Govee mini hygrometer issue

crnazz · #1 05-21-2022, 09:54 AM

I have 4 govee hygrometers. One mounted on my music room wall and 3 in guitar cases.

One of the 3 (they are the govee mini hygrometers) is reading over 20% higher (68% or so) than all the others. All the others are all approximately 43% or so.

All 3 mini hygrometers, as well as the one mounted on the wall, are in the same room, within close proximity to each other and haven't been moved anywhere else. So, there's no logical reason why the one should be reading ~20% higher.

Rather than doing a recalibration test (i.e., Boveda Calibration kit....etc), do you think it's reasonable to simply change the reading to match the others.... ?

Thanks... hope this isn't too lame of a question, but there's so many knowledgeable folks here on the forum.

Fretboard Phil · #2 05-21-2022, 09:56 AM

Yes, change it but then see if it remains in agreement with the others as the humidity changes. It may be defective or failing if it suddenly changed that much.

crnazz · #3 05-21-2022, 10:40 AM

Sounds good.... that'll be my plan. Thanks Phil.

Aimelie · #4 05-21-2022, 10:48 AM

I’d put two “good” ones in a ziplock type bag along with the weird one and wait a while to see what it does. If after several hours it’s still reading high, I’d set it to what the other two say, then wait again to see if keeps pace them.

Rev Roy · #5 05-21-2022, 12:25 PM

Yep, just reset the wild one to the same setting as the others. My Govees have all performed great. I’ve cycled through many monitoring systems and it’s my fav.

High_Colorado · #6 05-21-2022, 12:31 PM

And keep us posted about outcomes!

crnazz · #7 05-21-2022, 01:16 PM

Thank you everyone! I appreciate it. I'll get back to you in a couple days.

raysachs · #8 05-21-2022, 01:32 PM

I've had several of these Govee hygrometers. All but one have been amazingly consistent with each other, like within one or two tenths of a percent when they're in the same location. ONE of them, which was a wi-fi version, no display but notably larger than the other no-display models, was the outlier. I'd calibrate it along with another one in a Boveda 75% calibration kit. They'd be in perfect agreement at 75%, once I calibrated them both, but when I took them out (and then calibrated all of the others to the one I KNEW was good (or at least consistent), all of them would stay right together except for that wi-fi one. It would be off by several percent, and not consistently high or low, just OFF.

I finally gave up on that one and tossed it. I don't think it was the wifi feature - I have a couple others with wifi that are completely consistent with the others. I guess they just can't all be perfect. I didn't discover the problem anywhere close to the return window, so I just ate it on that one. So you may have a bad one. But you're on the right track with the recommendations you've been getting for troubleshooting.

-Ray

jaymarsch · #9 05-21-2022, 01:53 PM

FWIW - Not sure of the Govee system first hand but I know that when one of my hygrometers acts up like you describe, it usually just needs a new battery.
Best,
Jayne

blindboyjimi · #10 05-22-2022, 11:52 AM

Did you try just replacing the battery? Mine are all in agreement.

crnazz · #11 05-23-2022, 11:32 PM

I'll try replacing the battery and see what happens.

Blueser100 · #12 05-24-2022, 09:35 AM

I have six Govees, three in guitar cases, two in the house, one in the yard. I only had one where the battery just died but overall they are pretty accurate. I also use a Music Nomad sound hole hygrometer as well.

I have noticed however that there can be slightly different humidity readings in different places inside the cases, e.g., the sound hole may read a higher humidity than the one that is affixed to the edge of the case (where air seeps in).

TennesseeWalker · #13 05-24-2022, 09:43 AM

I replaced the battery in one of mine - then, took in the bathroom while taking a hot shower to let it get to near 100% humidity for a bit.

That seemed to solve the problem but still had to go into the settings for that one and make some minor adjustments to the humidity setting to get in line with the others.

crnazz · #14 05-24-2022, 11:10 AM

Thanks for all the advice.
I tried changing the battery. This is the H5074 mini. It took quite an effort to gt the back off... and then inside, the battery appears to be in this metal casement that I can't get open.
Trying to find instructions online but seems you have to download a certain generic website to access it.
Oh well.....

KevinH · #15 05-24-2022, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crnazz

...Rather than doing a recalibration test (i.e., Boveda Calibration kit....etc), do you think it's reasonable to simply change the reading to match the others.... ?

Certainly worth a try, but the problem is you don't know if the reason it's off is because of shift (in which case you could subtract 25%) or a multiplicative factor. My impression is that most of the lower cost hygrometers only let you shift. But again, it's worth a try. You'll be able to tell by comparison with the others after you've adjusted it. But you may just need to replace it.