Eek! I broke my thermometer!

[John Kasaian]

Any recommendations for a replacement? I'd like to get a dial thermometer this time 'round!

[Ari]

Here's one, digital readout on a dial:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/100065-REG/General_Brand_NPST9268B_PT100_Digital_Stem_Thermometer.html

[BetterSense]

I've never seen a reliable, accurate dial thermometer. I think I can feel temperature more consistently.

I have a handful of these things. They are very durable, check out well against my Kodak process thermometer, and they are waterproof so it's no problem if you drop them in a tray or something.

http://www.amazon.com/Taylor-9842-Commercial-Waterproof-Thermometer/dp/tags-on-product/B00009WE45

[onnect17]

Check the pets department in you closest Walmart. For a couple of bucks you get this:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Aqua-Culture-Aquarium-Floating-Thermometer-1-ct/10795052

I use it all the time and the accuracy is better than 2F for sure. You also can bring a reference to the store and pick the most accurate.

[Ed Kelsey]

Hope it wasn't a rectal one.

[Brian C. Miller]

I found out that my Delta thermometer had gone way out of calibration a few months ago, and I replaced it with a Weston large dial thermometer. It's spot-on with my Kodak glass thermometer.

[cyrus]

I use a stainless steel dishwasher-safe digital thermometer. It can take dunkings and falls without a problem and is always accurate. They go for about $20 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00064BCPM/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001BQ1W5E&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=10PK0YH72TB9WV1EVR4X).

[Lachlan 717]

Ikea has good digital ones that are a steel probe on a steel cable used for cooking. The long shaft on the probe is great for getting into the chemical bottles/flasks, and the display has a magnetic back.

Have a look here (http://www.ikea.com/au/en/images/products/fantast-meat-thermometer-timer__59837_PE165774_S4.jpg).

[tgtaylor]

I have a Premier Adjustable Large Dial Thermometer for 6 or 7 years that I have been very satisfied with: http://www.camcor.com/cgi-bin/cat/id=1046102629;fg=PRELDT

I synchronize it with the 2 Jobo glass thermometers that came with the CPA2 which I store together and both read exactly the same temperature. Once synchronized, the Premier reads exactly the same temperature as the Jobo's until it's knocked out of adjustment as it gets used more than the Jobo's - which just sit clamped in the trough when rotary processing - and occasionally falls into the sink or even on the floor! Pretty rugged thermometer.

Thomas

[cyrus]

Ikea has good digital ones that are a steel probe on a steel cable used for cooking. The long shaft on the probe is great for getting into the chemical bottles/flasks, and the display has a magnetic back.

Have a look here (http://www.ikea.com/au/en/images/products/fantast-meat-thermometer-timer__59837_PE165774_S4.jpg).

I tried one of these (not from Ikea per se) and they took too long to measure the temp.

[BetterSense]

I have one of those Ikea ones, and it was a waste of money. I didn't find it easy to use.

[Lachlan 717]

I have one of those Ikea ones, and it was a waste of money. I didn't find it easy to use.

Not sure how it is any more difficult to use than a regular/glass one. You put in the probe and you read the temp.

As for being slow, I don't think it's any slower than a glass one. However, even if it is it'd be less than 5 seconds. If 5 seconds is too long to wait, perhaps digital is a better option for you?

[cyrus]

The one i used took longer to give a reading . Im just telling you my experience for whatever it is worth.

[jp]

I ve used the the weston dial thermometer also. It's I've had it for 20+ years now and it's been reliable and precise.

[Greg Blank]

Go digital. Cleaner and more accurate. Edmonds Scientific should have lots of options.


Any recommendations for a replacement? I'd like to get a dial thermometer this time 'round!

[photobymike]

Hope it wasn't a rectal one.

Do you know how a nurse tells the difference from a rectal thermometer and a oral thermometer? "taste"

LOL my wife is a nurse...

[Lenny Eiger]

I did a lot of research on this a couple of years ago and I found that you can't really get an accurate thermometer these days for a reasonable price - for photography. We want something that's accurate usually in the neighborhood of 68-75 Degrees F and even the nicer ones are set to be accurate only at "points", which means 0 degrees and 100 degrees Celsius. This includes ones labeled Traceable and/or NIST. (I had two of them in the $50 range that didn't agree - by about 2 or 3 degrees.) They can all vary wildly in the middle of the range, where we need it to be accurate.

Finally, someone took pity on me and gave me a real device. I did a print for him of his grandparents and he was happy with the exchange..

I ended up with a VWR Dual Digital Thermometer that's a square box with a probe. I just went to vwr's site ( www.vwrsp.com ) and they have a lot. Plenty more in the $100 range than when I was looking before. I would suggest you get someone on the phone and ask them the exact range the device is accurate in if before you buy anything (whether you choose a vwr or some other brand).

Accuracy is different than repeatability of course, and most of us just need the latter. But if you are interested in accuracy, forget glass, forget dial and get something with a probe...

Lenny

[Drew Wiley]

There used to be a scientific supplier right around the corner who sold nothing but
thermometers, all kinds of them, but I think he croaked. But there are plenty of other
sources. Lab Safety Supply carries certified thermometers optimized in the correct range for darkroom use - very pricey compared to uncertified. I gave up on digital thermometers a long time ago - too slow. Now I only use the Kodak Process thermometer.

[Drew Wiley]

Oh glass vs digital thermometers, the digital have to be recalibrated from time to time,
and I found the Kodak thermometer more accurate anyway. But a certified glass thermometer does cost about three or four times as much as one of the better digital
ones. Yeah, I do mean three or four hundred dollars. Not surprising. The Kodak was
something like eighty or ninety bucks twenty years ago.

[photobymike]

i use a Kodak process thermometer i bought on ebay for 20 bucks

[Lenny Eiger]

For all you folks who believe the Kodak myth about their thermometers..... when I got my super accurate one that was calibrated across the scale when I got it, I of course, went and tested all my other thermometers. My Kodak glass one was the worst of the lot, off by 6 degrees.... Patterson and Chinese ones were much closer....

Lenny

[Drew Wiley]

My process line and thermoregulator for color separation negatives is calibrated within 1/10 degree F! My Kodak Process thermometer is spot on at all the critical temps I use in the dkrm for either color of b&w work. No myth there. Are we even talking about the same model of thermometer?

[Drew Wiley]

Just to be certain that we are talking about the same thing - at today's prices adjusted for inflation, a Kodak Process thermometer would cost around $300 new, not
$50. Congratulations if any of you have picked up the real deal on Fleabay at bargain
prices. I'd sure like to stumble onto another one.

[mandoman7]

What matters is consistency, not so much finding the "correct" temperature, like it says in the books. I use a Kodak glass one as my standard and have several dial thermometers that have been marked with the amount they vary from the Kodak standard (I broke several kodak ones and settled on this procedure). I like the dial versions for banging around the sink.
The other evolution that happened in my procedure was when I started measuring during and after my development cycles...

[Drew Wiley]

For certain processes actual temperature is important, and not just repeatability. Anyway, it's helpful to have reference standard for the more casual intruments.

[mandoman7]

You're right, I forgot some people are crazy enough to do their own color processing...;)

[Drew Wiley]

It's not nice to call schizophrenics crazy. I'll admit that the voices in my head keep arguing back and forth whether I should be a color photographer or a black and white one. Even worse, I print color using three different systems. But at least my thermometer works!