Did I damage my thermometer?

S

Stelios

Guest
I noticed that the mercury in my thermometer is now spread across the entire thermometer (some of it is on the one end some on the other and a bit in the middle,see attached image) and it does not work. Is this damaged permamnently? My guess is it got damaged due to excessive change of temperature while trying to achieve 40degrees to mix some ID-11. I went from cold (15C) to really hot (more than 60 C). Is this correct? Just want to know so that it doesn't happen again in the future.
That'll be the second thermometer in 2 years :S another 12pounds to spend for no reason :mad:
 

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I see its a Patterson thermometer. Is it a real Mercury thermometer? All of the Patterson's I have seen for sale in the USA are alcohol based, not mercury. If this problem happens on a Mercury thermometer, you put the thermometer standing up in VERY cold water, which makes all the mercury retreat into the bulb at the bottom and the bubbles dissappear after it warms back up.
 
It is a Patterson colour thermometer, and most probably its alcohol based. I might try the same even if its alcohol based, although the meter didn't seem to bother either in being warm or cold water. It just stayed like this.
 
Put it in a beaker filled with water and crushed ice. Should read 0 C. If it goes high enough you can stick it in a pan full of boiling water on a stove and it should read 100 C. The liquid should retreat. You can also try a "whipping" motion to get the liquid to retreat.
 
Thank you to everyone for your responses. I tried cold water but it didn't do anything. Warm water seemed to do the trick. I was pretty carefull with that. Now it seems most of the bubbles are gone and there's just one big "gap" in the spirit. I will work it again with warm water later today and will report back with the results. Thank you
 
Dear Stelios,

Getting the bubble up into the small space at the top of the thermometer is the trick, as described on the site. Remember that as soon as you pull it out of the hot water it cools down fast, so you can use water a few degrees hotter than you can bear to put your finger in. If that doesn't do it, add a little more boiling water (with the thermometer out of the beaker, obviously) and repeat.

Cheers,

R.
 
Thank you Roger, I did exactly that yesterday, it just needed a little more time which I didn't have in my hands yesterday. I repeated the procedure just now and it worked perfectly. It's as good as new now! You guys saved me the hassle of ordering a new thermometer! I guess I owe you a pint?

Cheers!
 
Stelios said:
Thank you Roger, I did exactly that yesterday, it just needed a little more time which I didn't have in my hands yesterday. I repeated the procedure just now and it worked perfectly. It's as good as new now! You guys saved me the hassle of ordering a new thermometer! I guess I owe you a pint?

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Dear Stelios,

Great!

Rather than a pint, I might hit you for an ouzo...

Cheers,

R.
 
Ah ouzo. Will settle with some cider for now. Ouzo when I get back home!
 
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