Can this thermometer be fixed?

f/16 · Sep 17, 2015

Is there anything I can do to get the mercury to unite? I put it in hot water but it pushed up the separate piece further.

Prof_Pixel · Sep 17, 2015

It's not mercury - it's alcohol.

Some times cooling it down (with ice and salt) helps.

Bill Burk · Sep 17, 2015

Yes of course, that big bulbous space for air in the top gives room for the liquid to enter and compress the air slightly but not rupture the glass. There's a limit to how fast and how hot you can make the thermometer. So be careful and raise the temperature slowly until the liquid enters the bulb at top, and cool it down slowly.

Carriage · Sep 17, 2015

I kept heating mine until it joined, so pretty much to the top. I don't really know how accurate it is but I haven't had issues and compared to a couple of other thermometers it seemed close enough.

Yeah, do it slowly

ic-racer · Sep 17, 2015

This is a common problem fixed with cooling. Get all the liquid in the bulb, then re-heat. You may have to do it a few times if there are multiple separated areas. There should be no 'pinch' in the column to hold the reading, so shaking it down like an oral thermometer is not needed.

Sirius Glass · Sep 17, 2015

You can try shaking the down the thermometer, cooling and heating the thermometer.

Sirius Glass · Sep 17, 2015

APUGuser19 said:
Be careful about heating up thermometers to the top. I had a Kodak Color Thermometer blow up in my face into little bitty pieces all over the bathroom once in 1974. Luckily I wear glasses, but there was blue ink all over that bathroom.

Sage advice.

Xmas · Sep 17, 2015

Always store it right way up vertical.

Sirius Glass · Sep 17, 2015

When one shakes down a thermometer, always leave a lot of room around the other end. Do not bother to ask me how I know this.

bdial · Sep 18, 2015

Sirius Glass said:
When one shakes down a thermometer, always leave a lot of room around the other end. Do not bother to ask me how I know this.

I like to make sure I have a finger over the end of the bulb. DAMHIK

I've had some luck with careful heating (all the way up to the expansion area) and cooling and shaking. Cooling alone didn't work for me.

BUT, based on my experience, I'd only do it with a thermometer I knew was accurate to begin with.
I once spent several hours over a few days getting the column of a thermometer I bought from a 2nd hand shop back together only to find it was several degrees off anyway.

chrisaisenbrey · Sep 18, 2015

Just store it vertical. The air bubble will disappear within some days (if you are unlucky weeks).

Hatchetman · Sep 18, 2015

one time I was shaking down a mercury thermometer, it hit my wedding ring, the mercury immediately got absorbed by the ring, and my ring was ruined. unless I wanted to wear a hazy gold/mercury ring for the rest of my life.

RobC · Sep 18, 2015

Sirius Glass said:
When one shakes down a thermometer, always leave a lot of room around the other end. Do not bother to ask me how I know this.

How do you know that

RobC · Sep 18, 2015

Hatchetman said:
one time I was shaking down a mercury thermometer, it hit my wedding ring, the mercury immediately got absorbed by the ring, and my ring was ruined. unless I wanted to wear a hazy gold/mercury ring for the rest of my life.

You might go mad as a hatter.

I've often wondered about mercury in tooth fillings being a source of madness.

Hatchetman · Sep 18, 2015

RobC said:
You might go mad as a hatter.
.

exactly what I was worried about. though it may have improved my outlook on life.

GRHazelton · Sep 18, 2015

RobC said:
You might go mad as a hatter.

I've often wondered about mercury in tooth fillings being a source of madness.

My Tooth Dentist, Crazy Chris, says "Not to worry!" BTW, there is a dentist in Macon, GA, who is a descendant of Doc Holliday, he of the gunfight at the O K Corral fame. Somewhere on this site is the info: http://www.hollidaydental.com/LDH.htm

Sirius Glass · Sep 18, 2015

Sirius Glass said:
When one shakes down a thermometer, always leave a lot of room around the other end. Do not bother to ask me how I know this.

RobC said:
How do you know that

I said do not ask. It was a shattering experience.

mgb74 · Sep 18, 2015

Every time I've tried to rejoin the alcohol, I've ended up breaking the darn thing. I have a Kodak color thermometer - mercury - with a bit of separation. I'll try the storing vertical but hesitant to try the heat method given my past lack of success.

DWThomas · Sep 19, 2015

Maybe I've just been lucky, but I have used slow heat a number of times successfully. I normally start with a container of water within the temperature range of the thermometer and then add heat slo-o-oly. For one that tops out at 120ºF or so, it can be done using hot tap water, if a higher range, I use a pot of water on the stove, burner set very low. One wants to bring the column up slowly, especially as it approaches the top. And if need be, lifting it out of the water immediately puts it in retreat mode. The alcohol based ones have generally burped a little bubble and repaired the column easily. Mercury columns, a tap or three on the side helps to rearrange the column. If there are multiple breaks, it may take a few repeats. I suppose if the break were way down toward the bottom of the fluid column, freezing might be a better start. Mine were usually within a centimeter of the top.

(And now I give more attention to storing them vertical!)

AgX · Sep 19, 2015

Do it as the manufacturer says:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnfBYby1c0w

AgX · Sep 19, 2015

A bit on the manufacture of thermometers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBC8EgEgYHs

mklw1954 · Sep 21, 2015

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142996&highlight=thermometer+separation

I posted this and, following the second reply, restored the thermometer.

David Lyga · Sep 22, 2015

I heated mine (Kodak Color) in a pot of boiling water, but FIRST I made damn sure that my eyes were fully protected. I worked ... for a few minutes, then separated once again. I did not try what ic-racer suggested: doing the opposite by freezing it to get all the alcohol into the bulb. I will try that when I get a chance. - David Lyga

AgX · Sep 22, 2015

Not all thermometers have a second bubble at the top. I wonder to what extent the lacking of it hampers any attempt for reunification of the stem segments by heating.

As already hinted at, alternatives are swinging the thermometer with the bottom part to the outer or cooling it down sat its bottom.

Last resort would be sending the thermometer to the manufacture to do that job.

f/16 · Sep 23, 2015

What causes thermometers to do this?

Can this thermometer be fixed?

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