THERMOMETERS

[David Lyga]

Decades ago my father gave me a 'refrigeration' thermometer that has served me well. It is about 6 inches long, filled with mercury, and has (important here) a metal tip at the bottom which quickly registers temp change in a liquid. It is quite accurate and very consistent. Since the advent of 'no mercury' it has been very difficult to replace this fine, simple instrument. I hope it does not break. I also have a Kodak process thermometer which I rarely use because of its extreme fragility and bulk. It serves as a good 'reference'.

My question is this: with thermometers serving so very many uses in our world, where is the 'best' place to seek a similar thermometer like my 'refrigeration' one? I do not really like the 'glass enclosed', cheap thermometers that used to be sold for darkroom work because, without the metal tip at the bottom, the time it takes to read a temperature is too long. Assuming that one does not need 'within 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit' accuracy, just consistency, ease of use, and quickness of ability to register change, WHAT might one seek and WHERE might one look? Walking into a Walmart forces one to look in divers departments (home, kitchen, pharmacy; the list goes on).

Life used to be easier before 'restrictions' took hold. (I have hoarded 400 100 Watt light bulbs!) - David Lyga

 

[dwross]

"Bed, Bath, and Beyond" is my personal favorite darkroom supply store. Every time I go in, I find a new toy. The Polder brand of thermometers is serving me well.

 

[Sundowner]

I can't help you with a metal-tip refrigeration thermometer, but I can suggest that you go to a simple $10 digital unit. The ones I buy at Wal-Mart (kitchen section, incidentally) have been wonderful: they read instantly and if they get wet, you just let them dry out and they keep working. I've checked them against some very precise lab thermometers and the cheap models are either spot-on, or accurate to within 1/10th of a degree (I have four). That's close enough for me. I've got a nice analog thermometer (Kalt, I believe) that I never use...it's just not as user-friendly.

I've got a few incandescent bulbs as well, but I've pretty much switched over to the ultra-warm CFL's or LED units. We just have enclosed-bulb fixtures that temper the light to non-migraine-inducing levels. Good light, saves energy, saves money...win, win, win.

 

[Loren Sattler]

Try ebay. I recently bought an old mercury thermometer there.

 

[Worker 11811]

Mercury thermometers can be had here:
http://shop2.chemassociates.com/page530.html

 

[semi-ambivalent]

Mercury thermometers can be had here:
http://shop2.chemassociates.com/page530.html

530 pages!? Now that's a catalog. I remember in high school looking through the Cencor catalog like it was the Sears catalog.

s-a

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

Another vote for the $10 digital cooking thermometers.

 

[kato669]

Second the vote for a digital cooking thermometer (got mine at Walmart)

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

 

[Bob-D659]

The $7 indoor/outdoor ones work well, remove the plastic housing on the exterior probe and paint 6" of the wire and the thermistor with liquid electrical tape. Harbor Freight have a SS probed digital refrigeration style one as well. On sale even.

http://www.harborfreight.com/instant-read-digital-thermometer-95382.html

Print the ad and take it to your local store to make sure you get the sale price.

 

[MattKing]

I have a Kodak process thermometer. It serves as my calibration standard. I store it carefully (upright) at the back of a closet, with protection around it.

I use a $15.00 digital thermometer - one with a probe at the end of a cord. I check that thermometer against my calibration standard.

 

[Worker 11811]

530 pages!? Now that's a catalog. I remember in high school looking through the Cencor catalog like it was the Sears catalog.

s-a

Post Apple Scientific is just across town from where I live. Only takes 20-30 minutes to get there from my house.
The owner is a pretty good guy. He can get whatever you need, within the limits of the law. If he knows you well enough, those limits can be stretched a little.

He's the only place where I can get real tincture of iodine. There's some rule that says you're only allowed to buy 2 grams of elemental iodine crystals at a time. (Or some amount. I forget exactly.) But, if you go there to talk to the guy in person, explain what you want and why you want it he can be convinced to sell you a little more.

 

[artonpaper]

I've gone digital. Edmund scientific makes a good one. Fischer and other scientific suppliers sell them as wll. They are fast and accurate. You want one that's got a probe or is specifically water tight. The first one I bought, I think it in a photo store, was a wand type with the read-out at the top. Within days I dropped it into a beaker and drowned out the circuitry.