Can tape over the probe cause erroneous readings?

[CC Solutions]

That is my point.

When some conduct long term testing, the probes are covered with a LOT of tape to keep out water, dust and prying eyes. So we get these questions asking why the probes are hanging for months with little change and why do new probes read significantly less than the old probes in the concrete.

Hysteresis explains some of the phenomenon, but I think we need to get some advice in the installation instructions advising against covering the sensors with tape, plastic, cardboard etc. It just throws off our readings.