Tested my hydrometer tonight - this normal?

[bru-ster76]

Hey folks,

I decided to test my hydrometer for the first time tonight and used some filtered tap water. it's not RO/DI, but it's very good tap water as far as total dissolved solids go.

It's a cheap $8 Hydrometer, but it read 1.006 SG. Is it normal that these cheap hydrometers be out by that much? I'm assuming I'm ok to subtract 6 from my wort/beer readings, (after temp conversion, if needed), is this standard practice and as accurate as it needs to be?

 

[Veedo]

Is the water at 60 degrees?

 

[woozy]

What temperature?

Try mixing 1 oz of sugar by weight to one cup of water. If my logic is correct (this is a trick I made up and I haven't seen anyone else do it) the sg of the sugar solution should be 1.046. If your hydrometer reads 1.052... Well, you know what to do.

 

[bru-ster76]

The water was 70F and the chart said to add 1. I'll give the sugar thing a try and report back tomorrow. Thanks for that!

 

[wonderbread23]

Yes, the piece of paper inside these types of hydrometers often slides causing them to be off. Add +6 to your readings and you're good to go.

 

[freisste]

You could try to (GENTLY!) jar it against the heel of your hand to try to get the paper to the correct position.

Or just subtract 0.006.

 

[bru-ster76]

You could try to (GENTLY!) jar it against the heel of your hand to try to get the paper to the correct position.

Or just subtract 0.006.

Ya, tried that, and it wasn't moving. started to smack it harder then figured it was going to end up broken. -6 it is.

 

[woozy]

Ya, tried that, and it wasn't moving. started to smack it harder then figured it was going to end up broken. -6 it is.

Yeah... also it's better to have it firm at .006 of than loose in the correct position.