Thermometer calibration

[Mr_Jeff]

I've got a Little Giant incubator and don't have alot of faith in the included thermometer. What's the best way to calibrate these things? Also I have a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer which in theory should work very well in this situation. Any suggestion on how to verify its accuracy?

 

[quintinp]

what you need to do is get a cup and fill it with as much crushed ice as possible, the put as much water as it will take, (not very much), and stick you thermometer in the crushed ice/water and it should be 32 degrees, if not then it is off, conclude how many degrees it is off, then mark on your thermometer where 99.5 is supposed to be, then you are set

 

[quintinp]

and use the little giant thermometer to see how far off your digital one is

 

[deerman]

i us a oral medical thermometer, to check to see how far the other are off. if you read on most thermometers most are +/- 1 or 2 degree. the oral one in down to the tenth.

 

[artathart]

hope its okay to submerge my digital sensor because I just did. Needed to calibrate it.

 

[artathart]

Okay so since it is not possible to submerge the LG ones, I guesss I did the right thing. Plus its meant to be outside so Im sure its fine. I put the Accbrite sensor in crushed ice water mix and it read 32.2 so I guess that means it is .2 degrees off correct?

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
when you check it this way kina stir the ice water / slush with the probe for a minute or so .2 of a degree don,t get me real excited

I have a hova that sits on 99.5 - 100.2 or so that it changes that much I don't care it has good hatches

good luck hatching

 

[bakerjw]

FWIW. You're better off checking against warm water in a styrofoam cup while using an oral medical thermometer to determine the temp of the water. Measuring ice water will give you a reading around 32 degrees but then you are assuming that the linear characteristic of the thermometer is in line with the scale of the thermometer.

 

[Mr_Jeff]

I wont be able to do the crushed ice test on the cardboard backed one that came with it, but I will try it out on the digital thermometer. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Mr_Jeff]

Crushed ice test results. Digital thermometer reads 32 degrees F on the nose, +/- .3 degrees. Pretty close to perfect and good enough for me.