Official Broken Hydrometer Count

[TerpRush]

Broke my first one a bit ago, waiting on the new set I ordered.

That’s 2583

 

[user 254557]

Brewed this weekend, broke my last one +1

2584 and counting

 

[sweetcell]

View attachment 606871

My 'new' plain form one arrived broken... But i can see that plain form is the way to go if all you want is SG...This was H-B Instrument 1.000-1.070, has one SG on one side and another one on the other side...and .001 increament on the other sides! yea! too bad they didn't know how to package it..Must not have read this thread!

+1

2355

bonus points for posting a pic of the deceased.

 

[WesBrew]

I’ve broken three. Finally started using a refractometer. Nursing hyd #4

 

[sweetcell]

I’ve broken three. Finally started using a refractometer. Nursing hyd #4

2587

 

[atlref]

Put me down for 4 . 2 glass and 2 herculometers . The first herculometer was not technically broken but the paper scale would not stay in place so I always had to tap either the bottom or top of the hydro to get the paper in the right place. Second herculometer the black cap on the end came of and got water inside the tube so now the paper scale is wet unreadable and out of place ( also tried drying it out but paper scale was plaster to the side of tube). Been using a Milwaukee digital refractometer for years now and been very happy. Count now 2,591.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

First Hydro break cleaning after last brew. Not bad considering I have been brewing for a little over a year now.

2592.

 

[bracconiere]

First Hydro break cleaning after last brew. Not bad considering I have been brewing for a little over a year now.

2592.

you've only been brewing a year? lol

edit: damn, i got three hydrometer's now i want to purposefully throw one on the floor....and i've been brewing for 25 years.....

 

[kh54s10]

First Hydro break cleaning after last brew. Not bad considering I have been brewing for a little over a year now.

2592.

Gotcha beat by a little. Broke one about 3-4 years ago. Got the Herculometer set for Christmas. They will not break.
https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/brewery-essentials-herculometer-advanced-gravity-testing-kit

 

[bracconiere]

i got bored...and actually did it, damn thing was off 4 points with tap water....

lol, i'm going to order a 1.000-1.070 'plain form' one off ebay, that way i don't have to wonder why the cosmos doesn't want me to see the S.G.

 

[bracconiere]

i don't know if suicide counts but

2592+1=2593

 

[IslandLizard]

i don't know if suicide counts but

2592+1=2593

Are you sure there wasn't some large incentive to help it along to the other side?

Regardless, 2593 it is, that's what counts here.

 

[bracconiere]

Are you sure there wasn't some large incentive to help it along to the other side?

Regardless, 2593 it is, that's what counts here.

there was, like (i think chity chity bang bang) "up from the ashes, grow the roses of success!" lol

https://www.ebay.com/itm/H-B-Instru...490166?hash=item3fb87317f6:g:a70AAOSwsQJcUIhy

this one has S.G. on oppisite sides and .0005 increments on the other two! never again will i wonder why the f**k i'm supposed to care about plato....like pluto it's so worthless it's not a planet....why does it take up a third of the circumference!

 

[IslandLizard]

there was, like (i think chity chity bang bang) "up from the ashes, grow the roses of success!" lol

https://www.ebay.com/itm/H-B-Instru...490166?hash=item3fb87317f6:g:a70AAOSwsQJcUIhy

this one has S.G. on oppisite sides and .0005 increments on the other two! never again will i wonder why the f**k i'm supposed to care about plato....like pluto it's so worthless it's not a planet....why does it take up a third of the circumference!

That sounds pricey!

There are precision, final gravity hydrometers with a fairly narrow range between 0.990 and 1.030 or so. The scale being long enough to get an accurate .0005 reading, .00025 (that's 1/4 point) or even better can be estimated. But... do we need that kind of precision?

When final gravity has been reached, that's it. Not much we can do about it, except for adding water if we don't like it.

I broke my first, a good one, 2nd or 3rd brew. Due to a rookie move, the (lowish) final gravity made it torpedo down to the bottom of the wine thief I used to take samples. It bottomed out and shattered, leaving small glass shards and a hundred steel pellets in there. At least they didn't get in the batch of beer, that would have been a real problem.

So I got another one for $10-12 at an LHBS that had clean plain white paper ones, not the confusing rainbow kind everyone else had. It's branded "TRUE BREW". The scale is fairly long, almost 4.5" between 0.990 and 1.170. It's easy to read, Brix/Balling, %Alc, and SG. Deviations at .002, but wide enough to estimate .001. That's close enough for me.
Now if it could only face the correct scale when done spinning it would be perfect.

Over time I accumulated 2 more from CL lot purchases. I never use those, they're not any better or easier to read. One is white the other the typical multi color. The scales are quite compressed. They're backups and apparently offer protection for the good one, that's been going for nearly 10 years. Not to jinx...

 

[bracconiere]

That sounds pricey!

Now if it could only face the correct scale when done spinning it would be perfect.

...

that's exactly why i'm willing to spend the $30 on this one, lol...nothing but beautiful SG all around! and i ALWAYS brew a 1.060 beer, for calorie counting reasons...so it's 1.0 to 1.07 is fine for me.....i already have one plain form one, love it...this one is better though...

and 'True Brew'? isn't that the gruit stuff? it does work in hoped beer right? lol

 

[BreeBrew]

2594. I just found out you can't use the thing as a lever in order to get a piece of paper towel out of the tube.

 

[IslandLizard]

2594. I just found out you can't use the thing as a lever in order to get a piece of paper towel out of the tube.

No better than using a screwdriver or a wooden stick to read gravity.

 

[Tbagger]

I'm down another one.

2595

 

[mirthfuldragon]

2,596.

Bought a final gravity hydrometer - fine scale, measures from 0.980 to 1.020, to really determine FG. Took it out of the package, looked at it, put it back in the tube, and promptly dropped it and broke it. SMH.

 

[bracconiere]

you need to play the theme song! lol

 

[arsenic]

2597

I've had this one for 25 years. Bought it when I first homebrewed way back then. Gave up back then too but kept all my stuff around. 9 batches in since march and the damn thing just jumped out of the tube I was carrying it in.

 

[Soulshine2]

I figured at because so many of brewers are completely clumsy that we should be keeping a count of how many hydrometers the average message board breaks over a one year period. If you're like me, I broke mine the first time I used it. Checking account balance: minus $14.95. Ill start. Just search for this thread if, and when, you break one because I think it will be interesting to see how many we actually go through.

Hydrometer Count: 1

1- not even sure how it happened but it did .
While were at it, lets count floating glass thermometers broken as well... 1
yep , went to a digital instant read probe after that one. Much better and faster . I recommend everyone have one.

 

[Soulshine2]

I figured at because so many of brewers are completely clumsy that we should be keeping a count of how many hydrometers the average message board breaks over a one year period. If you're like me, I broke mine the first time I used it. Checking account balance: minus $14.95. Ill start. Just search for this thread if, and when, you break one because I think it will be interesting to see how many we actually go through.

Hydrometer Count: 1

You would think by now they would be manufactured with pyrex so they arent so fragile.

 

[sweetcell]

You would think by now they would be manufactured with pyrex so they arent so fragile.

likely too expensive for only a small gain in strength. would you pay $50 for a hydrometer that will still break if it falls on a hard floor?

 

[sk8masta88]

I've been brewing for a few years now and have went through THREE. I recently just broke the third one, which has promoted me to buy the Herculometer... I hope this purchase resolves this issue!

 

[Oginme]

I've been brewing for a few years now and have went through THREE. I recently just broke the third one, which has promoted me to buy the Herculometer... I hope this purchase resolves this issue!

Check the calibration of the Herculometer. I was gifted a set and none of them was accurate. NB sent a second set to replace the first and it suffered the same issue. Zero point off by .002 to .003 (low) and at 1.020, the low range herculometer read 1.016. At 1.050, the mid range read 1.046. All my glass hydrometers read all calibration solutions accurately.

 

[Soulshine2]

likely too expensive for only a small gain in strength. would you pay $50 for a hydrometer that will still break if it falls on a hard floor?

I didnt drop mine . Im still wondering what did in fact happen to it since I always take great care while using , cleaning and storing it. it had a crack on the bottom tip. I might , $50 is a stretch since you can buy pyrex measuring cups for under $5 .

 

[sweetcell]

* off-topic warning * (maybe not off-topic, but certainly tangential)

$50 is a stretch since you can buy pyrex measuring cups for under $5.

true, but a) companies have been making pyrex measuring cups for a long time, so the market has matured, and b) the majority of houses in the western world has a pyrex measuring cup, i.e. there is a huge market. net effect: we have reached scale on measuring cups. there isn't the demand for pyrex hydrometers that would drive several factories to pump them out cheaply in order to compete.

but i, for one, would consider buying an expensive pyrex hydrometer if it was available...

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Rather than Pyrex, I'd have thought your best bet would be the titanium glass that various companies like Schott are now using for "unbreakable" wine glasses.

 

[TallDan]

Continuing the topic drift... there is no reason that a hydrometer needs to be glass at all, it could be stainless steel with precision etching. The key here is precision. As the plastic hydrometer demonstrates, a high degree of precision is required, and with that comes cost. Let’s say someone gets a precision SS hydrometer made and charges $150 for it. Who’s buying?