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Thread: Hygrometer Deal

  1. #1

    Default Hygrometer Deal

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/144046800814

    6 for 12.95$ (they seem to always send 7)

    Mike
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  3. #2
    Adrian Minarovic
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    Default Re: Hygrometer Deal

    Looks like one of them is 3% off. (assuming ane is correct).
    But good new is that if you average the 6 (or 7) you should be in the ballpark.
    PS: some of these are very inaccurate and many cannot be recalibrated or hold the calibration well. Always do salt tests at low/ mid and high humidity.
    Adrian

  4. #3

    Default Re: Hygrometer Deal

    As we used to say, "close enough for government work!"

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  6. #4
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    Default Re: Hygrometer Deal

    I've bought batches of more expensive brand new hygrometers that are more than 3% off from each other.
    For just over $2 each, I'm giving these a try. If I only get 2 or 3 good ones, it's still worth it.

  7. #5
    Registered User Mandobart's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hygrometer Deal

    Quote Originally Posted by HoGo View Post
    Looks like one of them is 3% off. (assuming ane is correct).
    But good new is that if you average the 6 (or 7) you should be in the ballpark.
    PS: some of these are very inaccurate and many cannot be recalibrated or hold the calibration well. Always do salt tests at low/ mid and high humidity.
    Just another reminder from a trained and experienced instrumentation and control system tech;

    Most laypeople haven't a clue what accuracy, precision, repeatability, dead band, hysteresis, calibration and calibration check actually mean.

    A +/- 10% of full span accuracy on any consumer grade instrument is the best you can reasonably hope for. Similar to how all the clocks in your home (microwave, oven, thermostat, phone, car(s), wall, etc.) are not perfectly in synch to the same minute:second.

    Most folks put an unreasonable amount of faith in (or have unreasonable expectations for the accuracy of) a digital display....

  8. #6
    Adrian Minarovic
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    Default Re: Hygrometer Deal

    Sure I've seen bunch of hygrometers and they can be easily 15 or more percent apart. My old lab hygrometer was certified with good calibration but now needs recalibration and probably replace the hair as one broke when it fell down from wall.
    I bought Caliber IV as was recommended by some folks in violin world and checked it at several humidity levels with saturated salts and it was surprisingly close (within 1%) to expected values. I like to recheck once in a year just to make sure...
    We don't need lab equipment but being certain we're reasonably close is better than just random number on display.
    Adrian

  9. #7
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hygrometer Deal

    There are similar units on Amazon for a little more. I'm using them in instrument cases and have been for a few years. I've never put them out on the counter next to each other. Maybe I'll have to try that.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
    --J. Garber

  10. #8

    Default Re: Hygrometer Deal

    I think we are missing the point here. ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW as an acoustic instrument owner is how damp or dry is my house or music room. AND, the only reason we need to know THAT is to keep a solid wood instruments from cracking with changes in weather. Martin recommends 45-55% relative humidity at 72-77 degrees. The actual usable range is much greater than that. In other words, any old $7 online hygrometer should be more than adequate. I always chuckle when music stores have an "acoustic" room behind a closed door -- making buyers assume it is being monitored by laboratory scientists. In actual fact, it isn't monitored at all or at best by an $8 an hour high school kid who also sells drum sticks.

    I give the example of my old high school acoustic guitar. When I left for college, it was leaning in the corner of my bedroom. When I would come home to visit, I would play it and then put it back in the corner. Fast forward 40 years, still no cracks and oddly always stays in tune. My parents were not scientists, just people who turned the thermostat up when it was cold and flipped the air conditioner on when it was hot. So......?

    Like I've said many times on this forum. The rising prices of instruments, fueled by internet forums have made the discussion of such minutiae the topic of worry and misinformation, IMHO. In actual practice, if the instrument is not stored underwater or in a hot car, you should be fine......
    Last edited by Jeff Mando; Jan-09-2023 at 10:52am.

  11. #9

    Default Re: Hygrometer Deal

    Quote Originally Posted by HoGo View Post
    Sure I've seen bunch of hygrometers and they can be easily 15 or more percent apart. My old lab hygrometer was certified with good calibration but now needs recalibration and probably replace the hair as one broke when it fell down from wall.
    I bought Caliber IV as was recommended by some folks in violin world and checked it at several humidity levels with saturated salts and it was surprisingly close (within 1%) to expected values. I like to recheck once in a year just to make sure...
    We don't need lab equipment but being certain we're reasonably close is better than just random number on display.
    Better hurry. I hear long blond hair, never tinted, heat-curled or bleached is getting scarce.

  12. #10
    Confused... or?
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    Default Re: Hygrometer Deal

    Thanks, Mike! My six came Saturday, plus -yes- the 7th for free!

    So I guess I should line 'em up and comment on accuracy??
    - Ed

    "Then one day we weren't as young as before
    Our mistakes weren't quite so easy to undo
    But by all those roads, my friend, we've travelled down
    I'm a better man for just the knowin' of you."
    - Ian Tyson

  13. #11
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hygrometer Deal

    Quote Originally Posted by Jeff Mando View Post
    I think we are missing the point here. ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW as an acoustic instrument owner is how damp or dry is my house or music room. AND, the only reason we need to know THAT is to keep a solid-top instruments from cracking with changes in weather.
    I'm not sure I'm missing the point. I have a whole lot of instruments. I keep them in the cases. Each case becomes it's own little world. Some require in case humidifier, some do not. Right now its 34% in the room I'm in. The instruments in the next room are most likely sitting around 45% with their Boveda bags in the case or not. I think what you really need to know is the reading within the environment you are storing that instrument in.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
    --J. Garber

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  15. #12
    Pataphysician Joe Bartl's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hygrometer Deal

    Right. I put my 7 of them on the kitchen counter and, except for the one that didn't work at all, they were all within 1 to 2% variance. And putting them next to the other [inexpensive] hygrometers I have around the house, that pretty much held true. So, being a layman, and living in a "this real old house", it all seems close enough for Hollywood and that's close enough for me.

  16. #13
    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hygrometer Deal

    All seven of mine are laying on my desk right now. Except for one outlier, they're all pretty consistent and in close agreement with my Inkbird controller on the humidifier.
    "To be obsessed with the destination is to remove the focus from where you are." Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar

  17. #14
    Confused... or?
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    Default Re: Hygrometer Deal

    All seven of mine are also laid out AND are surprisingly consistent. All are w/in 1% of humidity, which displays only to the nearest %. They're also w/in 0.4 degrees F.

    I'm impressed!
    - Ed

    "Then one day we weren't as young as before
    Our mistakes weren't quite so easy to undo
    But by all those roads, my friend, we've travelled down
    I'm a better man for just the knowin' of you."
    - Ian Tyson

  18. #15

    Default Re: Hygrometer Deal

    Quote Originally Posted by EdHanrahan View Post
    All seven of mine are also laid out AND are surprisingly consistent. All are w/in 1% of humidity, which displays only to the nearest %. They're also w/in 0.4 degrees F.

    I'm impressed!
    Doesn't surprise me at all. Just like any old cheapo quartz watch is now more accurate than a Rolex! Technology rocks. However, I might add that I still find Swiss craftsmanship more attractive than plastic...

  19. #16

    Default Re: Hygrometer Deal

    oops...double posting

  20. #17
    Confused... or?
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    Default Re: Hygrometer Deal

    Quote Originally Posted by Jeff Mando View Post
    ... I still find Swiss craftsmanship more attractive than plastic...
    HA!

    Had his character been a bit more mature, that should have been Dustin Hoffman's come-back line in "The Graduate". And now I hear Paul Simon singing: "We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files...". (My aplogies to you young'ns not around in '67!)
    - Ed

    "Then one day we weren't as young as before
    Our mistakes weren't quite so easy to undo
    But by all those roads, my friend, we've travelled down
    I'm a better man for just the knowin' of you."
    - Ian Tyson

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