Thermometer check

[mira]

I have been checking my thermometers useing ice water with
ice cubes in water is this method accurate enough ??

[royc]

I use crushed ice in a styrofoam cup and adjust to 32.

Roy

[smokin68]

a cup of ice/water is the right way to field calibrate without sending it to the factory(who probably also uses ice/water combination)

[lrhill]

Cubes or crushed matters little. Keep the water and ice moving the entire time you calibrating the dial. You'll get some error because your ice and water are not pure but it's minimal probably on the order of .1 deg.f or so. What's just as important as calibrating your instrument is taking care of the sock material used. It has to fit pretty well and it has to be kept clean. For precise measurements you have to be concerned about the oils on your hands comtaminating the sock. All this of course applies only if an accurate reading is of interest to someome.

[docholiday]

From a true caibration standard, you really need to used crushed ice and water in the form of a slurry. Keeping it moving helps by preventing any stratisfying.

BTW, the factory doesnt use ice and water, they use a temperature block that can be kept at any given temp and is monitored by a traceable calibrated temp probe. I suppose ultimately the NIST uses pure water and ice at sea level as the ultimate standard.