Items needed:
1: Regular, medical type thermometer (either digital or spirit-filled) that you stick under your tongue.
2: Babyfood jar filled with water. (The lid keeps it from spilling if it gets tilted.)
Take the medical thermometer and measure some water from the faucet at around 99F degrees. Fill the babyfood jar with the water. Unless you have the incubator jam packed then you oughta be able to stick a single babyfood jar of water in there. Let it sit in the incubator for 12-24 hours along with your digital thermometer...this gives the temperature of the water *and* the digital thermometer that you want to "calibrate" a chance to stabilize.
After the time has elapsed but *before* opening the incubator, note the temperature reading on the digital thermometer that you are "calibrating". Now, open the incubator and unscrew the jar on the babyfood jar and quickly check the temperature of the water using the medical thermometer.
Compare the reading of the medical thermometer to that of the digital thermometer that you want to "calibrate". If the medical thermometer reads 99.5F and the other one reads the same then you can pretty well say the digital thermometer is reading a correct temperature. Probably, though, they will have two different readings. The medical thermometer, which should be more accurate, is your standard to measure against. If the medical thermometer reads 99.5F and the other one reads 100.2F then you know the latter one is reading too high and you need to subtract .7F from it's reading to give a more true reading....if it read 97.5F then you would then *add* two degrees to it to equal the medical thermometer. Once you figure out the difference between the two thermometers then you just have to make a "mental calibration" when you check the reading of the one left in the incubator.
Now, is that clear as mud?
Hope it helps. I do guarantee that the info is worth exactly what you paid for it.
Ed
