Ph meter, error during calibration

[lilnug420]

You have a scale so you just compare. The JBL brand makes some that I can for sure put it to the nearest 0.5, and even when inbetween, you can see which way it leans. They are also 3 to 10 ph scale. More than enaugh scale.

i just can't get the PH drops to work, i got 2 different brands. it's so hard for me to read the scale, the of the water changes depending where you look, if it's sunny vs artificial light for example, and the color of the background too... how can i make sure the reading is correct? i struggle a lot to interpret the color of the water

 

[linde]

Spend the money on quality test equipment. Put the guessing behind you.

 

[Hammerhead]

I cant use drops either.

Leave the PH meter in a calibration solution of 4ph for 24hrs to rehydrate the tip. If this doesn't fix it it's toast.

You need to get some Storage solution.. Probes tip must !! be kept wet.. Probes or meters should not be dry.. Ive seen this often do to the length of time they sit before being bought.

Also, DO NOT USE RO/DI to store PH probes. It will kill the lifespan of the probe. Tap water only use if there's nothing else. The pH electrodes in distilled or deionized water as this has little to no ions present and will cause the ions to leach out of the glass bulb and will render your electrode useless.

 

[troutman]

I gave up on meters after ruining two.

Aquarium test kits are accurate enough for me.

 

[LostTribe]

i have these 2 ph meters, one is 1 year old the other 3 years old.


they're both giving error when trying to calibrate, they were stored dry, as the instructions don't say anything about storage solutions.


on the instruction it says if they dry out to immerse them in distilled water for 2-3 h, i did so overnight and they're still giving error, i'm gonna try immersing them for 12h in the 4ph solution as i've read it can help revive them.

i will post a pic of the instructions and the ph meters.


does anyone have experience with these cheap meters? how accurate are they? and how often do you calibrate them? as long as the margin of error isn't higher than 0.25 they're good enough for me as i can't afford the expensive ones

bluelab is decent for a replacement. I liked my old Milwaukee ph meter better though. The GH drops are fine too. I used GH drops in hydro many times without any issues.

 

[More Overkill]

does anyone have experience with these cheap meters? how accurate are they?

I got 3 of those yellow PH meters they are good and accurate when calibrated.

 

[Ca++]

3 dollars? where? they're about 20 euro here

https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-pH-meter.html?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20230630162753&SearchText=pH+meter&spm=a2g0o.home.1000002.0

Quite a few there, but you might need to spend $5 to get free shipping. 20 Eu's gets you into real meter territory. The dollar one's use a tiny glass electrode, and while the meter displays to 0.1 the electrode might have a 0.2 accuracy. Move over to the meters with removable tips, and some get the 0.01 electrode iirc. It's just two levels of decency we are looking at. The rubbish and the half decent. It's this glassware of interest. Once the factory have bought in the right probes, the rest is just packaging. Look for things like water resistance and batteries like the tv remove. A nice screen size. Perhaps temperature, as a decent meter is temperature compensating, so proof it knows the temp is interesting. It may tell you if uses a reference electrode, but about now the spec is loosing relevancy. You just want the good glass, as seen in the accuracy specifications. It would be nice if they sell spare tips, as it's replaceable. However, most shops are not trying to give aftersales, just sales.

I shake the drips off with a flick of the wrist, and pop the cap on. Ideally, stand it in a jar, or prop it up. As the lid will gather water over time, and need emptying.
All I'm doing is keeping near 100% RH in there. So it can't dry. If it does dry, you might recover it, but the reading will take longer to settle. Dry it 2 or 3 times, and more likely, it will be screwed.

The real problem with paying $15, is that people may not respect them as much as a $150 branded one. If you share the grow, be sure they know it was $150, because you just wanted to treat yourself.

 

[Ca++]

This link should shine some light on realistic expectations. For example, you can spend 20 euro's on one of them cheap flat meters, but it also comes with temperature&RH readings, that it bluetooths to a phone app. This probably isn't the full story though. The bluetooth connection usually just tells the meter what the wifi password is. While the meter tells the phone it's address. So you can check your numbers from anywhere. While datalogging them, if you wish.

pH Meter

Shen Zhen Yage Technology Co., Ltd registered the brand "YIERYI" in 2016, The main products are: PH meter, Tds ec meter, Do meter, Orp meter, soil meter, refractometer. Our products are widely used in: aquariums, hydroponics , aquaculture, environmental protection, swimming pools, beauty salons...

shop.yieryimeters.com

With 0.05 accuracy, it's fair. It's another dollar to drop the crap, and give you the 0.01 accuracy of decent kit.
At 26US you get one I might consider. 0.01 still, in a waterproof housing, with replaceable tip. I think @linde is showing us it.

While the Yieryi site brings it all together, they don't manufacture. They go places like tomtop and many aliexpress sellers do. You can get them cheaper, but it's this site where they know what they are selling.




I have my eye on this bad boy
https://shop.yieryimeters.com/produ...-monitoring-tester-kit-for-aquariums-seawater

There is a 6 in 1 version now on Ali. It can select between EC TDS PPM SALT S.G and costs about 40$ plus damages. You can read your tank and temperature from anywhere, and it graphs out the history. What's really useful, is the BNC connected pH probe. That is standard stuff, and costs a tenner.
If you look at Bluelab, they want 300US for something similar. One user here struggles with the Bluelab, as it measures EC as 0.0 so at EC 1.0 the feed changes 10% before the meter notices, if using the EC scale. In comparison, this is 0.000 which offers 100x more resolution. Though that is no guaranty of accuracy, with a tank that could support bio growth.
Still. There is some lovely kit worth getting excited about, if you really hunt for it.
The above with dosing outputs lands around 60 euros, if you really want something to play with (and I'm getting close now, so I must sign off)

 

[Ca++]

Mini Professional Online pH Meter Water Quality Tester Waterproof Water Quality Monitor Water Quality Analysis Device with Temperature Compensation ATC Function and Backlight

Mini Professional Online pH Meter Water Quality Tester Waterproof Water Quality Monitor Water Quality Analysis Device with Temperature Compensation ATC Function and Backlight

www.tomtop.com

$20 delivered (I'm not sure about taxes)
Only a 0.1 probe, but a 0.01 is $8 delivered (again.. I dunno)

$10 a chuck isn't bad, for people that want a new one every few months. Batteries cost more than that.