pH Meter or Strips?

[SoloGro57]

I Use Both

I Use Both

I will ocassionally run a liquid test side by side with my tri-meter pen. Just to get used to looking at the colors, in case I need to function without my fancy meter.

By the way, Reference solution is cheap. I just keep a bottle of the 4.01 solution on my bench. Before I use my meter I just eyeball a bench calibration. If it's within my tolerance which is plus or minus .04 I know i don't need to worry about doing a full cal. Make sense?

I like this cuz it gives me an idea of how the probe is functioning, by giving me an idea of how much and how quickly Ph tends to drift.

It also gives u a heads up on when cleaning is indicated. If you get lots of drift and a good cleaning doesn't make your probe straighten up and fly right, it's gonna need replacing sooner than later.

 

[TheGreenReaper]

I test it. Just not often. I used to check it all the time, but after a few months go by, and you don't need to adjust it, you wait before you test it, unless all of a sudden something jumps.

Eutech Instruments / Oakton pH Testr.

I mean yeah it will go off by .1 every few months and that is not worth messing with.

I use the same meter...and calibrate it every 4-6 weeks. It is always within .10 of calibration, and I really only calibrate because as a scientist at heart...all the scientists say to calibrate every single usage with their $2k meters...so I figure with my $75 pH meter i should at least go through the motions. I have owned several cheap and expensive meters...and this pH stick just keeps on humming. I will say it is better to proactively change the batteries every 6 mos at the most...but no big deal.

It is was my ease of use with this thing that made me wonder why anyone would use strips. It is rewarding to get all these different responses and the reasons for them.

Thank you to everyone who has stopped by the thread so far, and thank you to contributors :

- funkervogt
- BigTop
- one Q
- Bud Bug
- RetroGrow
- B. Friendly
- somebody041
- Scrogerman
- Admiral Canna
- GrnMtnGrwr
- obscuredbycloud
- SoloGro57

Onward.

 

[stink.whistler]

If you are going to use colorimetric testing make sure you aren't colorblind. If you have never been tested for it, you probably don't know whether or not you are.

 

[obscuredbycloud]

The one thing, maybe it's not just me, I have a hard time with is hitting my mark with Ph down.

I keep track of what I use, and next time I start where I left off. However the Ph will jump lower then I want.

So each time, I use 1-2 mils till I hit my range. Which takes a few. It would be nice to hit the mark on the first shot.

 

[TheGreenReaper]

The one thing, maybe it's not just me, I have a hard time with is hitting my mark with Ph down.

I keep track of what I use, and next time I start where I left off. However the Ph will jump lower then I want.

So each time, I use 1-2 mils till I hit my range. Which takes a few. It would be nice to hit the mark on the first shot.

I have it pretty close to dialed in on my nute reg. About 1 outta 20 times I mix nutes (I mix a full batch at a time and apply all at once - handwater coco) I bust through 5.8 to a lower number. I HATE it when it happens as I feel like a new grower locking all the damn calcium and other minors out as I do the see saw.

I have a 300 gal/ph pump that moves water through the res. I simply clip my pH pen to the side of the res in the stream of the water movement, add my pre-determined ml of solution, wait about ten minutes, and it is usually there, if needed I add another 5-15 ml of pH donw to get it there. With my res size, if I added 1-2 ml at a time it would take me 5 hours to adjust lol, but I hear ya as to taking the time to not whipsaw up and down, with a final ppm of 10,000, 9000 of which is pH up&down!

Years ago I made a decision that if I went to low, and had to raise it, if it required lowering a second time I would discard the batch. That was when I mixed in 5 gallon buckets. Now that I mix 50 gallons per application, I make damn sure I dont blow it on the pH up.

 

[obscuredbycloud]

Maybe the size is the key. I am sure it's not user error, I use a syringe for my measurements and is very accurate. But while I have not figured it out, it seems that let's say I use 9ml to get my pH at 5.8, the next time it will jump high/low...and yeah then you start playing chasing the pH up/down...did that once..lol

Obvious there is another variable that I am not taking inconsideration.

 

[cobcoop]

I use the drops/solution and I have been burned by pH problems more than I would like to admit. But that is mostly out of laziness, i.e. 'I mixed this amount of nute and pH down last time, it should be the same this time...' kinda shit.

That being said when I actually use the drops I have not had any problems, and get good results, in chem and organic. When I'm at the Hydro store and there is a bunch of shit I need I have a hard time dropping $100 on a pH meter when those $5 drops are staring up at me from the display case.

 

[Sgt.Stedenko]

I paid $40 on ebay for this meter. Retails for over $400. I bought a new double junction electrode for about $90 and a little pH buffer solution for calibration. The electrode came with the storage bottle which is imperative.
I also bought an Oakton TDS 10 handheld conductivity meter with electrode and temperature compensation for $55.
Both are spot on and are a testament to Oakton quality.
Hanna, Oakton, Horiba and YSI make good stuff. Hanna and Oakton also make some really cheap shit.
Quality is your best value.

 

[TheGreenReaper]

I paid $40 on ebay for this meter. Retails for over $400. I bought a new double junction electrode for about $90 and a little pH buffer solution for calibration. The electrode came with the storage bottle which is imperative.
I also bought an Oakton TDS 10 handheld conductivity meter with electrode and temperature compensation for $55.
Both are spot on and are a testament to Oakton quality.
Hanna, Oakton, Horiba and YSI make good stuff. Hanna and Oakton also make some really cheap shit.
Quality is your best value.

Thanks Sgt, nice perspective. Another one for meters. I wish I knew how to do the polling thing, where it would track the votes. It kinda seems we are split 50/50 right now, maybe not...If a mod knows how to activate the poll, please do!

 

[GeorgeSmiley]

i just bought the oakton eco ph2. It's never accurate when i first power it up. It's like I have to wait a bit and keep trying the water. If I take 7.0 and calibrate it first it's dead on. I'm not sure if this is something I'm doing or just the unit. It has 3 point calibration, the store did it for me and I only have the 7.0 calibration stuff.

Should I buy the other calibration fluids?

I'm getting the bluelab truncheon for ec.

cheers
Smiley

 

[obscuredbycloud]

Explain further.

When I take my measurements, I usually hold, swirl for about 10 sec before it's stabilized with in .1 -/+.

 

[GeorgeSmiley]

I pull the cap off and turn it on then I swirl it around in my clean water res hold 10 seconds and it reads 8.1-8.5 and the water really is 7.1. If i swirl it in in the 7.0 calibration fluid it reads 7.0 right away..... then I try the water again and it's correct this time..... 7.1 Like when you first turn it on it reads way high until you give it a "low sample" before it'll read correctly.

 

[TheGreenReaper]

GeorgeSmiley
Bud Builder
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: The Circus
Posts: 666

666? Man, To think I actually thought good of you until I knew the truth.

 

[obscuredbycloud]

idk man, but I found this http://www.hach.com/hc/view.file.in...wLinkLabel=Eco+pH+Tester+2+Instruction+Manual

 

[tokinafaty420]

I use a Tri-meter for my rez's. Temp/pH/ppm costs about $150-$190 depending on where you buy it. The probes always stay in the nutrient solution and monitor it continuously. So count me as a meter. I used to use those cheap GH test kits for like $5-8 and I also had a separate TDS pen made by HM digital or something, but I got tired of the extra work. Now I can just take a look and see all three numbers I care about in a second.

 

[obscuredbycloud]

Hummmm I've seen them but idk.

 

[GeorgeSmiley]

GeorgeSmiley
Bud Builder
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: The Circus
Posts: 666

666? Man, To think I actually thought good of you until I knew the truth.

Uh ohh..... satan is my motor......

 

[Dope Boy Magik]

Forget Strips..its 2010..get a cheap PH pen..get a Hanna PH CHECKER...the newer model..for like 30$..it is VERY reliable..calibrate it every other week..even then..it stays around 1-2 PH' levels off..as long as your in 5.5-6.0...in hydro....your GOOD...5.8 is ideal...let the ph drift to make all nutrients available..get the ph checker

 

[Dope Boy Magik]

Oh and always when adding ph adjusting liquids..SHAKE the rez a little..I use a spoon..after adding ANYTHING to the rez..

 

[vaped]

I used the hanna pen for awhile was satisfied at first but it needed calibrated so often it was sick. also it would take forever to quit bouncing around. bending over my res to get a reading was also a pain. I recently got the blue lab it has been a god send. I check it often and it doesn budge. It stays right on. It also has the probe on a wire so you just stand above the res and dangle it in. I have a nutz on reading in like 10 seconds. best 200 bucks I ever spent in the grow room.