Digital Thermometer choice

maveri9720 · 10-13-2006, 05:58 PM

Hey all. I recently had a thread about wanting a precise thermometer to know exactly what my tank temp is and also to be able to use it to calibrate my other thermometers.

Well, after searching a bit, I have found these two thermometers.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...1&N=2004&Nty=1

http://www.professionalequipment.com...qx/default.htmffice

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What do you all think about these?

I was also considering the Pinpoint Thermometer, but heard some people had problems with them being off and others saying that they have 2 or more degrees variance.

I want a very accurate thermometer to get a good baseline temp for my tank and to find out the variance of my cheaper and less accurate thermometers.

Thanks all.

Fly Guy · 10-13-2006, 06:04 PM

If the pinpoint is more than two, they will mail you a new one no questions asked. And not to sound like a broken record as i already responded in your other thread, but the pinpoints ARE accurate......you just need to figure out exactly how much the calibration is off. Of the 3 pinpoints i have running off of the same monitor, one is .4 degrees off, one is 1 degree off and one is 1.4 degrees off.

Glass of water, filled with crushed ice and stirred will tell you what you need to know

maveri9720 · 10-13-2006, 06:23 PM

Bill,

Thanks for the help again. I was checking out the Checktemp therm and found some more info on it that was enticing. It is accurate to .5 degrees F and also has a calibration check feature which will send a signal of 32 degrees, +/- .5 degree to re-cal it, as opposed to having to do the whole ice cubes in cup cal.

Seems very accurate and the re-cal switch is very convenient.

I appreciate your help,

Thanks

Fly Guy · 10-13-2006, 06:28 PM

Ill tell you something about that so-called "re-cal switch". Im fairly competent at most things computer and equipment wise.....i couldnt for the life of me figure out how to make it work.....I spent an embarassing amount of time trying to figure it out.......failed...finally called Pinpoint and the guy i spoke to told me it couldnt be calibrated.....even though i could see the little button inside the battery box.......

So i just calibrated it myself and know it reads a littel bit off.

Somebody is probably going to pipe in and tell me how to do it and make me feel dumb.....but thats ok....i would actually appreciate it.

reefermike1 · 10-13-2006, 06:40 PM

i have a coralife digital thermometer. seems to work pretty good not sure of how accurate it would be, infact i never thought of it. but after reading this thread i checked it with everyother aquarium thermometer i had and they all seemed to be pretty close to eachother. if i put the probe in a glass of ice what should it read? so i could check it? how would u know how cold the ice actually was?

Fly Guy · 10-13-2006, 07:04 PM

If you fill a glass up with water and crushed ice and swirl it for 30 seconds it will be 32 degrees

reefermike1 · 10-13-2006, 07:16 PM

ok well the icy water glass just read 32.0 on my coralife digi thermometer. guess im good

maveri9720 · 10-13-2006, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefermike1

ok well the icy water glass just read 32.0 on my coralife digi thermometer. guess im good

That's good, mine read 30.6 or so.

I didn't like that too much.

Bill,

I will try it out and see how well it works. Hopefully, it isn't a switch not connected to anything, to give you a false sense of calibration.

reefermike1 · 10-13-2006, 07:51 PM

would a degree or even 2 make a differance tho as long as temp stays somewhat stable?

Loverotties · 10-13-2006, 08:06 PM

My coralife is right on also!

maveri9720 · 10-13-2006, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefermike1

would a degree or even 2 make a differance tho as long as temp stays somewhat stable?

The only thing I'm not sure about, is if that same variance continues up through the scale to where my tank water is. If it did, then it meant that my tank water was 82-83 for about 3 days with no lighting, canopy, heater, 1 Tunze pump and 2 external pumps.

I don't buy that at all. Especially when the room it's in has been around 76 degrees.

So, if I knew exactly what the difference was between the tank water and the Coralife, then I could adjust the temp mentally and be fine. I just don't have that baseline yet.

And you're right. A two degree difference is fine in a tank and stability is more important, but I don't have the luxury of knowing right now if that is the case, w/o getting a more accurate thermometer to test the water it's in.

reefermike1 · 10-13-2006, 08:49 PM

i would send an email to coralife theyll probably send u a new one, or take it back to wherever u bought it. u may just have got one that "slipped" past inspection. if mine is right and loverotties is right than its probable that u just got a bad one somehow

maveri9720 · 10-13-2006, 09:11 PM

A friend of mine was kind enough to give it to me, so no replace to return it from. I am sure it is older and has seen better days.

And from what I have been reading and researching about thermometers, the Coralife being off by a few degrees is commonplace.

You both may have good ones, but the majority of threads I saw with the Coralife digi's in them, didn't have favorable reviews of them.

Also, add to the fact that the company tells you it has a +/- 1.5 degree tolerance from the factory doesn't leave you much room for the therm to err on it's own before you start getting decent temp swings and not know it.

reefermike1 · 10-13-2006, 09:48 PM

point taken. wasnt aware of the +\- 1.5 degrees.