Customer Reviews

Non-mercury Glass Basal Thermometer

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I'm new to charting and after reading Taking Control of Your Fertility, I decided to take the plunge and go for glass instead of digital. My biggest concern was shaking the thing down, since that was mentioned over and over in the reviews. However, I have unlocked the secret (thanks to some Googling).

To Shake Down Thermometer Sans Carpal Tunnel
1.) Select a sock (clean, sturdy, no holes in the toes, preferably missing its partner so it can be dedicated to the following procedure).
2.) Insert the thermometer metal tip down into the sock (i.e. the part that goes in your mouth is at the toe of the sock - see why it should be clean?)
3.) Stand clear of furniture and swing the sock clockwise for 10-15 seconds - careful not to hit yourself (i.e. the spin should be horizontal, like a wall clock's hands, not horizontal like a record spinning)
4.) Remove shaken down thermometer

The only con to this thermometer is the fact it takes 5 minutes to read. However, it's accurate and that's its purpose - sometimes we get so caught up in our fast food nation mentality that we want everything INSTANT and NOW even if it means we sacrifice quality. Charting is about getting in tune with your body - your body's natural state is NOT fast forward. So, slow down, stick this baby under your tongue and charts away!

I think that this thermometer is great. Unlike the other 2 reviewers, it was easy to shake down, and it was very accurate at measuring my temp. In comparison, I find that digital thermometers are a total waste of time and are completely inaccurate for BBT charting. It is also great becuase I accidentally broke the thermometer and I didn't have to worry at all becuase it is mercury free!

This is a very nice, sturdy thermometer with a handy feature of the magnifying case, which makes it easy to ready the temperature. HOWEVER, it is very hard to shake the "mercury" (the fake mercury) down! I have used regular mercury thermometers in the past and have never had this problem. This is a particular problem when you are charting and taking your temperature every day. Maybe there is some trick I don't know about, but i doubt that shaking a thermometer down is rocket science! I'd appreciate any tips!

I bought a glass basal thermometer a month ago, and I simply love it! You don't have to worry about batteries, and the thermometer is internally consistent, which never seems to be the case with digital ones. It's easy to clean, and provided you snap your wrist in the classic mercury thermometer style, it's easy to shake down. It comes with a convenient case with magnifying lens, so that you can see the results better. It also retains the results until you're ready to record them, same as digital. I have had great luck taking my temperature while it's still dark out, then waiting until the sun comes up to record it. When it comes to thermometers, you can't beat glass. Works well for oral, rectal, and vaginal temping.

Length:: 0:17 Mins

The manufacturer says this isn't possible. So I took a video. She wouldn't even look at it. Now you can see that this particular thermometer does not hold a temperature even long enough to read it. The opposite problem of others who were not able to shake it down.

Early-Pregnancy-Tests.com is a good company. They refunded my money and I will continue to purchase other products from them.

I'm in the health care business and purchased eleven of these thermometers (made by Geratherm). I ran a dozen tests on them (put them in a water bath at carefully selected different temperatures) and found that one of the eleven was consistently 0.6 degrees cold. Another one was slightly questionable.

So overall I consider these thermometers to be of excellent quality, but beware of getting the odd one in ten that is defective.

I would never recommend this product. The material that is supposed to mvoe up and down did not budge (stuck at 97.3) so I threw it out. Anymore money wasted on this product (shipping) would have added insult to injury!!! Very poorly designed!

I'm sticking with my digital thermometer!

My wife has Thyroid problems and needed this to track basal temperature when thyroid meds were being adjusted. It's very accurate and easy to use and read . Great buy

Like many other reviewers, I at first could NOT get the thermometer to "shake" down. Finally we figured it out. The truth is, the term "shake" is misleading, because you're not supposed to shake it at all. You don't want to the liquid to go up and down, you only want it to go DOWN, toward the silver end that you take your temperature with. "Shaking" the thermometer will likely not have any effect. Here are two ways to get the liquid to go down, guaranteed:

Harder Way: Holding the silver part away from you, whip the thermometer down as hard as you can, like a whip. Do this repeatedly. It could take up to 15 min. This requires strength. Your arm will be sore.

Easier Way: Put the thermometer in a sock, with the silver part toward the toe of the sock. Grabbing onto the other end, whip the sock over your head in circles like a lasso or a propeller, as hard as you can. This will take several minutes, and is guaranteed to work. I know it sounds like a joke, but this method is actually recommended by a manufacturer: [...] Click here and scroll down to the bottom where it says TIP.

When I first got the thermometer I was ready to chuck it out the window, but now that I know the above tips, it works just fine, and I will be keeping it.

Like all glass thermometers, fairly simple to use, but takes a long time - you have to keep it in your mouth and not move for 5 minutes. The thing I didn't like was that it can sometimes be really difficult to shake it down, you have to work on it a while to get the mercury to go down. But not always, sometimes it clears immediately when you shake it. Also, it has a case to keep it in, but beware, the plastic bottom which secures the thermometer can sometimes slide out of the case when you're moving it, so it doesn't really offer that much protection. If it falls, even if it doesn't fall hard enough to break the thermometer, most likely the inner glass tube which holds the mercury and the cardboard back with the numbers on it will detach from the rest of the thermometer and move around freely inside, rendering it useless.