the new cooler I can get feedback sooner by just refreshing.

Also, having alerts on them linked to my phone is incredible. If something is off while I’m at work - I’ll know.

[Digi]

Figured I'd pile on since I have some data in hand.  I calibrated with Boveda packs at 32%, 65%, and 75% and with beads at 60%, 65%, and 70%.  Currently running 4 WD Caliber 4's and everyone of them is between +3% and +4%, erring towards 4%. I also run 6 Govee wifi enabled units, which all run between +2% +3%.  Couple things I've noticed:

• Western Digital units tend to get worse as batteries run low. I change them out 3 times a year because they seem to run for months on "zombie" mode where the display works but it won't update.
• The Govee units don't seem to drift or act out when batteries are low.  I really like the alert the app pops on my phone when batts are low.  My house has solid WiFi coverage and the batteries need changing every 6 months or so. 
• Both the Govee and WD hygros are consistent in their calibration between 55% and 70% so I fell confident in the readings
• The Govee app has a built in calibration setting for each sensor, so you don't have to do the mental conversion when looking at them
• The WD units seem to have better readings in smaller spaces with less air flow.  The larger the humidor, the closer to 4% they seem to get.  The Govee units don't seem to have this issue

Overall, I'd advocate for the Govee system.  The hardware and app are rock solid, they are small enough to fit just about anywhere, and the sensors are better than the WD (in my opinion).  In the big cabinet humis, I put a little 3M command strip velcro on the back and hang them up.