Salinity Testing Issue - Please Help!

[A_Blind_Reefer]

WOW! IT never occured to me about salt getting under the chrome. I will now be checking mine out. I also clean it with RO water after each use.

Well, if you rinse it it should hopefully be good. I was lazy for a long time and just wiped it with a damp microfiber cloth. The hot glue(?) they used to seal everything up wasn’t done very well on mine. It is pretty old though!

 

[Fish Fan]

By the way, this is the graduated cylinder I'm likely to order, and though glass, it doesn't break the bank for one of these. And if I'm interpreting the listing correctly, this one has a Class A Tolerance +/- 2.50 mL, which I'm assuming is more accurate than many others that are a +/- 5.00 mL rated. Not that I'm mixing rocket fuel or anything :D

Graduated Cylinder at the Big Orange Online Bookstore

 

[KStatefan]

Alright, I did my best to make Randy's DIY 35 ppt standard by measuring on my humble kitchen scale 963 mL of RODI water and 36 grams of a basic table salt without iodine. I stirred with a whisk, and then zapped it for a few seconds in the micro to bring up the temp a little. Here's what I got.

With the standard solution at 73.3 F on my Hanna Checktemp 1 and at 73.1 F on my Hanna salinity tester:
The Hanna salinity tester reported 38.7 ppt
The Milwaukee refractometer reported 35 ppt

I think that's pretty compelling right there. What do you guys make of these results?

You need two different standards to test two different types meters.

https://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/rhf/

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

FWIW I use a 1000ml glass graduated cylinder. I fill it to the top so that I can see the reading and meniscus... but i take a photo, as even with reading glasses, I can't read it well.

@A_Blind_Reefer -- I know you trust your MW digita - but the hydrometer would be a good sanity check and standard as well. You can alway take a photo or have a family member read it, when you do use it.

Oh I know it would prob be a great idea. I also have tremors and sometime my hands spasm so I drop things often. I’ve been reduced to drinking out of sippy cups! Ha! Amazingly, Ai and cameras are amazing and Ai can read the digital displays on my Milwaukee and Hanna checkers aloud to me. So far it can’t read analog gauges but who knows, maybe that will be a thing in the near future. When they come out with an impact resistant overpack for the hydrometer I’ll pick one up. Hmm….maybe that’s something one could 3d print, kinda like the slotted plastic overpacks on the older finnex titanium heaters.

 

[Miami Reef]

but my plan was to use the graduated cylinder for measuring water as well, like in making Randy's DIY calibration fluid.

Plastic ones are also used for measurements, but I agree that it’s easier to see through glass and that class A is more accurate. I bought mine after reading Kstate’s post, but I wrongfully assumed he got the plastic version.

I can’t view the link you shared. How much was it? Maybe I’ll upgrade mine. :)

 

[Fish Fan]

Plastic ones are also used for measurements, but I agree that it’s easier to see through glass and that class A is more accurate. I bought it after reading Kstate’s post, but I never knew he got the glass version.

I can’t view the link you shared. How much was it? Maybe I’ll upgrade mine. :)

Sorry, posting links to Amazon has become a pain. It's $20 shipped with Prime. Search for:

EISCO Graduated Cylinder, 500ml - Class A Tolerance ±2.50ml - Round Base - Blue Graduations - Borosilicate 3.3 Glass​

 

[Fish Fan]

You need two different standards to test two different types meters.

https://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/rhf/

I've read that article before, and reread it now, and I am not sure where it say that I need two standards or how that would work. Is there something I'm missing in that article?

 

[Miami Reef]

I've read that article before, and reread it now, and I am not sure where it say that I need two standards or how that would work. Is there something I'm missing in that article?

Conductivity, specific gravity, and hydrometers use different standards.

 

[Fish Fan]

Conductivity, specific gravity, and hydrometers use different standards.

OK, and I get that the Hanna is a conductivity tester, but I mixed some salt water to 35 ppt. Why would it not report 35 ppt here? What am I missing?

Even so, it would appear that the Milwaukee is working well, right? So I can go back to trusting that I would think.

 

[KStatefan]

I've read that article before, and reread it now, and I am not sure where it say that I need two standards or how that would work. Is there something I'm missing in that article?

Yes There are three different sections Refractometer Standard, Specific Gravity Standard and Conductivity Standard each one has a different weight percent of NaCl to simulate a 35ppt seawater.

 

[KStatefan]

OK, and I get that the Hanna is a conductivity tester, but I mixed some salt water to 35 ppt. Why would it not report 35 ppt here? What am I missing?

Even so, it would appear that the Milwaukee is working well, right? So I can go back to trusting that I would think.

Sea water is different then salt water.

 

[Fish Fan]

Sea water is different then salt water.

OK, I was just tying this idea, I get it, it's because I am just using NaCl and water here, no other electrolytes.

Thank you, I'm a little burned out on this right now, I've been stressing about this since yesterday lol!

 

[Fish Fan]

For right now, I'm going to go back to trusting the Milwaukee. I'll get the glass hydrometer ordered up so I have it on hand. I'm not sure about the Hanna, but maybe I'll try to make a different standard and do some further testing.

Thanks guys!

 

[BeanAnimal]

In my opinion there is no need for a glass cylinder since the only thing you want the cylinder for is to hold water. People just recommend 500ml graduated cylinders since they're the right size and shape for the hydrometer.

I tried a 500ml cylinder and it was marginally too small and there was a good bit of surface tension due to that small diameter,

I purchased glass so that I could see through it.

I purchased a decent quality product so that it could be used for more than floating the hydrometer bucket.

Example, it makes a nice measurement instrument for measuring water for my triton solutions.

It was $30 and is ASTM A, so +/- 3 ml

That may be $50 now... who knows.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Oh I know it would prob be a great idea. I also have tremors and sometime my hands spasm so I drop things often. I’ve been reduced to drinking out of sippy cups! Ha! Amazingly, Ai and cameras are amazing and Ai can read the digital displays on my Milwaukee and Hanna checkers aloud to me. So far it can’t read analog gauges but who knows, maybe that will be a thing in the near future. When they come out with an impact resistant overpack for the hydrometer I’ll pick one up. Hmm….maybe that’s something one could 3d print, kinda like the slotted plastic overpacks on the older finnex titanium heaters.

No glass hydrometers or graduated cylinders for you then!

Yes, hopefully the reader technology rapidly advances now that AI is being incorporated. I assume the text to speech is becoming more natural and bearable -- so added interpretation can't be far behind, maybe even real-time from a wearable and interactive earpiece is on the near horizon.

BTW - do let me know if there is anything that you do need to have 3D printed that would help you enjoy or manage the hobby.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

No glass hydrometers or graduated cylinders for you then!

Yes, hopefully the reader technology rapidly advances now that AI is being incorporated. I assume the text to speech is becoming more natural and bearable -- so added interpretation can't be far behind, maybe even real-time from a wearable and interactive earpiece is on the near horizon.

BTW - do let me know if there is anything that you do need to have 3D printed that would help you enjoy or manage the hobby.

Ha! Yeah, here’s a lot of “not for you” products that I wish I could make use of!

I have no clue how people can manage the horrible, monotonous, 8-bit era, voices with the traditional “Jaws” professional screen reader software that most enterprise/business/work require! I went to a blind/visually impaired vocational rehabilitation program for a little while and I personally could not deal with it. It was actually making me go mad. Like some sort of torture a clandestant organization might want to use for interrogation purposes mad.

Probably akin to you being locked in a room plastered with the Ai scuba diver images you mention every now and then! Apples voiceover has a multitude of great voice models to choose from and is actually pretty fantastic. Windows narrator is getting better but not as good as Apple.

While not perfect, Ai is pretty decent at reading products like in grocery store aisles instantly. As long as the graphics aren’t so wild that Ai can’t decipher. Then I have to use the barcode reader function and flip the product over and over until it picks it up, which can be hit or miss.

Thanks for the offer on printing stuff out! I actually got a Bambu printer which kinda works out. The slicer isn’t accessible so that’s a pita, but I’ve been figuring it out. Of course sketching things up is a painstaking process that I really don’t have the capability of. I’ve come up with a couple designs but I gave up as it is just too painstaking.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Maybe a few of us can do help with design and provide you ready to print files. I am sure somebody could also help you build some basic slicer presets if you need tweaks.

 

[Pistondog]

For right now, I'm going to go back to trusting the Milwaukee. I'll get the glass hydrometer ordered up so I have it on hand. I'm not sure about the Hanna, but maybe I'll try to make a different standard and do some further testing.

Thanks guys!

Milkwaukee for the win!
I agree, looks good.

 

[Fish Fan]

Milkwaukee for the win!
I agree, looks good.

Thanks for your help! I should have trusted the Milwaukee, but I got in my own head here lol!

 

[Pistondog]

Thanks for your help! I should have trusted the Milwaukee, but I got in my own head here lol!

Now that you have your diy rhf salinity reference, you can feel safe 'calibrating' your milwaukee. Sounds like it is pretty close. Just wipe it off before and after each use.