Why not to blindly trust digital thermometers

[Jarhead]

Thought you guys might like this, and maybe can use this to your advantage. Clockwise from top left, from a pet store, a weather unit from hardware store, and one from a electronics store. All the probes are next to each other in the exact same spot. In the morning I am going to go buy a scientific glass thermometer and see which is the most accurate or if they are all garbage.

I know it's blurry, but they read 97.2, 98.2, 91.8

 

[Pathfinders]

Eeek! I got digital hygrometers from Strombergs that I really like...

 

[cracking up]

Hey I love that you started this thread! I got a coralife from my fish store because they said they did a test and it was the most accurate. Later I got another one on line and put them right next to each other and they were different! I went by the higher one because heat scares me. sometimes they are the same so I don't know what that's about but my hatch rate went way up when I got the first one so I go by it. Now if I can just get the humidity thing worked out I will be good!!

The Walmart indoor/outdoor will read different on the same thermometer right next to each other.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I actually bought three from the drug store and two hygrometer/thermometer units from Walmart. I put all five in the heated up incubator and then compared the temps. I figured the mercury thermometer to be the most accurate and so calibrated them all off that one. There was a 5 degree spread of temps. Now the incubator units are marked with the discrepancy so I can accurately tell.

You need to check humidity too. When I calibrated that part I discovered a 7% difference there.

 

[cracking up]

Yeah in the beginning I just thought the one that came with the bater was ok, but since nothing hatched and I found BYC I realized there was more to it than just trusting what came with the incubator. There is a real learning curve and nothing is as easy as it sounds. I still hate the whole humidity thing. You have to think about the type of chicken and whether you're in the desert (we almost are - might as well be) still working on it.

 

[happi752]

Glad you started this thread. I have an Acurite digital and I calibrated the humidity in a salt bag and found it was 11% off. And no way to adjust it. The only true way of getting an accurate reading is to do a wet bulb/dry bulb double reading and calculating the results.

 

[Jarhead]

Yup the most accurate is the old fashioned glass kinds. I put 2 I found in an old medicine drawer in there. They read the same, and the most accurate digital of the bunch is the weather one from Lowes. It is about a half degree high, and seems not to fluctuate. The other 2 fluctuate alot and are way off.

wet bulb/dry bulb

That is the only really accurate way to calculate humidity, without spending a fortune on a truly calibrated digital, but it is a pain. By the way that device is actually called a psychrometer. Sounds like something a shrink would use

 

[journey's end]

I went by the manual one in my bator this time. It was set, and stayed at about 99.5. I had the digital in there too so I could get humidity readings. The digital thermometer fluctuated from 95-90 throughout the incubation, while the manual one held steady. I won't go back to digital for temps. They're garbage.

 

[Cherlyn]

Great thread to read! So, basically, stick with the old-fashioned mercury thermometers, then?

~Cherlyn

 

[2txmedics]

Back again to my original saying, "Dont you hate buying and paying for something, getting it and finding out that it doesnt work?"... When I buy something, I would like to get something that does work, that I dont have to spend time calibrating and then using it like that adding/subtracting to get a correct reading.

Or to keep going back using my time, and gas to return something...shame shame...

BUT!!!! We have become modern, and they tell us...THINGS ARE BETTER NOW!!!!