Need help Reading Hydrometer

[ms8miranda]

This is my first batch of wine ever....sour cherry.
So now I'm to the point I should probably transfer to secondary vessel.
So I took a hydrometer reading and it's floating at 40 (is this 1.040?).
I see wine should be 1.010 - 1.020 before transferring.
What am I suppose to do to bring it to the right SG?

 

[Yooper]

If it's floating at 40, then the reading should be 1.040. I found this image via google:

That looks like 1.046- is that pretty close to yours? It should be floating freely, not touching the sides or the bottom of the test jar. You can give it a gentle spin to make sure there aren't any bubbles or pieces of sediment holding it up.

If it is 1.040, then all you need to do is wait. Check it again in a couple of days.

 

[ms8miranda]

Mine is floating right at 40 and that was the reading after spinning it and before it attached itself to the side.

So what am I actually measuring? And why should it be at 1.010 - 1.020 before transferring?

 

[Yooper]

You are measuring the amount of sugar still left in the wine.
The reason it should be 1.010-1.020 before transferring is so that the majority is fermentation is finished and the wine should be slowing down a bit. That's a good time to get it off the lees and then airlock it because there will be less co2 being produced to protect the wine.