Best thermometer (One that's RIGHT!)

[georgialee]

What is the best thermometer to use for incubation?

I have a digital that I don't trust (cheap one that's also a a hydrometer from walmart) and the ones that came with the incubator (which I also don't trust).

I also have digital human thermometers stuck through the top but it registers higher b/c it's right by the heating element.

What do y'all do?

 

[speckledhen]

The Spot Check by Brinsea (also called the Egg-Temp by GQF) is very accurate. The last one I got had to have a thin piece of paper put under the battery to help the contact, but it reads each 1/10 of a degree as it happens, so you must get used to it. It will tell you the range that is happening in the bator as the heating element cycles on and off.

It's made specifically for this job, not a household thermometer that isn't required to be more accurate than to within 2 degrees, too wide a range for incubating. You don't leave it on all the time, but you press a button to see the temp. It will show the last reading, then show an "L", then will tell you the current reading. You can buy it at Cutler Supply or even Amazon.com through one of their sellers, but Cutler's is about $21 and with 4 extra batteries, it's only about $25. It comes with a battery when you buy it. The probe is very sensitive and you must be careful not to whack it on anything or it will quit on you, but I love mine.

 

[AK Michelle]

I use regular mercury thermometers. I get them in the garden section anywhere they sell hardware. Another BYC-er said she gets the aquarium thermometers, again - basic mercury thermometers and rather inexpensive.

 

[dsqard]

Quote:
X2 Worth every penny!

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

Quote:
X2 Worth every penny!

X3

 

[rebel yell]

I have been useing a EXTECH probe type, its digital to but it is spot on a match.

 

[georgialee]

Thanks for the suggestions!

So here's another question: How do you know the thermometer is right?

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

you have to have one that you now is right, then compare, yes its a pain in the butt,

 

[tracecom]

I didn't get much response to this post (https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=460659) but it shows you how to get a really accurate thermometer on the cheap. The last page tells how to check your thermometer to see if it's accurate.

Here's a picture of the thermometer telling me that the temp inside my Omaha Steaks incubator is 99.9 degrees. The box to the right is my homemade electronic thermostat.

If you don't want to make your own, then the Spot Check is the best. I only have two complaints about it: (1) the probe wire is too short, and (2) there's no way to calibrate it.

 

[Namble]

x4 on the Brinsea Spot Check. I have one and i'll never use any other. Great thermometer, you should get it.