There is a glass piston at the lower end of the acid burette, which can be filled with acidic or oxidizing titrant, but cannot be filled with alkaline titrant, because the alkaline titrant can make the piston stick to the piston sleeve, making it difficult to rotate.

The burette with the latex tube containing glass beads at the lower end is called the basic burette, which is commonly used to measure the volume of non oxidizing dilute solution, mainly measuring the volume of alkaline dilute solution. Acids with oxidizing and erosive latex tubes cannot use the basic burette.