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Terry M
Stranger in a Strange Land



Registered: 06/18/10
Posts: 1,502
Loc: Rhode Island
Last seen: 9 years, 7 days
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Accurate hygrometers driving me crazy!
#14168551 - 03/23/11 06:27 AM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Maybe it is too much to ask, but can I get a guaranteed accurate to with +/-2 degrees over the range 75%-99%?
Here's the basic problem. Such a hygrometer would either have to have 2 adjustment screws, or be certified accurate by the factory with a bullet-proof return policy (in which case I am back where I started).
The salt test gives you the 75% humidity point, and the wet towel test the 95% point. But to calibrate to both simultaneously you must have a minimum of 2 adjustments. Anything in between these humidities, the range of which is ideal for mushroom growing, can be expected to be reasonably linear and accurate.
Does anybody know of such a beast for a non-absurd amount of money? I've tried 3 inexpensive (under $30) hygrometers, and all of them have accuracy problems.
-------------------- Liberté, égalité, humidité.
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Doc_T
Random Dude




Registered: 03/06/09
Posts: 42,395
Loc: Colorado
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Re: Accurate hygrometers driving me crazy! [Re: Terry M]
#14168555 - 03/23/11 06:31 AM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Other than getting a good digital by luck, no. It's not a "consumer task", nobody measures home humidity to 1% accuracy. My envirolite digitals are more accurate (above 30%, all the way to 100) than the analogs I've tried. But if you have the money for a good one, analog is the way to go.
Most of us end up using the mushrooms to read the humidity, I think.
-------------------- You make it all possible. Doesn't it feel good?
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virus1824
Mr Mushroom



Registered: 09/25/05
Posts: 1,751
Loc: Europe
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Re: Accurate hygrometers driving me crazy! [Re: Doc_T]
#14168687 - 03/23/11 08:04 AM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Yea same here. tried both digital and analog. analog is just not good with high humidities. Digital ones break down (mine do at least) when it's constantly above 95%+ What Doc says. The mushrooms will tell you. I do it by looking and the feel.
-------------------- A weekend wasted is never a wasted weekend
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Doc_T
Random Dude




Registered: 03/06/09
Posts: 42,395
Loc: Colorado
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Re: Accurate hygrometers driving me crazy! [Re: virus1824]
#14168692 - 03/23/11 08:06 AM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
virus1824 said: Digital ones break down (mine do at least) when it's constantly above 95%+.
Oh, yes. Use it to dial things in, then take it out to room air after a few days
I killed one by leaving it in the greenhouse.
-------------------- You make it all possible. Doesn't it feel good?
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Terry M
Stranger in a Strange Land



Registered: 06/18/10
Posts: 1,502
Loc: Rhode Island
Last seen: 9 years, 7 days
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Re: Accurate hygrometers driving me crazy! [Re: Doc_T]
#14172233 - 03/23/11 07:43 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
Doc_T said:
Quote:
virus1824 said: Digital ones break down (mine do at least) when it's constantly above 95%+.
Oh, yes. Use it to dial things in, then take it out to room air after a few days
I killed one by leaving it in the greenhouse. 
Me too! I want to leave mine in all the time, so I'm ordering another analog one right now. We'll see if I have any better luck with a "Polytherm."
-------------------- Liberté, égalité, humidité.
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Terry M
Stranger in a Strange Land



Registered: 06/18/10
Posts: 1,502
Loc: Rhode Island
Last seen: 9 years, 7 days
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Re: Accurate hygrometers driving me crazy! [Re: Terry M]
#14210967 - 03/30/11 05:57 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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I finally found an accurate one, and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg:
http://www.humidorhabana.com/product46.html
It's made is Germany, where they still know how to make quality products. I calibrated it at 99% in the heavy mist of my Martha. Then I gave it the "salt test." It was spot-on, at 75%!
-------------------- Liberté, égalité, humidité.
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k00laid
NEMO


Registered: 05/03/10
Posts: 19,636
Last seen: 6 months, 5 days
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Re: Accurate hygrometers driving me crazy! [Re: Terry M]
#14210972 - 03/30/11 05:59 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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ya ive done most of the tub-style grows w/o a hygrometer. i dont think i'll need one when i set up my GH
-------------------- AMU - AMU Q & A - MyVideo Teks!
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Terry M
Stranger in a Strange Land



Registered: 06/18/10
Posts: 1,502
Loc: Rhode Island
Last seen: 9 years, 7 days
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Re: Accurate hygrometers driving me crazy! [Re: k00laid]
#14213431 - 03/31/11 05:37 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
k00laid said: ya ive done most of the tub-style grows w/o a hygrometer. i dont think i'll need one when i set up my GH 
Yup, I just go a little overboard sometimes. Okay, a lot!
-------------------- Liberté, égalité, humidité.
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Doc_T
Random Dude




Registered: 03/06/09
Posts: 42,395
Loc: Colorado
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Re: Accurate hygrometers driving me crazy! [Re: Terry M]
#14213449 - 03/31/11 05:48 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Terry M said: I finally found an accurate one, and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg:
http://www.humidorhabana.com/product46.html
That's not bad.
-------------------- You make it all possible. Doesn't it feel good?
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blue_lotus
Seventeenth Moon Rising


Registered: 01/20/11
Posts: 98
Last seen: 4 years, 2 months
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Re: Accurate hygrometers driving me crazy! [Re: Doc_T]
#14213461 - 03/31/11 05:56 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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So analog is preferred over digital? interesting...why?
--------------------
[18:25] < > yeah, my neighbor's cat has said the same thing before. Only issue she's having is pinning. She said it's taking forever.... [18:25] <-> thats cause ur neighbor is letting a cat do it [18:26] < > cats bring something to the table, actually [18:26] < > cat milk is a great addition to a casing, she says [18:27] < > the only way to extract the cat milk is by pressing it's claws out and hissing at it while poking it in the rear [18:28] < > just sit a cup underneath and it's almost automatic!
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Doc_T
Random Dude




Registered: 03/06/09
Posts: 42,395
Loc: Colorado
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Re: Accurate hygrometers driving me crazy! [Re: blue_lotus]
#14213475 - 03/31/11 06:05 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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More reliable long term. Also, most digitals are for home use and not necessarily calibrated for 90+% and most analogs can be calibrated. But I've had good luck with the digital hygrometers I've owned.
-------------------- You make it all possible. Doesn't it feel good?
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Terry M
Stranger in a Strange Land



Registered: 06/18/10
Posts: 1,502
Loc: Rhode Island
Last seen: 9 years, 7 days
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Re: Accurate hygrometers driving me crazy! [Re: Doc_T]
#14213516 - 03/31/11 06:34 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Another thing I like about this Polytherm Hygrometer is that the tick marks of the scale are not to one degree. You kinda have to interpolate 5 degree intervals. This is much more realistic than a hygrometer which displays to single degrees and yet doesn't have single degree accuracy.
-------------------- Liberté, égalité, humidité.
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Sillicybin
Registered: 02/14/05
Posts: 2,134
Loc:
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Re: Accurate hygrometers driving me crazy! [Re: Terry M]
#14214606 - 03/31/11 12:28 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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IME, the #1 killer of digital hygrometers is SPORES. Your "preciouses" release tons of them, which eventually clog the sensor. Even thermal convection caused by the heat from a tube or CFL is enough to circulate them inside the FC/GH.
If you make sure the hygrometer/sensor is out of the container by the time any sporulation occurs, it will last a lot longer.
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biologys
Mycologist in Trainning




Registered: 12/21/09
Posts: 4,622
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Re: Accurate hygrometers driving me crazy! [Re: Sillicybin]
#14214639 - 03/31/11 12:36 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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I only use a hygrometer to dial in for the first day or two, just til i get my polyfil tight enough to keep humidity up, but allow as much FAE as possible, once i get it set i let it sit for a day, maybe two to make sure no crazy swings then remove..
i also use a 'weather station' digital one, so it records high's and low's so I know exactly what my temp/humidity fluctuation is..
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Terry M
Stranger in a Strange Land



Registered: 06/18/10
Posts: 1,502
Loc: Rhode Island
Last seen: 9 years, 7 days
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Re: Accurate hygrometers driving me crazy! [Re: biologys]
#14215464 - 03/31/11 03:23 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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For some of the edibles I'm doing, humidity needs to be controlled in certain phases. It can't always be going "full blast." For example, my Maitakes will need a relative humidity of 75-85% for fruitbody development.
-------------------- Liberté, égalité, humidité.
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