Water %

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Good tip...perhaps It's the first thing to do after buying it
I recalibrate mine before every extraction/bottling session. It only takes a minute with a drop of extra virgin olive oil and occasionally it's been 0.5% out so worth the hassle in my opinion.
 
At £10 or £11 the cheap ATC ones are a no brainer just to have in the cupboard. As above a quick calibration prior to use Extra or Virgin Olive oil is an ideal source to use and one can use 27% to get a pretty good calibration and within approx. 0.2%.
If one wants dioptric oil and a block then the more expensive price tags are the ones to look at , tbh these aren't needed.
 
If you intend to sell
On a scale of 1(gimmick) to 10(must have), where does a refractometer fall? Wondering if I need to be getting one?

If you intend to sell, or even give away your surplus the biggest shame a beekeeper can bestow on themselves, is to be known for supplying fermented honey.
 
I recommend Index instruments. The one I bought from them 20+ yrs ago has never needed adjusting. They are refractometer specialists and have been making and selling refractrometers since 1975 (although they are getting some of them made in Asia these days)

Just looked at their website, I'm hoping something is not quite right as if you scroll down, they say the next trade fair is in 2014!!
 
ATC is not a brand. It means Automatic Temperature Compensation

Yes quite right it is not a brand which my post may have implied.
They are a generic China model which I think one can find for sale at various prices, albeit at £10 or £50 or more.
 
Ah! Oh well! Try again! I thought it was a bargain.
 
My sample I tested before posting to CEH was 17% with my £10.22 Refractometer I calibrated with EVOO using 27% and Liquid Paraffin BP using 24.5%, CEH reading was 16.5% so within 0.5%.
 
so...i have some buckets about 17%....just spun a super which is bang on 20%....mix with other buckets or feed back.....i think best to feed back....thoughts?
I would put the 20% in a warming cabinet for a few days. My 20% half bucket is losing about 0.5% per day at present.
 
so...i have some buckets about 17%....just spun a super which is bang on 20%....mix with other buckets or feed back.....i think best to feed back....thoughts?
I'd feed it back. 17.1 per cent and lower is the magic number.
 
I would put the 20% in a warming cabinet for a few days. My 20% half bucket is losing about 0.5% per day at present.
It went from 20 to 18.5 in 3 days but it's slowed down in the last 2 days. Still just over 18%
 
I use a chopstick to take samples from my cells. After years of playing guess the water content by the way the honey lifts off the refractometer glass with the chopstick, I don't actually need the refractometer any more. Always a fun game to play. In a similar way I learnt from my dad how to guess wheat water content by how it bites between your incisors.
 

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