Maple Syrup Digital Grader - HI759

[Dennis McGill]

Maple Syrup Digital Grader - HI759 Has anyone used this? Is it worth the money?

[wiam]

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?28397-Hanna-Checker&highlight=Hanna

[MISugarDaddy]

Got one last season and have used it ever since. Works great and doesn't have to be replaced like the temporary kits. Very happy with the results.
Gary

[abbott]

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?28397-Hanna-Checker&highlight=Hanna

I just re-read that thread (which I started). I didn't realize it had been revived a few months ago... and there are an awful lot of side-tracks there. After having more time to use my Hanna Checker, here's what I think:

First, I think it's only going to be worth the money if you buy the set of 25 extra cuvettes to go with it. Fill one for each batch (or bulk container) and take them to your house (where the temperature will be pretty consistent.) After you've accumulated a bunch, test them all. The checker seems to be very consistent when used like this. If you try to test at the sugar house with variable conditions, you're likely to get highly variable results. The checker has a margin of error of 4%, which based on my experience is a lot better than you get with the temporary kits, especially when combined with human error. My frustration in the previous thread about the results not agreeing probably has more to do with the inaccuracy of the temp. kits than it does with the Checker.

Customer service at Hanna is excellent. They will take the time to answer any questions you have and deal with any problems. A couple weeks ago, my Checker stopped working. Which is probably directly related to the fact that my two year old son had gotten hold of it. I called Hanna and was completely up front with them about it not working and the likely reason why. They said "No problem, it's within warranty, send it back." I did have to pay to ship it to them, but a new one arrived yesterday.

So be careful with it and don't drop it. But assuming you don't break it, it should easily pay for itself after a few seasons of not having to buy the temp. kits. And it's really nice to know the exact light transmittance and be able to record that for future reference.

[maple flats]

I still like my Hanna Grader and use it with every batch. I don't even own a temporary kit but maybe should if something were to fail with the Hanna. I use new cuvettes each time, I do not re-use them. Each goes into a rack I made to hold them. I test every one soon after filling while still warm, is that an issue? I do see an issue, the beakers do not have a pour spout to help when filling the cuvettes, if they did, it would be easier to get the cuvettes filled exactly to the fill line. I find that a little tricky, but not impossible.
On my barrels I include the % from the Hanna but those numbers do not go on the retail containers. If temperature is critical it seems Hanna should have included that and highlighted it in the instructions. I may build a shelf in my RO room to store the cuvettes and retest later after they are all at the same temperature to compare.

[wiam]

I still like my Hanna Grader and use it with every batch. I don't even own a temporary kit but maybe should if something were to fail with the Hanna. I use new cuvettes each time, I do not re-use them. Each goes into a rack I made to hold them. I test every one soon after filling while still warm, is that an issue? I do see an issue, the beakers do not have a pour spout to help when filling the cuvettes, if they did, it would be easier to get the cuvettes filled exactly to the fill line. I find that a little tricky, but not impossible.
On my barrels I include the % from the Hanna but those numbers do not go on the retail containers. If temperature is critical it seems Hanna should have included that and highlighted it in the instructions. I may build a shelf in my RO room to store the cuvettes and retest later after they are all at the same temperature to compare.

I got a syringe for filling the test bottles. Much easier than the beaker.

[Wanabe1972]

I have used one for a couple of years and love the ease of use. A small syringe does the trick to fill the vials. I have done some experiments with it and did get the same results in hot and cold syrup. I found that filtering through a cone filter compared to a filter press raises the number as much as 5 points out of the press. If it is tested multiple times on the same vial or even another vial of the same batch it is very consistant. As far as im concerned for 70 dollars you cant go wrong.

[abbott]

If temperature is critical it seems Hanna should have included that and highlighted it in the instructions. I may build a shelf in my RO room to store the cuvettes and retest later after they are all at the same temperature to compare.

Agreed. I pulled out the instructions, sure that they would make mention of it somewhere. I was confident that the Hanna rep I talked to last year had mentioned it, but now I'm second guessing that. What I do know is that I consistently get different numbers depending on the conditions I'm testing in. When at the sap house, I have tested the reference sample less than 5 minutes after calibrating and had it read as low as 93%. I get a similar variability in my syrup samples. Maybe its an issue of the inside of the tester fogging up? Whatever the case, I've been much happier with my results if I leave all the cuvettes and the reference sample upright inside my house to make sure there are no bubbles and everything is uniform.

[abbott]

For what its worth, I just used my new Hanna Checker to re-test the samples I had previously checked two weeks ago with the checker that's now broken All eleven came out 3-4% higher. If anything, the samples were cooler this time, which would theoretically mean a slight decrease. So who knows. I could see no sign that any niter had settled out, but I guess it wouldn't take much.

Pretty sure I'm just going to accumulate samples all season, check them at the end, and run with it.