Moved: Salt test question

[jamesh2]

hey guys, im sure this has been asked, but im trying to calibrate my hygrometer and i keep getting a different reading. i have turned the salt into a paste as stated in many guides but regardless i keep getting a different reading. can anybody give me the proper salt to water ratio? example for a teaspoon or tablespoon, how much water i should use? thanks in advance for your help
james

[bigwhiteash]

Welcome to CS!

My first question would be, what kind of hygrometer are you trying to calibrate? If it's one of those analog needle style, they are notorious for inconsistencies.

Make sure you have a good sealing bag, use two if you have to. Also, using a sandwich size gladloc storage container without the lid, put the MOIST salt, (a 2-liter cap-full should be plenty), and the hygrometer in the container, and seal them up really good. leave it overnight. also, it may not make a huge difference, but put the test in a place that has a steady temperature, like your kitchen pantry. Temp fluctuations can cause inaccurate readings.

good luck, and let us know how it works out!

Dennis~

[mrtr33]

How off are your readings? If they are off by a degree or two, you probably aren't going to do much about that if it's a run-of-the-mill analog hygrometer. If it's consistently off by 10-20 degrees, after you've tried bigwhiteash's suggestions, I would suggest bringing it back to whomever you bought it from.

Taking the hygrometer apart, it isn't a sophisticated piece of machinery, so such wide variances in results are probably a manufacturing defect.

Definitely let us know what happens.

Oh, and welcome from central Oregon!

[Synthetik]

I was running into the same problem, turns out I didn't have an air tight container. I tried a few sandwich bags and got weird readings. Went to target and picked up one of those locknlock tupperware containers and got a reading of 74% each time.

As for the salt test, I just made it look like a damp pile of sand.

[DeeDubya]

I was running into the same problem, turns out I didn't have an air tight container. I tried a few sandwich bags and got weird readings. Went to target and picked up one of those locknlock tupperware containers and got a reading of 74% each time.

As for the salt test, I just made it look like a damp pile of sand.

I double-bagged mine and it still varied by +/-5%. Finally after doing it several times I just took an average and set the hygometer.

Now, if the beads are accurate (1/2lb 70% beads) then when they are freshly wetted my hygro reads 74%. Therefore, I think I might have the calibration set too high.

After jacking around with it I finally said "piss on it", not really because then my beads would be yellow, I spotted a little robusto that was just begging to be smoked and I haven't done anything different since.

Personally, I think you can be somewhere between 60% and 75% and be OK.

If your RH is too high you risk mold and busting wrappers.
If your termperature is too high you risk hatching some beetles.

[jamesh2]

hey guys, sorry it took me a while to respond (i posted that and then ran off to work) also, sorry for posting in the wrong section :-)
the hygrometer im using is the cheap digital one from wal-mart
im have gotten about 3 degrees difference each test
im going to try double bagging it and see what happens, i may have had a little hole or something that gave my readings a percent error. thanks for all the suggestions and i will keep you posted, i look forward to contributing to the community and all the wonderful ideas i can pick up
thanks again
james.