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Digital Thermometers?

John Cook

John Cook

Senior Member
Hi All,

Just a quick question what thermometers are you using to take water temps? Are we digital or standard glass thermometers? Any suggestions as to makes or models?

Be Lucky
 
Hi John. i asked a similar question on the river severn thread, this was the reply from Mr Sid Croft. who regulary posts the temps for the severn. :)

Derek,
Tough decision. All the cheaper ones are inaccurate, the expensive ones are, well, expensive. !!! Most of them are only accurate to plus or minus 1c no matter what anyone says. I know the readout says to tenths of a degree but they are only accurate to whole degrees. The potential for them to be out is quite high (up to 2c).

My daily recordings use 2 thermometers which are cross referenced to get a sort of average.
A cheap one and an expensive one.

I have tried many over the years and I had to spend lots of £££'s to get something accurate which is beyond most of our budgets. It can also be calibrated.

A lot depends on how accurately you want to measure the temp. I have one that sits in my fishing bag (the Reuben heaton thermo) but I know this is consistently around 1.2-1.4c out (high). So is every other Reuben heaton I have checked it against, most of them around 1.4c high so you see the dilemma. Potentially readings can be up to 2c out from somebody else's.

Best advice is to get one, any make, and use the readings you get to identify the trends. You can compare against other people's readings but unless you are on the bank at the same time, in the same spot then don't become fixated by what other people are posting. Over time you should find out if yours reads high, low etc. And use it just as a guide.

After all is said and done don't become too preoccupied by the temperature. Fish don't read rule books.

I know I have not directly answered your question as I have not found a thermometer out there that is affordable and most importantly accurate.

Hope this helps. PM me if you need more info.
__________________
 
Fish tank digital one I use of eBay , cost me a £10 , it's pretty accurate but not full proof, like Derek mentioned in his post, I compare mine to other friends on the bank, and take an average reading. If it's rising in temp then really that's all you need to know.
 
The only way to get an accurate thermometer is to go to a trade scientific supplier who will supply one which has been calibrated. This can then be crosschecked against any others. Unfortunately the cost will be in three figures.
 
I bought an inside / outside digital thermometer from Liddils for £3.99. You are supposed to feed a lead with a sensor through a door crack to get the outside temp. - I just chuck the lead in the water! Of course to truly take water temps you should use a castable sinking thermometer to show temperature at different depths and ranges and possibly identify warmer / cooler underground springs feeding the water you are fishing - but as a guide it does for me!
 
David Potter said:
I have been using one of these !
New Digital LCD Wired Temperature Thermometer Sensor For Fish Tank Aquarium GG | eBay
I have checked its accuracy across the range with a calibrated Fluke meter and its surprisingly very accurate in fact is only 0.2 degsC higher at 10 DegC which is good enough for what we need it for
Dave
Click to expand...

The manufacturers rates that model's accuracy as +/- 5.0 deg. C, so extraordinary that yours is only varying 0.2 David. I wonder if they are all that good, or whether you just got lucky?

Cheers, Dave.
 
David Gauntlett said:
The manufacturers rates that model's accuracy as +/- 5.0 deg. C, so extraordinary that yours is only varying 0.2 David. I wonder if they are all that good, or whether you just got lucky?

Cheers, Dave.
Click to expand...

Looks pretty good to me Dave
Just checked it as you can see !
166n1pj.jpg
 
Thanks for your thoughts guys i dont need anything deadly accurate just something to tell me whats happening temp wise from one session to the next.
 
Correct John , ultimately all you need is something a bit more accurate than someone sticking a finger or toe in the water Brrr :)
 
I think the ability to register a trend is all that's necessary.As long as a rise or fall is detected and aids the decision making,shall I stay or should I go, I think that's good enough.I use a cheap Maplin fish tank model and wrap some solder or a blob of plasticene near the probe to help swinging it into the river, job done.
 
get one of the old fashioned ones that rise up or down the tube, get one encased in metal, never go wrong, will handle being cast out just dont trample on the blighter in the dark:eek:
 
I've got the Reuben Heaton standard one which i find pretty accurate a lot better than the digital one which wasn't very efficient at all.
 
Hiya John, I just keep an eye on the weather and air temps to give me an idea as to how the river is behaving these days. Temps are irelevent really, rising numbers are favourable conditions for sure but you'll only spot the upwards trend if you're actually on a fishing session or by popping to the river everyday. One temp reading on its own is useless and can actually put you off fishing for the day, I've caught a fair few when my thermometer has basically told me I should've gone home. Yet to bank one in the snow though...better to just go fishing and try I reckon!
Anyhow, the model I used to use was this - Reuben Heaton NEW Fishing Standard Casting Water Thermometer + Case FREE P+P | eBay
Nice and compact, no batteries and you can cast it out instead of receiving marginal readings.
 
Hi Bobby,

That is very true nothing about fishing is set in stone, i would like to keep tabs on the trends but as you say and i agree nothing is gospel, :)
 
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