Question 1

Can this be used as an oral thermometer for adults?

Accepted Answer

Hi Barbara  My name is Mike at Bel-Art/H-B Instrument & SP Scienceware.  
First the quick answer, “no” you can't use these as oral thermometers for adults.  
The old-time thermometers we grew up with were actually designed to go to the temperature, and STAY at that temperature until the doctor or nurse held it up to read it.  That makes sense because in the short time from the patient’s mouth to the doctor’s reading, the temperature could have started going back down to room temperature.  This may not seem like a big deal, but remember 98.6 degrees in normal and 99 degrees is a low fever.  Just 0.4 degrees made the difference between sick or not sick.  So it was important that the liquid inside the thermometer didn’t move until the temperature was read.  How did they manage to design a thermometer with this capability?  Easy.  At the bottom of each thermometer, just above the bulb of liquid, the small capillary inside that the liquid travels up has a ‘trap’, a little ‘S’ turn designed into it!  YES, you are right in thinking that it took some pretty skilled glasswork to make these, but that is the way it is done.  This is just like a real small version of your sink’s ‘S’-trap below the drain.  These types of thermometers are called “Maximum Registering” because they stay at the highest temperature they reached until they could be accurately read and the temperature recorded.
So then, to get the liquid back down into the bulb, yup, you guessed it, the nurse or the doctor had to ‘shake it down’, getting the liquid passed the ‘s’ bend and back to the bulb.
And that is why these thermometers do not need shaking down – because they are not maximum registering types of thermometers, and that's why they can't be used in people...
I hope this answered your question, but if not, please email me at mgrzelak@belart.com…

Question 2

Before ever use, do you have to shake it down like the old mercury kind, from back in the 1950's?

Accepted Answer

Hi Travelnjan,  
My name is Mike at Bel-Art/H-B Instrument & SP Scienceware.  GREAT QUESTION!!!
First the quick answer, “no” you don’t need to shake these thermometers down.  
The old-time thermometers we grew up with were actually designed to go to the temperature, and STAY at that temperature until the doctor or nurse held it up to read it.  That makes sense because in the short time from the patient’s mouth to the doctor’s reading, the temperature could have started going back down to room temperature.  This may not seem like a big deal, but remember 98.6 degrees in normal and 99 degrees is a low fever.  Just 0.4 degrees made the difference between sick or not sick.  So it was important that the liquid inside the thermometer didn’t move until the temperature was read.  How did they manage to design a thermometer with this capability?  Easy.  At the bottom of each thermometer, just above the bulb of liquid, the small capillary inside that the liquid travels up has a ‘trap’, a little ‘S’ turn designed into it!  YES, you are right in thinking that it took some pretty skilled glasswork to make these, but that is the way it is done.  This is just like a real small version of your sink’s ‘S’-trap below the drain.  These types of thermometers are called “Maximum Registering” because they stay at the highest temperature they reached until they could be accurately read and the temperature recorded.
So then, to get the liquid back down into the bulb, yup, you guessed it, the nurse or the doctor had to ‘shake it down’, getting the liquid passed the ‘s’ bend and back to the bulb.
And that is why these thermometers do not need shaking down – because they are not maximum registering types of thermometers.
I hope this answered your question, but if not, please email me at mgrzelak@belart.com…

Question 3

Can this be used as an oral thermometer?  I have 2 digital thermo's that do not give similar results, and oral glass readable only by fortune tellers.

Accepted Answer

Hi David!  My name is Mike at Bel-Art/H-B Instrument & SP Scienceware.  
First the quick answer, “no” you cannot use this thermometer for people.  The temperature reading will hold only for a very brief amount of time. 
The old-time thermometers we grew up with were actually designed to go to the temperature, and STAY at that temperature until the doctor or nurse held it up to read it.  That makes sense because in the short time from the patient’s mouth to the doctor’s reading, the temperature could have started going back down to room temperature.  This may not seem like a big deal, but remember 98.6 degrees in normal and 99 degrees is a low fever.  Just 0.4 degrees made the difference between sick or not sick.  So it was important that the liquid inside the thermometer didn’t move until the temperature was read.  How did they manage to design a thermometer with this capability?  Easy.  At the bottom of each thermometer, just above the bulb of liquid, the small capillary inside that the liquid travels up has a ‘trap’, a little ‘S’ turn designed into it!  YES, you are right in thinking that it took some pretty skilled glasswork to make these, but that is the way it is done.  This is just like a real small version of your sink’s ‘S’-trap below the drain.  These types of thermometers are called “Maximum Registering” because they stay at the highest temperature they reached until they could be accurately read and the temperature recorded.
So then, to get the liquid back down into the bulb, yup, you guessed it, the nurse or the doctor had to ‘shake it down’, getting the liquid passed the ‘s’ bend and back to the bulb.
One more reason you can't use this thermometer on people is because of this thermometer's line divisions - this one has a line every 2 degrees.  A regular people thermometer will have 5 or 10 lines for EVERY DEGREE!  With our thermometer you could not get a 98.6 degree reading, only 96 degrees, or 98 degrees, or 100 degrees.  The critical measurement points are missed on this thermometer because it was not designed to deliver the accuracy needed in oral thermometers.  
So you don't need to be a fortune teller to read the temperature, you just need the right thermometer for the job...
I hope this answered your question, but if not, please email me at mgrzelak@belart.com…

Question 4

How long does it take to get an accurate measurement?

Accepted Answer

Not very long.

sp scienceware Bel-Art, H-B DURAC Plus Pocket Liquid-In-Glass Laboratory Thermometer; -35 to 50C, Closed Metal Case, Organic Liquid Fill (B60770-1500)

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