Refractormeter - Not Calibrating Properly...or is it me

[Guest Bemmer]

Hey all,

I while measuring the salinity of my tank water, I decided to calibrate my refractormeter to be sure it was set at 'zero'. I calibrated it with fresh RO/DI water that had been sitting in my freshwater vat for several days, so the water temp was around 80 degrees. After calibrating it to 'zero', then measuring the salinity of the tank water, I decided to check the calibration again with fresh water to be sure it was still at 'zero'. It was not at zero, it was at 1.002. I made sure to wipe off the refractormeter with a clean paper towel and to clean out the syringe with freshwater between measurements. But I still came up with a reading greater than zero with fresh water. Why is this?? Do I need to recalibrate everytime I use the refractormeter? Am I not doing something correctly?

 

Thanks for your input

[Pat_13]

Try calibrating with distilled water and clean lens and cover with a damp cloth.

 

I calibrate every 2 months or so.

[Lee Stearns]

Becca ,

I have never found mine off. I checked it twice about 6 months apart and it was always calibrated to zero where I set it out of the box so I have not checked mine in a long time.

Lee