Calibrating thermometers - the easy way

[SoccerMomof7]

I am making my clay egg now, I am using RoseArt colored modeling clay, I hope this is okay. How long will it take before I should insert the thermometer?

 

[pegasuschick]

I read in a different thread today to take a pill bottle, fill it with wet sand and stick the probe of your thermometer in it.
So far that seems to be the most reliable way I have tried.
I had two wigglers in two different bators and after a month or so both failed. One leaded all the liquid out and the other turned into a slimy tube of water.
Anyone else tried the sand/pill bottle trial?
gina

 

[SoccerMomof7]

The clay eggs work well also, they show me the "hot spots" so to say!

 

[pegasuschick]

Gosh, there are so many ways to get to the same place. I am really tired of different temps on different thermometers though. Hygrometers too.
Gina

 

[chookmadhubby]

Another way to check your therometer is to take your own body temp with a medical thermometer in one armpit and the one you are calibrating in the other armpit.
A healthy adult body temp is around 37 deg celcius or 98.6 faranheit.

Regards
Trev

 

[SoccerMomof7]

Well all through the night the temperature varied just a bit, from 99.4-99.9 so I think that went pretty well.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

So if I'm using a still air 'bator and insert a medical thermometer into the top of an egg made from modelling clay, am I still aiming to calibrate at 102 degrees, or slightly less?

Recommendations?

 

[Natty Bumppo]

????

 

[dancingbear]

Why clay? Why not a water weenie, cup of water, wet sand, a potato, or something else? Just wondering what the reason is, not saying you're wrong.

I use an old fashioned mercury-in-glass fever thermometer. The digitals are not that great. I worked in health care for years, the digital thermometers in hospitals and clinics are always getting messed up, bad reading. They're fast, but what good is that, if you can't trust the readings?

I have 2 other thermometers in the 'bator, one's an alcohol (that's the red filler in the glass thermometers, right?) weather thermometer, indoor/outdoor. The other is a digital with a little probe that goes in the box. I have it hanging at about egg level, (upper half of egg, I know, I need to remember to pick up a water weenie to stick it in) and the other lies on top of a row of egg cups if I'm using cartons, or on the turner cups if I'm using the turner. My hygrometer is a little round dial type, it sits where I can see it through the window, too, on an egg cup/turner cup. Anyway, I let the 'bator run about 24/48 hrs., and wait until the temp reads the same with no changes, or only very small changes,for several hours in a row. I check the temp on the weather therm looking through the window, and see what the digital one says, too. Then I put the well-shaken down fever therm inside the bator, at the same level as the weather therm. I wait about 30 minutes, then take out the fever therm and see what it says. So far, the weather therm's been really good, and the dig reads .2 degrees F, lower than the other two. So I add .2F to the dig, and look at the weather therm through the window. I do have to be careful to lean in close, and at the correct angle to see for sure what the reading is. If your angle of viewing is off a bit, it'll look like it's higher or lower than it really is.

When I add the eggs, it'll take a good 24 hrs. for the temp of the eggs to get stable. I've learned not to adjust it. If I wait for the temp to stabilize, it'll be fine. If I start messing with it, it'll get all screwed up. When adding wet sponges, or water to up the humidity on day 18 for the hatch, make sure the water is 100F. Otherwise your temps will drop, until the water/sponge warms up. Do not mess with the control. Wait it out, or use warm water to begin with. Those are all mistakes I've made in the past, even when I know better, but was tired and forgot, or whatever, and consequently had a poor hatch. Maybe it would've been bad anyway, but who knows? Maybe I would've had a great hatch if I hadn't made those errors. The eggs looked good at day 18.

 

[offshorewife]

Can you place a mercury thermometer inside the bator to monitor temps without putting it in water or will it burst?