Pond Boss Magazine
https://www.pondboss.com/images/userfiles/image/20130301193901_6_150by50orangewhyshouldsubscribejpeg.jpg
Advertisment
Newest Members
Shotgun01, Dan H, Stipker, LunkerHunt23, Jeanjules
18,451 Registered Users
Forum Statistics
Forums36
Topics40,899
Posts557,082
Members18,451
Most Online3,612
Jan 10th, 2023
Top Posters
esshup 28,414
ewest 21,474
Cecil Baird1 20,043
Bill Cody 15,110
Who's Online Now
9 members (Sunil, Jared015, Freg, Justin W, LeighAnn, Donatello, Theo Gallus, homewardbound, DenaTroyer), 786 guests, and 227 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043
Likes: 1
Hall of Fame
Lunker
OP Offline
Hall of Fame
Lunker
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043
Likes: 1
For you Texans, no I'm not talking about ponds. LOL

Looking for some decent quality digital temp displays with probes for small DIY RAS tanks. Something I can mount to the tank for easy reading. Tried a couple cheapies that are used for aquariums off of Amazon last year. Went into the trash can in no time. Didn't even read the same temps!

This one seems better quality and higher priced from Granger. Probe is waterproof.


http://www.grainger.com/product/EXTECH-Digital-Thermometer-4FB69?s_pp=false&picUrl=//static.grainger.com/rp/s/is/image/Grainger/4FB69_AS01?$smthumb$

I have a high quality YSI 550-A D.O/temp meter hat does a good job of measuring temps, but it would be nice to not have to lug it around and just look at a display on the tank.

Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 11/15/15 12:44 PM.

If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.






Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 996
Likes: 57
T
Offline
T
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 996
Likes: 57
Wonder if you could find one that is wifi capable. Would be handy if you could monitor temps on your smart phone while your away. (Like my home HVAC thermostat has an iPhone app)

Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043
Likes: 1
Hall of Fame
Lunker
OP Offline
Hall of Fame
Lunker
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043
Likes: 1
Don't even have a cell phone! LOL
I think I'm the last person on earth without one!


If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.






Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 2,386
B
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
Offline
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
B
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 2,386
Again, I envy ya. I got a smart phone that is just plain stupid. Don't know if it would suit your purpose but I just have an old fashioned thermometer that is in a plastic body that I have screwed to a 4' broom handle and just clamp that on the end of the pier. Couple of bucks at the dollar store and surprisingly accurate. Have ta scrub the algae off every few weeks.


Do nature a favor, spay/neuter your pets and any weird friends or relatives.
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043
Likes: 1
Hall of Fame
Lunker
OP Offline
Hall of Fame
Lunker
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043
Likes: 1
You know Bob that's an idea. If I get a big enough one and it's water proof it just might do it. You're giving me ideas!


If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.






Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 2,386
B
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
Offline
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
B
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 2,386
Well Cecil anything I can do to help get those Tilapia ready.


Do nature a favor, spay/neuter your pets and any weird friends or relatives.
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 6,692
J
JKB Offline
Hall of Fame 2015
Lunker
Offline
Hall of Fame 2015
Lunker
J
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 6,692
If you want to check accuracy, do an Ice Point Melt Test.

Fill a glass full of ice, pour in some water to the top, let the ice melt a bit, stick the thermocouple, or whatever in there, swirl it around a bit and that should give you your offset from 32°F, or 0°C.

I have a bunch of NIST Certified stuff here, but people don't understand what this really is wink All this is, is NIST is telling you how screwed up your stuff is and the offsets you need to deal with.

Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 6,080
Likes: 1
Offline
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 6,080
Likes: 1
FWIW the food industry might provide an option for you. Digital thermometers are typically either thermistor or thermocouple and remote probes allow reading outside the environment being checked. Just walk up to the tank and press a button for an instant reading or, leave it on, and it can sound an alarm if a temperature is exceeded. A good one is less than $50 and accuracy is really quite good.

Last edited by Bill D.; 11/15/15 08:00 PM.

[Linked Image]
Be Brave Enough to Suck at Something New!
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 6,692
J
JKB Offline
Hall of Fame 2015
Lunker
Offline
Hall of Fame 2015
Lunker
J
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 6,692
Originally Posted By: Bill D.
FWIW the food industry might provide an option for you. Digital thermometers are typically either thermistor or thermocouple and remote probes allow reading outside the environment being checked. Just walk up to the tank and press a button for an instant reading or, leave it on, and it can sound an alarm if a temperature is exceeded. A good one is less than $50 and accuracy is really quite good.


Find me one for under $50.00 that would stand up. I know a huge blueberry farm and processing center that would love cheap stuff.

Any communication protocol to get back to a master?

Usually ain't cheap to rig something like this up.

Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 6,080
Likes: 1
Offline
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 6,080
Likes: 1
Here is a cheap but good one of the type that I had in mind. I may be missing something though as the statement "that will hold up" makes me think the duty/environment is much harder than I am thinking.

http://www.amazon.com/MT004-Kitchen-Ther...TZ0CMD7W3DS1A9G


[Linked Image]
Be Brave Enough to Suck at Something New!
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 6,692
J
JKB Offline
Hall of Fame 2015
Lunker
Offline
Hall of Fame 2015
Lunker
J
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 6,692
Originally Posted By: Bill D.
Here is a cheap but good one of the type that I had in mind. I may be missing something though as the statement "that will hold up" makes me think the duty/environment is much harder than I am thinking.

http://www.amazon.com/MT004-Kitchen-Ther...TZ0CMD7W3DS1A9G


Way off dude. You said the food industry and not someones kitchen at home. Two very different worlds.

Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 6,080
Likes: 1
Offline
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 6,080
Likes: 1
Sorry for the confusion. Matter of semantics. I consider restaurants part of the food industry and these type devices are used routinely to both cook and monitor food temps in that venu.

Last edited by Bill D.; 11/15/15 09:24 PM.

[Linked Image]
Be Brave Enough to Suck at Something New!
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 6,692
J
JKB Offline
Hall of Fame 2015
Lunker
Offline
Hall of Fame 2015
Lunker
J
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 6,692
Understandable.

Going over the blueberry rig again today, the last price from a few years ago to monitor temp and humidity in 12 storage rooms was $28K. Oh, they did not want to spend that much.

Last edited by JKB; 11/16/15 04:54 PM. Reason: update
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 99
M
Lunker
Offline
Lunker
M
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 99
If simple and cheap are the consideration then a floating thermometer might work.
I have been using a floating brewing thermometer in my aquarium for years.
They are extra large, maybe 8" long, easy to read, not like the little ones sold in pet stores.
It is glass, so you need to be careful and I only use one because it was laying around, haven't made beer in 15 years or so.
They range from $10-20, not sure of the accuracy of them, would have to check them to be sure.

Just a thought.

Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,183
Likes: 44
Offline
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,183
Likes: 44
Cecil,

Here is the one I am trying.

http://www.amazon.com/HDE-Digital-Fish-A...QFRM3F9K41DKYNQ

I'll let you know how it does.


Brian

The one thing is the one thing
A dry fly catches no fish
Try not to be THAT 10%
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043
Likes: 1
Hall of Fame
Lunker
OP Offline
Hall of Fame
Lunker
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043
Likes: 1
Originally Posted By: highflyer
Cecil,

Here is the one I am trying.

http://www.amazon.com/HDE-Digital-Fish-A...QFRM3F9K41DKYNQ

I'll let you know how it does.


Good luck Brian. Threw two of those in the trash can last year. LOL


If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.






Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 6,692
J
JKB Offline
Hall of Fame 2015
Lunker
Offline
Hall of Fame 2015
Lunker
J
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 6,692
Originally Posted By: Cecil Baird1
Originally Posted By: highflyer
Cecil,

Here is the one I am trying.

http://www.amazon.com/HDE-Digital-Fish-A...QFRM3F9K41DKYNQ

I'll let you know how it does.


Good luck Brian. Threw two of those in the trash can last year. LOL


I know this may be way out of your $ range, but have this one for keeping an eye on the 75R compressor temps: CUB 5
Have the RS-485 (Modbus) and relay option with a bolt on thermocouple from Omega Engineering. It was left over from a project and had it deducted from my paycheck. It's actually the least expensive gizmo I have, but thought it would work perfect for this application.

Per I/O point, it's quite expensive tho, but really cute!


Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043
Likes: 1
Hall of Fame
Lunker
OP Offline
Hall of Fame
Lunker
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043
Likes: 1
Quite a temp range!


If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.






Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 6,080
Likes: 1
Offline
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 6,080
Likes: 1
FWIW for a thermometer that is the most reliable and inexpensive, I would go with the old mercury or a bimetallic dial.


[Linked Image]
Be Brave Enough to Suck at Something New!
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043
Likes: 1
Hall of Fame
Lunker
OP Offline
Hall of Fame
Lunker
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043
Likes: 1
Think I''ll give one of these a shot:

http://www.amazon.com/Extech-401014-Indo...rmometers+large

Can measure air temp and water temp at the same time.

Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 11/17/15 08:59 PM.

If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.






Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 6,692
J
JKB Offline
Hall of Fame 2015
Lunker
Offline
Hall of Fame 2015
Lunker
J
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 6,692
That could/should work. Is the outside probe rated to be submerged in water if that happens?

I have a few Extech meters and they have been pretty decent.

Except...

...Had a decent multimeter with temp and all that jazz on it. A customer borrowed it while at my shop to check voltage at a 3 phase outlet. He had it on the wrong settings checking 480VAC and that sucker blew up right in his hands eek Should have just blown the internal fuse, but this thing blew up! There was no fuse holder left at all. Complete melt down inside. Did the company offer to replace it? NO!!!

Bought another one and that drowned in a bin during a water leak. Tried to dry it out, but it was too late. Battery was connected long enough under water to smoke the thing. Never bought another one.

Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 6,692
J
JKB Offline
Hall of Fame 2015
Lunker
Offline
Hall of Fame 2015
Lunker
J
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 6,692
Originally Posted By: Cecil Baird1
Quite a temp range!


I have a bunch of type K and type J thermocouples, as well as a few PT RTD's. A number of them have the traceable calibration tags, which makes it easier to set your offsets.

These gizmos are pretty sweet for remote I/O: 4018+ I noticed the price dropped $75.00, not too long after I bought one. Oh well.

Another really sweet input module is this: 1762sc-IF8u Super easy to set up and is very robust for many years of trouble free operation.

Yeah, I know. I've spent way too much on unnecessary gizmos, but it's a damn addiction!

Last edited by JKB; 11/18/15 10:19 PM.
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 3,248
Likes: 584
F
Lunker
Offline
Lunker
F
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 3,248
Likes: 584
Cecil - I started monitoring the temperature of my creek as a prelude to building ponds. I just picked up a swimming pool thermometer. So far it meets two of your criterion - it is rugged and inexpensive. I don't know if you need great accuracy or just good repeatability. I imagine you could find one with larger numbers. (Though not as large as your digital display.)

It might be a cheap enough option to have a dedicated thermometer in each tank. I don't know if you ever have any transferrance or contamination problems in your ventures.

Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043
Likes: 1
Hall of Fame
Lunker
OP Offline
Hall of Fame
Lunker
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043
Likes: 1
Thanks!


If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.







Link Copied to Clipboard
Today's Birthdays
Bob Lusk, GaryK, GrizzFan, PhotographerDave
Recent Posts
Happy Birthday Bob Lusk!!
by Sunil - 03/28/24 12:39 PM
New 2 acre pond stocking plan
by Sunil - 03/28/24 12:39 PM
1 year after stocking question
by esshup - 03/28/24 11:01 AM
Paper-shell crayfish and Japanese snails
by esshup - 03/28/24 10:39 AM
Brooder Shiners and Fry, What to do??
by Freg - 03/28/24 09:42 AM
Relative weight charts in Excel ? Calculations?
by esshup - 03/28/24 08:36 AM
Dewatering bags seeded to form berms?
by Justin W - 03/28/24 08:19 AM
Reducing fish biomass
by FishinRod - 03/28/24 08:18 AM
Questions and Feedback on SMB
by Donatello - 03/27/24 03:10 PM
2024 North Texas Optimal BG food Group Buy
by Dave Davidson1 - 03/27/24 08:15 AM
Freeze Danger? - Electric Diaphragm Pump
by esshup - 03/26/24 09:47 PM
Newly Uploaded Images
Eagles Over The Pond Yesterday
Eagles Over The Pond Yesterday
by Tbar, December 10
Deer at Theo's 2023
Deer at Theo's 2023
by Theo Gallus, November 13
Minnow identification
Minnow identification
by Mike Troyer, October 6
Sharing the Food
Sharing the Food
by FishinRod, September 9
Nice BGxRES
Nice BGxRES
by Theo Gallus, July 28
Snake Identification
Snake Identification
by Rangersedge, July 12

� 2014 POND BOSS INC. all rights reserved USA and Worldwide

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5