ph meter and prices

[Smokeone1]

I'm a cheap SOB lol!! I have seen some ph meter as low as $20 and some as high $100+ just wanted to know should you stay away from the cheap ph meters thanks a lot guys.

 

[imnotcrazy]

avoid those cheap meters, most aren't even water resistant

get a Hanna or equivalent w/ replaceable probe and keep it clean and calibrated and it'll last quite a while.

 

[ShortStackz]

I had a bunch of meters. Some real expensive ones like the blue lab. The probes all seem to crap out after a year even though I also had it in storage solution & clean & always had to calibrate it after 6 months. Also had a Hanna waterproof that died after I dropped it in water. Left me with a bad impression on the brand. Now I got a green (don't know the brand) $50-60 meter & a cheap $30 one which have all lasted for the last 3 years. I say you should be fine getting the $30 ones or a waterproof one for $60 like mines.

 

[watts]

Milwaukee ph56, great pen if you take care of it. $65 pen and $30 to replace probe if ever needed to. Don't bother buying any of the cheaper Milwaukee meters.

it's also normal to have to calibrate pens regularly. I calibrate with 4.0 and 7.0 Ph calibration solution and I keep it stored in 4.0 calibration solution.

 

[Greenlife1]

Yeah I have gone though tons over the years. Milwaukee seems to be the best out of what i have used. including all the big ones..

The better meters seems to last longer before you have to calibrate/replace the probe.
go with the 56, i have to send back the yellow ones..$30 all the time at my store..sometimes DOA

 

[ganjalfthegreen]

i just thought id mention I was in the same spot a few years back, on a budget and bought the Milwaukee 600...

Used it for a few grows then shut down and put everything into storage including the meter. After almost a year I unpacked and fire back up and found the meter, dried probe, and figured in was NFG.

Got some new cali solution, damn thing was only .6 off! I had borrowed a friends expensive one just to confirm all was on the up and up and sure as shit its still going...

Mind you know that ive posted this the damn thign will shit the bed tomorrow...

 

[Homebrewer]

I'm a cheap SOB lol!! I have seen some ph meter as low as $20 and some as high $100+ just wanted to know should you stay away from the cheap ph meters thanks a lot guys.

I'm cheap too but a pH meter is not something to cheap-out on. $80 can get you a BlueLab but as someone else mentioned, probes can break and my BlueLab probe was not replaceable. I replaced my BlueLab with a Hanna and it's definitely a better meter (at a higher cost). I like the level of precision as it reads to the one-hundredth and the probe is replaceable should it break (and they do break).

 

[gmanwho]

my first nutradrip tri meter lasted 8years, beside the ph probe which lasts usually lasts me 8+ months. i buy the 15$ replacement pen probes from china , ebay. i ordere 3-4 at a time. PH ec or ppm an temp. stays plugged in 24/7. would not think of growing without it!!

i'd go with a millwaukie as well. i ve been thru 3-4 different battery operated pen type ph meters. never last for me. an always need calibrating.

ive had veryyyyy good luck with the nutradrip an recommend it every time.

b-safe

 

[NeWcS]

You need to spend money for a good meter. But...

...What ever you go with 'also' buy a cheap one as a backup. I have a bluelab and if they have to send you a new one under warranty it takes forever as it comes from Australia. By one of those cheap yellow ones from ebay. That way no matter what you're not blind and kill a crop.

 

[Keep goin]

I'm a cheap SOB lol!! I have seen some ph meter as low as $20 and some as high $100+ just wanted to know should you stay away from the cheap ph meters thanks a lot guys.

I know others might disagree...but how does FREE sound!!?

I DON'T check my pH...EVER!! I grow in minimal amounts of hydroton (in 5.5" net pots) both DWC bubble buckets and my main system which is basically NFT with a top feed at each plant site. In other words very "touchy" type systems...but I don't do anything with my pH.

I recommend it highly....it's very freeing. (it's how I got "back" into hydro actually. My first run at hydro drove me nuts I got sick of adjusting pH every day...went back to "soil" for many years. Now I wouldn't go back to soil for anything!)

Give it a shot...Good Luck

 

[medicalmj]

Depends on how you roll. When I got back into growing I got my old Hanna pens out, and of course they were shot. And I too am a cheap SOB. But for some reason the first thing I bought was a $275 BL combo meter, the one with a removable and replaceable PH probe ($60-75 to replace) and I am glad. Even when my hanna was new keeping it calibrated sucked. I store my ph probe in 4.0 solution and its always reading, 4.0. When I do check on it once in a while, its always spot on. And the EC/PPM probe also reads temp.

So i say pony up. But don't buy a pen, buy the one with the long cable...and remote "brain" and display.