Refractometer

I have been looking at refractometer's and am finding a lot of price differences between them all. Some have the covert chart there when you look thru..some dont.

Anyone have a favorite brand?
Brand or model to stay away from?
Where the best deal is?

Thanks for your help

From what I've seen most people have this one or very similar:
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/produ...=1014&osCsid=14cbdb27d24c692c5ea60cdd2f532f0f

I think AHS just had a sale on refractometers, too, but may be too late. I picked one up a while back when they were 39 bucks and it works great.

Ebay man, its where I got mine

http://cgi.ebay.com/Brix-Refractome...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c54e163ba

$29 shipped. Auto temp correction. Just doesnt list the SG. To me, looking at a piece of paper is worth the savings to me. Not to mention you'll need BeerSmith or an excel spreadsheet to do my post fermentation calculation anyway, its not a big deal at all to just see the %Brix

NoNothing said:

Ebay man, its where I got mine

http://cgi.ebay.com/Brix-Refractome...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c54e163ba

$29 shipped. Auto temp correction. Just doesnt list the SG. To me, looking at a piece of paper is worth the savings to me. Not to mention you'll need BeerSmith or an excel spreadsheet to do my post fermentation calculation anyway, its not a big deal at all to just see the %Brix

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The same thing with SG is about $60. The math to convert the $30 one is not very hard...

+1 on ebay. Just make sure you get one that measures sugar content, not salinity.

Homercidal said:

The same thing with SG is about $60. The math to convert the $30 one is not very hard...

Click to expand...

So why is the one from e-bay 29 shipped and AHBS 49.99 + shipping?
Is there any difference that i am missing??

winstonofbeer said:

So why is the one from e-bay 29 shipped and AHBS 49.99 + shipping?
Is there any difference that i am missing??

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AHBS can't buy them cheaper than you and need to make a profit.

I bought mine on ebay for $30 also, but I bought mine from an american company and it has a 3 year warranty...no chinese junk.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-0-32-ATC-Br...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ad9e6290c

If you need an SG reading, AHS sells one with that kind of scale. Normally, refractometers designed to measure sugar content are scaled in Brix, the correct one for brewing being scaled 0-32. I just ordered mine from eBay from the "Happy Fun Luck Trading Co. of Hong Kong" or some such, cheap and it works fine. If you just multiply Brix x 4, you'll be as close as you need to your SG for most homebrewing purposes. If you want something more accurate, there are calculators online.

BrewNinja1 said:

I bought mine on ebay for $30 also, but I bought mine from an american company and it has a 3 year warranty...no chinese junk.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-0-32-ATC-Br...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ad9e6290c

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Is the Chinnese one junky? Have you compared them?

eanmcnulty said:

Is the Chinnese one junky? Have you compared them?

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Yeah, I know....I refrained from posting anything like this, even though I wanted to, since the comment is an incipient threadjack. The problem is that these kinds of exchanges seem to be multiplying like -yeast- here on Fark. And I regret that.

eanmcnulty said:

Is the Chinnese one junky? Have you compared them?

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In general yes. Why take the chance for the same price you can get one made in the good old USA that has a real warranty?

My question was honest. I was not accusing anyone or trying to ignite an argument. I just received one from Hong Kong. I have never used one and wanted to know if there was something wrong with it.

eanmcnulty said:

My question was honest. I was not accusing anyone or trying to ignite an argument. I just received one from Hong Kong. I have never used one and wanted to know if there was something wrong with it.

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I have used my one from Hong Kong for a dozen batches now, and it appears to be reliable.

As with anything, if you look for something wrong you will find it. I don't believe refractometers are made in America. Let me know if you find a manufacturer.

Forrest

rico567 said:

I have used my one from Hong Kong for a dozen batches now, and it appears to be reliable.

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Cool. It seems easy enough. Don't have to mess with the the tube and hydrometer. I have an andriod phone and Brewzor has a refractometer/gravity tool.

Thanks for all the information guys.
I really appreciate it.