good cheap color thermometer

[Wayne]

There must be some good cheap d***** options today, what are they? They don't need to be d*****. My old thermometer finally crapped out. I wonder if I can get something plenty good enough and plenty cheap at Walmart or Home Despot

 

[MattKing]

There must be some good cheap d***** options today, what are they? They don't need to be d*****. My old thermometer finally crapped out. I wonder if I can get something plenty good enough and plenty cheap at Walmart or Home Despot

This one seems to perform well when compared regularly to my Kodak Process Thermometer III: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0021AEAG2/ref=pe_386430_121528420_TE_dp_3
You should note a couple of points:
1) I can check its calibration against ice water and boiling water; and
2) I have been using it for black and white processes, not colour.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

There must be some good cheap d***** options today, what are they? They don't need to be d*****. My old thermometer finally crapped out. I wonder if I can get something plenty good enough and plenty cheap at Walmart or Home Despot

when will people understand that cheap and good don't go together unless you are willing to give up on quality, robustness or reliability?

 

[David Lyga]

https://www.aliexpress.com/cheap/cheap-glass-thermometer.html

 

[mgb74]

when will people understand that cheap and good don't go together unless you are willing to give up on quality, robustness or reliability?

An awful lot depends on your definition of "cheap" and of "good". For example, is the OP talking about +/- 0.5 deg or +/- 0.1 deg. One may be an order of magnitude more expensive than the other. Same with robustness.

For digital thermometers, I like the ones from Thermoworks. I use this one which is one of their cheapest models. Accuracy is rated at 0.9 deg but mine reads within 0.25 deg of my Kodak process thermometer at 68 deg. You can calibrate it, but I've never bothered to do that (I just process b/w). Get an extra one or 2 for cooking.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

I've been using old Kodak Color Thermometers. Pretty cheap on Ebay. I just replaced one I dropped and it was only about $10. They are really long too so I can put it in a graduate and it will stick out the top so I don't have to worry about dropping it in. I also have a Weston super large dial thermometer but prefer the Kodak. The only downside is they are made out of glass.

 

[NortheastPhotographic]

I have started using a digital cooking thermometer. I checked it against my Jobo color process thermometer and it is spot on. Cheap, fast, accurate. That's the ticket!

 

[Sirius Glass]

I have bought glass thermometers, sometimes expensive one, in the past but now I use the one built into the Jobo CPP2.

 

[DREW WILEY]

In this case, "good" and "cheap" are antonyms.

 

[Wayne]

Well i said good not great. You can get a good computer for a fraction of what they used to cost. I figured maybe the same has happened with thermometers since I last bought one oh, 25 years ago.

 

[Rick A]

The old adage "you get what you pay for" comes to mind here.

 

[mshchem]

Well i said good not great. You can get a good computer for a fraction of what they used to cost. I figured maybe the same has happened with thermometers since I last bought one oh, 25 years ago.

These things are dead on. I've compared to Kodak Process thermometer, some of my nice old glass lab thermometers. It takes a while to stabilize, but not much longer than any thermometer. They are only about 2 bucks a piece in bulk.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-pcs-LCD-...659873?hash=item3a9e765b21:g:o-cAAOSwHMJYEE0q

This is a random listing off ebay, there are dozens of vendors for the same product. I've never seen this in a retail environment. Petco and the like sells stuff that is a lot more expensive.

 

[mshchem]

 

[Kilgallb]

This one seems to perform well when compared regularly to my Kodak Process Thermometer III: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0021AEAG2/ref=pe_386430_121528420_TE_dp_3
You should note a couple of points:
1) I can check its calibration against ice water and boiling water; and
2) I have been using it for black and white processes, not colour.

You can calibrate with ice water as long as it distilled water.

Boiling however cannot be used for calibration. Atmospheric pressure varies the boiling point as does altitude. That is why a 3minute egg is raw in Denver.

 

[Kilgallb]

Try his cheap DVM from fry's. It comes with a thermocouple temperature probe.

Frys» Electronic Components» Test & Measurement» #4774889

At the very least you can use it to calibrate your guessing sticks.

 

[MattKing]

Boiling however cannot be used for calibration. Atmospheric pressure varies the boiling point as does altitude. That is why a 3minute egg is raw in Denver.

I live right at sea level .
More importantly, as I also have a Kodak Process thermometer, the ability to "field calibrate" the digital thermometer and compare it to a reliable standard, makes it more likely that both are reliable.

 

[AgX]

The cheapest offer would be a plain, digital medical-thermometer. I guess 3$ or so.
Disadvantage then would be that it is a maximum-thermometer, which would make it less practical. But still usable.
And it would be more precise than most other digital thermometers!

 

[Wayne]

I've been using old Kodak Color Thermometers. Pretty cheap on Ebay. I just replaced one I dropped and it was only about $10. They are really long too so I can put it in a graduate and it will stick out the top so I don't have to worry about dropping it in. I also have a Weston super large dial thermometer but prefer the Kodak. The only downside is they are made out of glass.

These things are dead on. I've compared to Kodak Process thermometer, some of my nice old glass lab thermometers. It takes a while to stabilize, but not much longer than any thermometer. They are only about 2 bucks a piece in bulk.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-pcs-LCD-...659873?hash=item3a9e765b21:g:o-cAAOSwHMJYEE0q

This is a random listing off ebay, there are dozens of vendors for the same product. I've never seen this in a retail environment. Petco and the like sells stuff that is a lot more expensive.

I went with each of these options for $25 total. Someday I'll get a process thermometer but that day won't be now. I'll see how close the Kodak is to the ones that are purportdly "dead on" with mschem's Process Thermometer, and it will be nice to have something for easy use in tall graduates

 

[AgX]

The question was "plenty good enough and plenty cheap at Walmart or Home Despot"

My advise (post #17) would be the cheapest to get locally and still among the most precise of all (error +/- 0.1°C).


(Error should not be mixed up with resolution.)

 

[btaylor]

Thanks for the tip mshchem. I just ordered 3 for $8. I have a Kodak Process thermometer so I always have a standard. I have a couple of old dial type thermometers that are off by a few degrees, but having a standard is helpful as I can compensate for the offset-- they're still useful as a result.

 

[mshchem]

Thanks for the tip mshchem. I just ordered 3 for $8. I have a Kodak Process thermometer so I always have a standard. I have a couple of old dial type thermometers that are off by a few degrees, but having a standard is helpful as I can compensate for the offset-- they're still useful as a result.

I have a nice Dial Thermometer that I have used for years for most everything. I check it from time to time against Lab glass thermometers, process thermometers etc. The cheap aquarium thermometers are very good. Some sort of thermocouple??. I drop the sensor in processor water baths. Bottles in my Jobo waterbath etc. Takes a bit for the thermometer to stabilize. They all match each other and match my well preserved Kodak Process thermometer.

I have a couple of Taylor made , glass, Kodak color thermometers that came with the little Kodak processor. The go from 75 to 110 F. Good thermometers.

Dial thermometers are risky, there are a ton of them out there. Even if they were spot on when they left the factory people adjust them or they just need calibration.

Best Mike

 

[mshchem]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_bandgap_temperature_sensor

 

[DREW WILEY]

Gosh, Kodak process thermometers are in the same league as scientific thermometers in the $250 to $300 range. I've seen em come up for sale old but UNUSED for under $50.

 

[Wayne]

process thermometers are great and I hope to own one someday. $50 isn't cheap though.