Calibrating Your Own Thermometer For Accurate Readings

By Author: Joseph Aditya
Total Articles: 38
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If you are in the food industry business, food safety requires accurate record keeping, according to the HACCP guidelines. One of the most important benchmarks is the temperature in order to check the “critical control point” or the CCP. When talking about thermometers, you need to calibrate them in order to guarantee their accuracy. You can do so through the DIY method or if you are in Indonesia, there are service providers which offer thermometer calibration so you can avoid all that hassle.

What’s the benchmark for accuracy?

A thermometer should be calibrated to be within 1.1° C or +/- 2° F of the actual temperature. But how do you know the actual temperature? There are many ways to do this such as using a certified reference thermometer or the measurement using the national standards, or using boiling water or ice water as reference points. Of course, the simplest way is to avail of the thermometer calibration service. In Indonesia, Tridinamika Test and Measurement Company offers the most affordable solutions not just with thermometers but also calibration of flowmeter or calibration of PH meter services ...
... as well.

Using ice water or boiling water

One of the most affordable ways to calibrate a thermometer is using ice water or boiling water as reference points. But it doesn’t mean that this is the simplest method especially if you don’t know what you are doing because of the number of considerations involved. It’s important to use distilled water for accurate readings because the solutes found in tap water will impact the freezing or boiling points. Then you have to consider the altitude when you perform the calibration. For example, at 10,000 feet or above sea level, water will boil at 194°F or 90°C. Compare that to the sea level where pure water will boil at 212°F or 100°C. Then you also have to take into consideration barometric pressure which will either have an impact or not. For one, how do you know the elevation of your area? But you can skip all these processes when you avail of the thermometer calibration service and get accurate readings every time.

High temperature thermometers

The rule of thumb is, boiling water is used to calibrate thermometers that are designed for higher temperature food products while ice water is used to calibrate thermometers designed for lower temperatures. Again, distilled water is used and you always have to keep in mind to prevent the thermometer from getting into contact with the container or glass in order to get the most accurate readings. Due to its experience and its technology, Tridinamika has always provided exact calibration through its thermometer calibration services.

Author has years of experience of testing and measuring tools and here sharing valuable information on thermometer calibration process for among the all reader here . For more details visits www.tridinamika.com.