Hydrometer cracked!

[bigbopper]

My hydrometer cracked and got syrup in it. Anybody else ever had this and does it contaminate the syrup?

Thank you

[Wannabe]

Most have had it happen multiple times, whether they admit it or not..

Syrup should be fine as long as there's no broken glass in it. (filter it)

Always have a backup handy because it's gonna happen again.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Having your Hydro fail is part of doing business. I have a few spares on the shelf because it just happens.

[bigbopper]

Thanks everyone luckily I have a supplier 10 min from me so I ran and got a new one. I just was not sure if it was lead In the bottom of the hydrometer.

[maple flats]

Lead or not in the hydrometer, the contact would be so limited it would not be an issue. Filter it well and then make more syrup, people are depending on your syrup.

[deitzd]

Mine is cracked too and I was really careful with it. In 9 years of making syrup I've probably broke about 9 of these things. Has anyone tried the Gold Series Hydrometer from Smoky Lake? It's supposed to be more durable. Those thin glass ones are too fragile- I need to do something different. Any other options out there?

[johnallin]

Mine is cracked too and I was really careful with it. In 9 years of making syrup I've probably broke about 9 of these things. Has anyone tried the Gold Series Hydrometer from Smoky Lake? It's supposed to be more durable. Those thin glass ones are too fragile- I need to do something different. Any other options out there?

I have and they are noticeably heavier and the scale is easier to read. I have 3 in the sugar house just in case though.

[RileySugarbush]

We use those too and they seem tougher. I have gone two seasons without breaking one. I still cringe when I screw up and it hits the bottom of the cup with a clink.

I wish the scale was Brix on both sides. Does anyone use Baume?

[motowbrowne]

We use those too and they seem tougher. I have gone two seasons without breaking one. I still cringe when I screw up and it hits the bottom of the cup with a clink.

I wish the scale was Brix on both sides. Does anyone use Baume?

I grew up using baume and that's what we still use. I wouldn't be upset if the scale was only in brix though. What'd be really nice is maybe a few different colored lines instead of just the one at 32 baume. I always draw off early (30 baume usually) so I don't have to dilute during bottling. Maybe a red line at 32, an orange line at 30 and a green line at 28 or something. That'd be helpful for me anyway.

Or maybe I should just bite the bullet and buy an auto draw...

[DrTimPerkins]

I used Smoky Lake Hydrometers this year (the Vermont certified type, I have three identical hydrometers in case of any "oops" moments) in combination with a Murphy Float (in the drawoff tank) or in a regular hydrometer cup coming right off the drawoff as a spot check. Worked fine.

The thing you should be extremely careful about is the really old hydrometers that were filled with mercury. Do yourself a favor and replace it with a new one and put that in a museum somewhere. It would be extremely difficult and costly to properly clean an evaporator (or any other equipment) contaminated with mercury. Lead from a cracked hydrometer shouldn't be a problem if promptly removed from service.

[Bricklayer]

I cracked 2 in a matter of minutes this year. Have a bunch of spares now.

[VTnewguy]

Agreed on the brix point.