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.
Can this thermometer be fixed?
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It's not mercury - it's alcohol.
Some times cooling it down (with ice and salt) helps.
Some times cooling it down (with ice and salt) helps.
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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.
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.
You can try shaking the down the thermometer, cooling and heating the thermometer.
Sage advice.
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.
Just store it vertical. The air bubble will disappear within some days (if you are unlucky weeks).
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.
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
How do you know that
I said do not ask. It was a shattering experience.
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.
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!)
(And now I give more attention to storing them vertical!)
A bit on the manufacture of thermometers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBC8EgEgYHs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBC8EgEgYHs
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142996&highlight=thermometer+separation
I posted this and, following the second reply, restored the thermometer.
I posted this and, following the second reply, restored the thermometer.
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
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.
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.
OP
OP
What causes thermometers to do this?
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