Refractometer Calibration

[Midland Beek]

Having worked out that dioptric oil is about as easy to get as kryptonite, I would be grateful if someone could suggest an alternative liquid for the purpose of calibrating a refractometer. Mine measures in the range 58-90 Brix, 38-43 Be' or 12-27% water.

Thanks.

 

[VEG]

Dioptric oil is available from the fella who sells refractometers on ebay I have some on its way.

This fella http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Honey-Refractometer-Tester-Bees-Beekeeping-Brix-ATC_W0QQitemZ230386595381QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_BOI_FarmingEquipment_RL?hash=item35a41c7635

Ask him through e-bay and he will send you a payment request I think its about £3 for the oil and reference block

 

[Hivemaker.]

Or use olive oil........

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2232&highlight=refractometer

 

[Mosquito]

I can't seem to calibrating my refractometer???
Got the oil and stone but can get the blue line to 19.5.(water % on right)
best i can do is right p the top 14.5
The screw will not turn any more.
If I turn it the other way i have nothing?

Am I doing somthing wrong?

Mozzy.

 

[Mosquito]

OK now.
I Put he oil on both sides of the stone and it worked.

 

[VEG]

Stone ?

 

[Mosquito]

Stone ?

OK glass block.
don't know why I put stone for.

 

[VEG]

Sorry just didnt know what you were trying to use

 

[Mosquito]

Just to let you know I Just ordered 2 lots of dioptric oil from Hong Kong.
For £8.00.(including shipping cost)

Take 8-12 business days to deliver to UK.
They also sell blocks.

You have to E-mail them.
E-Mail [email protected]

Mozzy.

 

[psafloyd]

Just to let you know I Just ordered 2 lots of dioptric oil from Hong Kong.
For £8.00.(including shipping cost)

Take 8-12 business days to deliver to UK.
They also sell blocks.

You have to E-mail them.
E-Mail [email protected]

Mozzy.

I ordered a small bottle with my refractometer, but haven't used it as I don't know how to calibrate with the oil.

Can someone do a refractometer for dummies sticky, please?

 

[oliver90owner]

I wouldn't bother actually 'adjusting/calibrating' it. I would simply add or subtract whatever you find as the error. It is simply not that important. You are not carrying out a laboratory assay on your honey! It is a rough and ready check to assess whether it will or will not ferment.

As Hivemaker says, buy yourself a bottle of olive oil and once you know what that reads, and represents, you will have enough oil to last a lifetime.

RAB

 

[psafloyd]

As Hivemaker says, buy yourself a bottle of olive oil and once you know what that reads, and represents, you will have enough oil to last a lifetime.

RAB

RAB,

This is all new to me, so I may be just being thick, however...

If you buy a bottle of oil and measure it against the scale, you will only know the reading of that oil on that apparatus. that doesn't give you an accurate baseline for measuring your honey, does it?

 

[Mosquito]

Try here.

http://www.grapestompers.com/articles/refractometer_use.asp

Only diffents is, you add the oil, then put the block on top.
And drop the block on the floor many times.

 

[Mosquito]

As Hivemaker says, buy yourself a bottle of olive oil and once you know what that reads, and represents, you will have enough oil to last a lifetime.

RAB

your saying once you calibrate with the dioptric oil.
Then see what olive oil is and take a note of it.
And you can calibrate with olive oil.

I should of only ordered 1 bottle.

 

[oliver90owner]

I meant exactly what I wrote, so some may need to read it more carefully. Whether you want to use dioptic oil, a known sugar solution, or any other oil/lquid/solution/other of known RI, I couldn't care a jot. All I said was that when you have done it your bottle of olive oil, or whatever will last as long as it's shelf-life, and a good deal more.

RAB

 

[psafloyd]

I meant exactly what I wrote, so some may need to read it more carefully. Whether you want to use dioptic oil, a known sugar solution, or any other oil/lquid/solution/other of known RI, I couldn't care a jot. All I said was that when you have done it your bottle of olive oil, or whatever will last as long as it's shelf-life, and a good deal more.

RAB

I did read it, but my point is (and this is where I may be wrong), that one needs to know the index of the dioptic oil in order to calibrate. Is that not the case?

Once that is assured, then the baseline is achieved and readings may be made with a degree of certainty.

My point is, I have some dioptic oil, but do not know its refractive index, so cannot be sure of my reading. I suppose I might find an average figure for this, but it is still a bit of a punt. But you're right that it probably doesn't amount to a hill of beans.

 

[WaxManSmokerBoy]

RAB,

This is all new to me, so I may be just being thick, however...

If you buy a bottle of oil and measure it against the scale, you will only know the reading of that oil on that apparatus. that doesn't give you an accurate baseline for measuring your honey, does it?

Olive oil circa Sept 2009

The zero you can check with distilled water, for a specific scale reading you can use olive oil. I checked mine when it was new against what I predicted it should read and it was spot on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_oil

says virgin olive oil has a refractive index of 1.4677–1.4705

http://www.2spi.com/catalog/ltmic/brix.html

Shows that a refractive index of 1.4680 -1.470 should read 71.0 -71.8 Brix

Given the refractometer scale is marked every 0.5 Brix I took my reference point for olive oil as being 71.5 Brix or or 26.5% water

Making a bit of a meal of it I think. Fixing the operating point with reference to Olive Oil will make things OK. We are only aligning the scale against a known reference, not recalibrating the whole scale.

No wonder people get confused when a simple issue gets talked to death.

I'm looking forward to the usual annual Oxalic Acid debate which will also confuse the life out of most mortals, for no good reason, when the simple answer is to have a bit of confidence and Read the packet or instructions that come with your chemical or device.

Madre mio!

Cor luv-a-duck sort them out Hivemaker . . . it's these irresponsible journalists again . . .

 

[psafloyd]

Making a bit of a meal of it I think. Fixing the operating point with reference to Olive Oil will make things OK. We are only aligning the scale against a known reference, not recalibrating the whole scale.

No wonder people get confused when a simple issue gets talked to death.

Cor luv-a-duck sort them out Hivemaker . . . it's these irresponsible journalists again . . .

The point I'm making, WMSB, is that if I don't know the index, I cannot calibrate the apparatus.

I don't know the index of the oil supplied and I cannot know the index of the olive oil I get as the index will surely differ.

If that is not the case, then if someone can confirm that and the average is x, I will happily do that.

If I understood, I wouldn't ask for clarification.

 

[WaxManSmokerBoy]

Given the refractometer scale is marked every 0.5 Brix I took my reference point for olive oil as being 71.5 Brix or or 26.5% water.

Virgin olive oil. I suppose that there will be some small deviation, but like electronics, 5% components are more than adequate for the job in almost all cases.

There is no nuclear reaction going to occur with a small error, just don't buy your virgin olive oil from a dodgy source for goodness sake.

The two links given by M100 surely spelled it out quite clearly. Did you read them?
The Wiki gave the refractive index of virgin and refined olive oil and the expected latitude; the other gave the conversion table from refractive index to Brix.

For the real newbees, please explain what's so difficult to digest about that?

If in real difficulty take up making mead.

My mate Hombre reckoned that you were fairly smart, but I think he might be wrong.

 

[VEG]

wow 17 posts and allready taking the urine