Ebay Refractometer

[adraine]

Has anyone had any experience with the eBay refractometers? Good or bad comments please.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/0-32-ATC-Brix-B...=item35bed85a0d

 

[QldKev]

Mine is an ebay one, and is still going good after a few years. Have a look in the google search option for "eBay refractometer" you will find many threads where I think the consensus will say all happy.

 

[altstart]

I bought mine from Ebay in 2005 Ross bought one as well still going ok.
Cheers Altstart

 

[Fourstar]

yep, awesome. just dont waste your time with getting one that reads SG scale on the side. IMO they are a PITA to read as the text for both is so small and i have 20/20 vision. multiply the figure by 4 and you're generally within 1 sg point. if you want accuracy, use a brix/plato to SG calculator.

one with auto temp control.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Brix-Refractome...#ht_3907wt_1144

 

[Helles]

I got one from China i think off of Ebay
Works perfect for when brewing E.G final runnings,Gravity of mash,first runnings,Gravity of boil
Only need to cool one drop of wort
Not so good with anything that has fermented
Mine has Brix and SG witch is is very easy to read (different to above)

 

[brad81]

Bought one from the same seller Fourstar linked. Works great, take a sample using the pipette from 80+deg and run under a tap for 10-15 secs and your good to go. Get a decent sized sample to begin with and you can discard the first few drips. Then take your sample at ~20deg.

 

[felten]

I have an ebay one as well, just realised this week that the SG scale is calibrated for sugar water not wort, so you can ignore it and just go by the brix reading.

 

[stux]

The ebay ones are fine. Don't buy one with a built-in led light though. Water leaks through the body and the whole thing dies in a mutated moldy mess.

The SG scale is rubbish, so I just went with a Brix only scale, now I feel like a real brewer when I have a 12 Plato wort

 

[Tony]

looks exactly the same as one i bought from California off ebay a bit before the Aussie home HBS's started stocking them.

Cost me $120

works fine and will do for ever if you don't drop it

 

[Bizier]

I have one of the SG/Brix ones, and I would argue that BOTH scales are calibrated to sucrose solution rather than wort. I doubt that just because it is brix, that one side has some kind of correction factor scaled in.

My dioptre is loose, though it works. I am happy with that being a trade off for a cheaper unit.

I have checked against other instruments and mine is accurate, provided I have calibrated to water at the ambient temp (large temp swings make a difference).

 

[felten]

Right, the whole thing is calibrated to sucrose. I just meant if you plug the brix reading into software you will get the proper SG for wort.

really old article, but this helped me understand http://byo.com/stories/projects-and-equipm...-refractometers

 

[Dazza88]

I have had one for a year and a bit.

I use this site: http://onebeer.net/refractometer.shtml, to convert my og brix reading to gravity. (software like felten is saying)

It agrees with my hydrometer og.

My hydrometer does not agree with the refractometers in-bulit scale for gravity, so i trust the brix only on the refract.

Using the above website for fg readings, the corrected brix reading is always 3 to 4 points lower on the refract, so its not accurate/precise for fg, but using my refract the fg of my beers always seems to get to about 5 brix. If i mash higher they will finish a little higher.

I find the refract a useful tool to have. 30 bucks is a good investment if you are planning to measure the gravity of wort regularly.

 

[Rowy]

Brewmate has a refrac conversion tool which is pretty good as well.

 

[Barley Belly]

Here a couple of spreadsheets I use to help me work out and record SG and FG and ALC% using my Ebay refractometer.

I use this one because I bottle:- View attachment refractbottle.xls

You can use this one if you keg:- View attachment refractkeg.xls

And they are both bastardised versions of this one:- View attachment refractbeer.xls

Hope they help :icon_cheers:

 

[warra48]

After yet another broken hydrometer during a brew day last Saturday, I realised I spend more on broken hydrometers a year than it would cost to buy a refractometer.

So, I ordered one late Saturday, got the confirmation email on Monday, and it rocked up at my local Post Office yesterday.

I'm happy with it, and it seems easy enough to operate. I understand from some comments I've read elsewhere on this model that the SG chart is not necessarily too accurate, particularly at higher gravities, but I'm happy to let BeerSmith do a conversion from Brix for me.

Their blurb does say it is specifically created for brewing beer, and I like the fact it has automatic temperature compensation.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/RSG-100ATC-0-32-Refractometer-Brix-Beer-Sugar-Wine-Wort-SG-Black-rubber-strip-/170950282352?pt=AU_B_I_Electrical_Test_Equipment&hash=item27cd6e4c70&_uhb=1