Hydrometer Calibration

When the hydrometer was purchased water was tested and it read 1.000. The last batch missed its projected OG by .005. THe hydrometer was tested against water and it read .996. How do you adjust it?

Thanks

You dont adjust it, you adjust the gravity to it. Did you use distilled water at the temp that the hydromter was calibrated to, some are 60* and some are 68* I think.

Just to be sure....you made sure your samples were 60 degrees right (hydrometers also state whether they are calibrated to 60 or 68 degrees)? If you're certain the water is at the appropriate temp is now reading .996, you then add .004 to your OG readings.

Wade E said:

Did you use distilled water at the temp that the hydromter was calibrated to, some are 60* and some are 68* I think.

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does the water need to be distilled in order to read 1.000 at 60 degrees?

MgMt_Home_Brew said:

does the water need to be distilled in order to read 1.000 at 60 degrees?

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No, but......if it's inaccurate, that could be why. If you have lots of dissolved solids in your tap water, it could read at 1.002, for example. That doesn't mean the hydrometer is off necessarily, so using distilled water would be the way to check it.

I just broke my first and purchased a new one. My gravity readings seemed high so I tested it. After correcting for temp it was 1.004.

So I guess I should try some distilled water tomorrow.

Yep - use distilled water at 60 or 68... I have three hydrometers and they vary from 2 to 6 points off.

I hate hydromters for this very reason.

The Pol said:

I hate hydromters for this very reason.

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So what is the solution? Refractometer?

MgMt_Home_Brew said:

So what is the solution? Refractometer?

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Yes, that was the solution, they are cheap, accurate and dont require large samples or cooling of the sample

I like the sound of it. My only concern is that the temp range that you can take samples at, 50-86 degrees. I guess if it's only a couple drops my samples should cool down quickly when testing for efficiency. The one I see is $60, is that about the average cost?

Sorry to thread jack

MgMt_Home_Brew said:

I like the sound of it. My only concern is that the temp range that you can take samples at, 50-86 degrees. I guess if it's only a couple drops my samples should cool down quickly when testing for efficiency. The one I see is $60, is that about the average cost?

Sorry to thread jack

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$60 is a lot... I will get a link to one.

Also, the ATC (automatic temp comp) refractometers have a really heavy barrel, and the thermal mass if it cools the small sample in seconds, so you get an accurate reading no matter the temp of the sample.

EDIT: Something like this. Buy these on Ebay, dont buy them from brewing stores, they will cost you 2x as much.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Brix-Refrac...in_0?hash=item4cea980104&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14