Thermometer Woes
I have half a dozen thermometers and none of them agree with each other consistently.
I accidentally ran my digital thermometer through a washing machine cycle a couple weeks ago and just the other day finally got an acceptable replacement. The first replacement, trying to save money, was a failure, it read 38 degrees in an ice bath and couldn’t be calibrated. I sent that back and got one that is both waterproof and can be calibrated.
In an ice bath it reads a steady 32°F. Enough ice was crushed into tiny pieces with a hammer to fill a styrofoam cup and I then filled it with water and allowed it to stabilize. I feel confident that the temperature reading is correct. The cheapo $1.50 aquarium thermometer also read exactly 32°F in the ice bath.
I placed the two $1 from Hong Kong digital thermometers into the bath and they both read 1.4°F lower than the new thermometer. This is the same deviation as observed previously in the aquariums.
My Reef Keeper Lite arrived yesterday and it reads consistently 1°F lower than the new thermometer.
Here’s the twist, the cheapo $1.50 thermometer reads the same as the RKL when in the tank. The new digital thermometer is still reading exactly 1°F more though.
Unfortunately my digital “fever” thermometer needs a new battery so I can’t check against that. I’ve been thinking of buying a lab grade thermometer or perhaps an old school alcohol “fever” thermometer because I don’t know which to trust. I think I might just split the difference on the RKL and set the temperature control to 77.5°F.
