I need a pH meter. Any suggestions?

[abellguy]

Where did I say EC was different the ppm??? .5 or .7 that's all you need to know what conversion your meter uses.... You can go check all the papers yourself and what they tell you to do.. Does not matter the fact is it is required to do it. If you dont that's your decision..I will do it the right way.. Your trying to argue that RO wont damage your PH probe when if fact it does.

EC is the accepted standard when speaking about nutrients it requires no more information and is universal, where when speaking PPM you must take into consideration the conversion which most people don't.

As far as RO water I know what the documentation will tell you but what I am giving is my many many years of experience putting it in RO water, it can be taken however you like. In 20 years I have never had a probe go bad cause of RO water and when the guy at the hydro store told me I kept my probe in storage solution and in fact I kept it in RO water that further confirmed any suspicion I might have had cause I wasn't following what the documentation told me to do. It must remain wet this is what is most important

 

[Hammerhead]

That's fine but when I give advise to anyone I make sure I give the documented facts not my Opinion based on experience. Unless there is no documented fact to present. Now if someone reads your post and does what you say and they damage there probe how would you feel then. If you give the correct info you wont ever have to worry about that..


As for the EC you dont even need to know the conversion if your meter displays EC. Like I mentioned bluelab does not have any cal for EC or PPM or TDS. This is calibrated at the factory.. There are meters that have cal for PPM but as you know ppm is very inaccurate. I think my old meter has +_ 50ppm..

Its all good though I can only tell ya the proper way. I cant make anyone follow them..

 

[abellguy]

That's fine but when I give advise to anyone I make sure I give the documented facts not my Opinion based on experience. Unless there is no documented fact to present. Now if someone reads your post and does what you say and they damage there probe how would you feel then. If you give the correct info you wont ever have to worry about that..


As for the EC you dont even need to know the conversion if your meter displays EC. Like I mentioned bluelab does not have any cal for EC or PPM or TDS. This is calibrated at the factory.. There are meters that have cal for PPM but as you know ppm is very inaccurate. I think my old meter has +_ 50ppm..

Its all good though I can only tell ya the proper way. I cant make anyone follow them..

An opinion is something you make when you have no experience with a given subject. Experience gives you the ability to state facts based on your experience with a given subject. Even a bread maker can find patterns in the crumbs...

I feel completely comfortable giving facts based of my experience that RO water isn't going to damage someones probe. I am not trying to disagree with you, I am simply adding to the conversion my 20 some years experience that I believe would be as pertinent as the information you are giving. Neither are wrong. Do you have some facts that RO water PH 7 with nothing in it has somehow damaged one of your electrodes? What is in the water that damages the electrode?

I have had my most recent Milwaukee (MW 802) in RO water for close to a year and a half now, it reads exactly as it did the day I was given it in exchange for my old one. Hope this helps

 

[rives]

An opinion is something you make when you have no experience with a given subject. Experience gives you the ability to state facts based on your experience with a given subject. Even a bread maker can find patterns in the crumbs...

I feel completely comfortable giving facts based of my experience that RO water isn't going to damage someones probe.

Has it occurred to you that, for whatever reason, your "experience" might not transfer well to everyone else reading this? Having spent my working career using instrumentation that my life depended on, I found it good policy to follow the manufacturer's directions for it's care. However broad my "experience" was, the manufacturer's was exponentially greater.

 

[Hammerhead]

I need to make a clarification its DI WATER that's bad. Sorry for the mix up. But your still not storing your probe properly..

If you would have told everyone the correct way to properly store your probes but I dont do that. I use RO water witch the OEM says to use Storage solution or cal 4 solution. I have had no problems doing it this way for 20 years.. I would be OK with that statement..

 

[abellguy]

Has it occurred to you that, for whatever reason, your "experience" might not transfer well to everyone else reading this? Having spent my working career using instrumentation that my life depended on, I found it good policy to follow the manufacturer's directions for it's care. However broad my "experience" was, the manufacturer's was exponentially greater.

Wow it is amazing that I am trying to help out and this is the response that I am getting. If the information doesn't sit well with you then there are other opinions in this thread which you can take away. There is no need to single me out as my information is incorrect. Hope you much success with your equipment!

 

[Hammerhead]

lol your the only one arguing that we are all wrong and with your 20 years of experience that means its the right way. If anyone was doing this I would still say the same thing. Do you expect me to say good job you just told everyone the incorrect way to store there probe. I have said it 3x now if you want to do it that way that's great. Don't expect someone to not call foul if the info is wrong..

 

[nomaad]

i was rocking the black combo hanna meters... but now i am using a bluelab truncheon and a bluelab pH meter. i think i am pretty happy with the BL's. but who knows. I go thru pH meters in about 3 months. I consider it a standard expense.

u am about to switch from Milwaukee Instruments to Hanna constant read meters in my watering systems.

 

[abellguy]

I need to make a clarification its DI WATER that's bad. Sorry for the mix up. But your still not storing your probe properly..

If you would have told everyone the correct way to properly store your probes but I dont do that. I use RO water witch the OEM says to use Storage solution or cal 4 solution. I have had no problems doing it this way for 20 years.. I would be OK with that statement..

Do I need to check with you before submitting a post here? I am adding to the conversation, there is no need to single me out as information I am giving is incorrect when indeed it is not. There are others in this thread that have the same experience I have with RO water, that is how this started, me responding that I have the same results as someone else.

I have been growing about 30 years and when I first started growing in my area there was no meter available as there were no grow stores. I am not saying they weren't made it just wasn't readily available to a home user per se. In the area I lived in about 20 years ago they came available that is when I started using them, hope this clears up any confusion. One things for sure from this information I'm not starting to use storage solution as per the manufactures suggestions and furthermore in 20 years of using RO water I have had not one problem. Others can do as the wish. Hope this helps

 

[Hammerhead]

I guess you just dont get it. Your info is wrong storing ph probes in RO is not what is recommended by all of the probe manufactures that I can find.. I think its best that we just say I agree to disagree. You have a great night

 

[abellguy]

lol your the only one arguing that we are all wrong and with your 20 years of experience that means its the right way. If anyone was doing this I would still say the same thing. Do you expect me to say good job you just told everyone the incorrect way to store there probe. I have said it 3x now if you want to do it that way that's great. Don't expect someone to not call foul if the info is wrong..

No your the one calling me out and as a moderator I would think you would be seeing that but I am done here, hope the best for you Hammerhead!

 

[Hammerhead]

Me being a MOD has nothing to do with it. If you feel singled out that was not my intention. I would have said the same with anyone. Im just a member just like you but I volunteer.. OK dude we are done..

 

[MrSterling]

The BluePen pH seems to be my choice here. Do you guys have A suggestion for calibration liquid, or will any do?

 

[Guest1298]

The BluePen pH seems to be my choice here. Do you guys have A suggestion for calibration liquid, or will any do?

just use the ones you can get local to you i have the bluelab ph pen and i use the Essentials pH Buffer 4 & 7 brand and they work fine

 

[MrSterling]

Oy, this is all new to me. I'll need 4.0 and 7.0?

 

[Hammerhead]

if your meter only has a single point cal then you only need 7. follow what your manual says to do.

 

[Guest1298]

Oy, this is all new to me. I'll need 4.0 and 7.0?

the bluelab ph pen can be calibrated with 4.0 - 7.0 - or 10.
but for my need for growing ganja 4.0 & 7.0..the pen displays when to put the pen in either 4.0 or 7.0 easy all the best with your new ph pen Atb Dank

 

[MrSterling]

Silly question I should have thought of earlier - is the BlueLab pH pen only for testing liquids? The last time I used a pH tester it was a soil one, and I have some fresh garden beds that I'd also like to test, not just fertilizer.

 

[spearzy]

if you get a bluelab ph pen be real carefull not to drop it i dropped mine and the probe smashed.

i spoke the the shop where i got it from and they rang bluelab but there was nothing they could do as id dropped it.

i bought a new 1 though they are good.

and they are 2 point callibration its buffer 4.0 and 7.0 you use i think.

spearzy

 

[FlowerFarmer]

Makes you wonder why they didn't make this pen have a replaceable electrode.

Its a great pen, but not having the ability to buy a replacement electrode is kind of a bummer.