Refractometer scales wrong

[Brewer #360286]

The brix scale is incorrect on my refractometer , the brix reading is much lower than it should be for SG reading , can someone explain why .
It says 1.035 = 5.3 brix and it's 8.8

 

[Brewer #360286]

ps SG reading matches hydrometer

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Looks like you bought a salinity refractometer. I'd assume it measures salt density as Brix. What you want is a sugar refractometer.

 

[Zambi]

Join the club!
I bought a honey or jam making refractometer or so by accident.
Totally wrong scales!

 

[Zambi]

But just thinking....
Does your SG sample have any alcohol in it?
If so, you need to use a correction table

 

[Minbari]

Looks like you bought a salinity refractometer. I'd assume it measures salt density as Brix. What you want is a sugar refractometer.

This! You need one for wort and wine

 

[J A]

Just ignore the Brix...if the SG is right, it's all you need.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

But it won't be right when alcohol is present. And the FG conversion calculators are scaled to sugar refractometers.

 

[Brewer #360286]

But just thinking....
Does your SG sample have any alcohol in it?
If so, you need to use a correction table

No my sample had only salt in it , will I be able to use it for my wart before it is fermented. I presume SG scale is correct , also I know about the alcohol affecting the reading

 

[Brewer #360286]

Looks like you bought a salinity refractometer. I'd assume it measures salt density as Brix. What you want is a sugar refractometer.

Thanks , at least it wasn't expensive, I don't need brix really, will the SG scale be correct , my sample was that I took , but it was salt

 

[Herm brews]

Compare it to a sample using a hydrometer.
I think that is the point @J A is making.

 

[Brewer #360286]

But it won't be right when alcohol is present. And the FG conversion calculators are scaled to sugar refractometers.

Yes I've tested it using a sugar solution and it's totally wrong , gives a reading off the scale

But it won't be right when alcohol is present. And the FG conversion calculators are scaled to sugar refractometers.

so I checked it with a sugar solution and the hydrometer reading was totally different to the SG reading in the refractometer. so i think its useless. ie hydrometer was 1.054 and the refractometer was around 1.099

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

You could always take up the hobby of maintaining a salt water fish tank (complete with live fish).

 

[Dirty Dingo Brewing CO.]

I've joined the fish keeping hobby, it actually does have brewing implications because you'll learn water chemistry stuff, and you'll learn to maintain certain procedures.

But yeah, you have the wrong refrac

That being said, I actually prefer Brix now, and we use a very expensive electronic one at our brewery that uses lasers to measure sugar content.

 

[Nosybear]

I don't think the saline refractometer is calibrated for sugar solutions (wort). Brix is simply the percent by weight of the solute in solution. Salt water has a different index of refraction than sugar solutions. The refractometer will not give you accurate readings for wort, either using Brix or SG. You need one specifically made for sugar solutions.

Brix (Plato) is easier to work with: You have 10 grams of a 13 Brix/Plato solution, you have 0.13 grams of solute.