not sure if im reading my refrac

[happyhourh]

correctly? When i add saltwater and look through the eyehole I see that some of the circle on the meter has changed color. It makes a straight line of the two colors and it lines up with the scale inside. Is this line what tells me my SG and salinity? BTW its a "portable refractometer"

 

[usinkit]

Yep

 

[chipmaker]

Most if not all refractometers have two different colors on the screen you see when viewed. The top and bottom will be two distinct colors......Blue upper and while lower is what mine is and a alot of others as well. You read the scale at the intersection of the two colors......Make sure you calibrated your refractometer with RODI or distilled water first. If its a auto temp compensating type, allow the saltwater to set on the viewing pane about 30 seconds to normalize.......I find one of mine does best if looking through t in bright light, but the other shows up better in indirect low light.

 

[nflnutswif]

......Make sure you calibrated your refractometer with RODI or distilled water first. If its a auto temp compensating type, allow the saltwater to set on the viewing pane about 30 seconds to normalize.......I find one of mine does best if looking through t in bright light, but the other shows up better in indirect low light.
What exactly does calibrating w/ RO mean? Just wash it off with RO? curious!

 

[kdfrosty]

When you first get the refracto it might be calibrated. What you do is take a drop or two of RO or DI water and put it on the lens of the refracto. Let it sit there for about 30 seconds, then look through the eyepiece.
You'll see two different colors. In my refracto I have blue and white. The correct reading is the number the falls on the intersection of both colors. so when you are testing plain RO or DI water, the reading should be 0. If not, there should be a calibration knob that will move the color intersection up and/or down. Turn the calibration knob until the intersection of both colors is on 0.

 

[nflnutswif]

HUm, Thanks I'll play with it and make sure I've been getting a correct reading.