Official Broken Hydrometer Count

Williams 728
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3000…and 3001. in back to back brew days. good thing the LHBS isn't too far away. shut the case too aggressively on one and dropped the other.
 
JKoravos said:
I'm on #4. The weird thing is I've been brewing for 11 years and I broke all three within the span of a few months. I had my first hydrometer for about 5 years, and my 4th hydrometer for 5+ years, #2 and #3 only lasted a brew or two each.

Now I have a refractometer as a back-up. Hopefully I don't break that!
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2102.

My 4th hydrometer lasted over 11 years (the post above was almost exactly 6 years ago and I had already had that hydrometer over 5 years). It broke about two months ago when the top slipped through my fingers as I was removing it from the tube. It gently *tinked* against the inside of my sink and smashed.

The new one I just bought seems much, much more fragile than my last one. I doubt it will last anywhere near 11 years.
 
philipmeese said:
Brand new finishing gravity hydro - bought because I was thinking "I am the sh*t, man, gonna get myself a special hydro just for finishing gravities!". Carefully extracted out of the shipping tube in anticipation of first use. Have you ever seen how freakin thin those things are at the top? Nudged it ever so slightly sideways with the shipping tube as it was coming out - snapped right in half.

Never even got to use it once. Never even bothered to replace it. Some things are not meant for this world.

2094
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Every time I think about getting one of those FG hydrometers, I just re-read this thread! I'll still probably get one at some point, and just my luck (even thought I haven't broken one in a while), that will be the one I break and have to post another loss!
 
biochemedic said:
Every time I think about getting one of those FG hydrometers, I just re-read this thread! I'll still probably get one at some point, and just my luck (even thought I haven't broken one in a while), that will be the one I break and have to post another loss!
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Don't give in to the dark side! those things are ten times more delicate than the regular hydros. I've been using my regular one since I bought it three years ago. I generally consider myself to be quite dexterous and exceedingly careful. I virtually broke that thing by looking at it, FFS.

Anyway, I understand the attraction, but the spell has been broken with me.
 
*sigh* 2103.

Dunno what it is, the one I got in my beginner's kit lasted well over three years, not sure this one even made it three months. Had it sitting upright-ish in a glass so it wouldn't roll all over the dang place as I was washing up, reached to move the glass, jerked it a bit with oxiclean-slippery gloves, *tink!* the stem's cracked clean through against the rim of the glass.
 
Just two days ago I lost my first hydrometer. I didn't even get to use it... I accidentally tipped over my sanitizing bucket and it fell out onto the concrete and busted in half. RIP
 
I'll add the one I broke earlier this year, stupid construction of the tube where both ends were capped, except one end wasn't on very well. Took forever to clean up that mess.

2017
 
feinbera said:
*sigh* 2103.

Dunno what it is, the one I got in my beginner's kit lasted well over three years, not sure this one even made it three months. Had it sitting upright-ish in a glass so it wouldn't roll all over the dang place as I was washing up, reached to move the glass, jerked it a bit with oxiclean-slippery gloves, *tink!* the stem's cracked clean through against the rim of the glass.
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Twins_Dad said:
2015 and counting.......
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um...
HIM_Tattoos said:
My turn!....2016
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hey, uh...
ReverendJ said:
I'll add the one I broke earlier this year, stupid construction of the tube where both ends were capped, except one end wasn't on very well. Took forever to clean up that mess.

2017
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GUYS!

2106 by my count :drunk:
 
Just broke my first one. :( Dropped it in the test tube a bit too fast. Normally I'll tilt it a little and let it slide in, but apparently not enough this time.
 
Ordered a 1.000 - 1.070 range hydrometer this morning, and borrowed a hydrometer from a friend for my brew day tomorrow, though.
 
I broke two last January, so not quite a year ago. Did them both in within a week of one another. The third one gets treated like a fabrege egg, now.
 
2115. I had a replacement hydrometer on my wish list on Amazon. My oldest daughter got me one for Christmas, which is a good thing. I went to pick my old one today out of the graduated cylinder and the tip crushed in my fingers. <sigh>. It's been a few years since I lost one.
 
2117

Half drunk brother in law (brew partner) broke one trying to dry it off. He replaced it though, so I can't complain.
 
2118. broke my first one last night....

I'm always SO careful with them... Then i wasn't so careful... whoops.
 
2119! Broke it and the cylinder BOTH by knocking them off the counter into the SST sink... GAAHHH!

These prices in the ballpark?

$2.00 each:
6182-5__43831.1417033318.500.500.JPG


$5.25 each, shipped:
21bYPxzoeqL.jpg
 
Firewalker11 said:
2119! Broke it and the cylinder BOTH by knocking them off the counter into the SST sink... GAAHHH!

These prices in the ballpark?

$2.00 each:
6182-5__43831.1417033318.500.500.JPG


$5.25 each, shipped:
21bYPxzoeqL.jpg
Click to expand...

$2 for a 100ml glass graduate is a bargain, but watch the shipping...

I use the acrylic (or poly carbonate) hydrometer jars the brew stores sell, with the gray plastic base. They're a bit wider and taller, and fairly resilient to drops and knock-overs. The hydrometer inside is not. :drunk:

That hydrometer in the picture looks like it has a weird, non-linear scale. Make sure you get one to measure sugar gravity in our range 0.900-1.120 or so. The longer the scale in the skinny stem the more precise your reading, usually. Then they make shorter range ones too, for more precision. Never needed those for brewing.
 
The daughter is in college and I buy her lab equipment so these will just be part of her order for this class. Not a fan of the plastic ones, they seem to get cloudy after a few hot samples and I have broken them too (stepping on them).

Yes, this is the very same hydrometer I broke, I bought two of them last go around thinking I would have them forever... Luckily, I had the one for back up!
 
Firewalker11 said:
The daughter is in college and I buy her lab equipment so these will just be part of her order for this class. Not a fan of the plastic ones, they seem to get cloudy after a few hot samples and I have broken them too (stepping on them).

Yes, this is the very same hydrometer I broke, I bought two of them last go around thinking I would have them forever... Luckily, I had the one for back up!
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Excellent!
Mine are crazed which gives them a great look! Why not use a refractometer for your (hot) wort? 2 drops, saves a lot of time.

I now only use hydrometers for beer samples, usually to get my FG (for the record). And to double check commercial beers.
 
IslandLizard said:
Excellent!
Mine are crazed which gives them a great look! Why not use a refractometer for your (hot) wort? 2 drops, saves a lot of time.

I now only use hydrometers for beer samples, usually to get my FG (for the record). And to double check commercial beers.
Click to expand...

I do use the refractometer for an immediate response but pour a full 100ml for the hydrometer as well. I am a bit anal when it comes to measuring gravities.:rockin:
 
Spidey sense is tingling that SWMBO will somehow break mine sometime this week when it's drying next to the sink from taking samples. Weird since she's normally more careful than me...
 
2124 - just found the thread. only on my 15th batch and broke 2 already. A lot of effort goes into the safety of thin glass now.
 
2126 (and 2127) - 2 down. First one broke when I was shaking off water after rinsing it off and smacked it against the side of the sink. :smack:
Second one ... umm ... I guess the bottom stopper in the tube wasn't quite as secure as I thought. Drop hydrometer in tube for storage, watch stopper and hydrometer hit the floor. The stopper bounced.
 
2129 My first one broke seconds after coming out out of my kit befor I even had my first brew day ended up pushing it a week waiting for another and some starsan
 
only ever broken 1 but it was a cheapy that came with a kit, rolled off the bench and hit the floor.
 
2131. I swore I'd never need to post in here but my dumb ass decided to use the hydrometer to push something through the funnel.
 

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