What Ph meter is everyone using, and what do you think of it?

end_of_the_tunnel said:

Thought some kind of buffer was needed to ensure long life of probe.

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Never heard of that. I just use it, rinse it off well with cold water, shake the water off, put it in my glass.

F_Dupp said:

Hey everyone. Im in the market for a new Ph meter and was wondering if anyone has any recommendations. I run a low pressure aero system with 35 gallon reservoirs and am currently using an Oakley Ph pen and it no longer calibrates correctly. What is the best meter you have used?

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I made the mistake in buying the ATP pen that everyone uses, and while it does work, I made the bonehead move and dropped it in water. Luckily I bought the ph up and down kit that has the liquid drops tester to get me by until my new pen arrives. I definitely recommended this one. Cost more than the yellow ATP pen, but it’s waterproof in the event you make the same mistake I made.

**NOTE** If you decide to get the yellow pen, make sure to get some 7.0 calibration fluid. Just pour it in a cup enough for the probe to sit in while the pen is off, this eliminates the need to constantly recalibrate before each use.

Had a cheap pH meter, like pictured here, it would test fine in 4.0 and 7.0 solution but when i got a Blue Lab combo meter to compare it with, I found that the cheaper meter was off by quite a bit in the middle. As in, 4.0 solution would read 4.0 and 7.0 would read 7.0, but my 6.0 nutrient solution would read 6.5-6.8. Uhh...

Also found my cheap TDS was consistently off by 280ppm. At least that was easy to adjust.

So I count my BL combo meter as one of the best investments I’ve made into growing, because it fixed so many of the weird anomalies I was battling.

Cinco said:

Had a cheap pH meter, like pictured here, it would test fine in 4.0 and 7.0 solution but when i got a Blue Lab combo meter to compare it with, I found that the cheaper meter was off by quite a bit in the middle. As in, 4.0 solution would read 4.0 and 7.0 would read 7.0, but my 6.0 nutrient solution would read 6.5-6.8. Uhh...

Also found my cheap TDS was consistently off by 280ppm. At least that was easy to adjust.

So I count my BL combo meter as one of the best investments I’ve made into growing, because it fixed so many of the weird anomalies I was battling.

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I can’t justify the cost of the blue lab since I only need to ph between 6.5-7 anyway. All that ppm run off testing is useless to me. Not that it doesn’t serve a purpose for some people, it just doesn’t in my grows. I honestly didn’t have a problem with the yellow ATP pen like I said above, I just don’t wanna end up dropping it again. I will say however, that the blue lab is definitely far superior than the ATP or the waterproof pen by far. If you can afford it, by all means get it. If you want something a little more affordable and not have to worry about water getting in the circuitry, the waterproof pen isn’t a bad choice. I only ran into ph discrepancies when I didn’t leave my probe sitting in the 7.0 solution.

Wizkid_420 said:

I have the cheap HM ph & TDS meters, and I also have a bluelab combo meter (pH/TDS/temp).

I CANNOT get the two brands to agree on any reading, not even closely. The exception is calibration solutions. They both read those exactly the same (but after calibration both still disagree in field use). Has anybody else observed this?

I have decided that I will trust the readings from the bluelab combo meter, as I believe it is a higher quality brand.

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I ran into this multiple times from brand to brand. Only way to get them close is by leaving them in the solution when not in use. Other than that, the readings are always off from each other.

I have a shitty yellow one. I don't think it's accurate but I use it anyway.

I like the Bluelab handheld ph and ec meters. I have the Bluelab combo meter but its slow. I got multiple reservoirs. It takes too much time to go from 1 res to another with the combo meter taking its sweet time. I rather pop both the handhelds at the same time and measure both together + the handhelds are cheaper. My Bluelab EC meter is going on 3 years and I know its accurate because I bought a brand new one backup just in case and they read the exact same.

Ive used the ones on amazon that are like 10-15 bucks. Theyre all the same they just rebrand them and sell it as their own. If it looks like this stay away. Theyre inaccurate and not waterproof. Accidentally dropped it in my rez one day and it was over.

Temp is one thing to keep in mind when using ph meters. The calibration pouches even say to calibrate at 25 Celsius. I always water at 25-30 Celsius. Figured that’s the best way to get an accurate reading if it requires you to calibrate at that temp.

Wizkid_420 said:

Really? what kind of temps do you have in your res? I'm finding my readings stabilize under 30sec in the low 70s.
Is that time frame considered high? I'm kind of new to all these meters and measurements. When i was a kid it was just pop a seed and keep it watered!

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I mean its normal but the handhelds are way faster. Gotta dunk both the combo meters inside then press EC wait for it to stabilize which feels like forever cause its slower for some reason. Then onto pH....wait for it to stabilize...... tick tock tick tock. Also it not having an off key bothers me too.

I get both handhelds in each hand dunk it in each rez. Within 10sec theyre both ready to look at. Then onto the next rez. Then the next....then the next. Takes me under a minute for 5 reservoirs.

Right now I am using the cheap Hanna red pH one you can get for like $35. It works fine and if you store it correctly it should last a year. I would much rather replace these cheap ones every year than hope that my expensive ones don't crap out before2 years.

Oakton, works great and durable. Around $100.

I use an Hanna HI-9813 6N. It is a professional PH EC TDS meter. I did not get it for weed, I got it because for a while I was selling organic hot sauce that I grew and made. In order to ensure that it met requirements I needed a meter with high accuracy, then i found it useful in brewing beer and now cultivation of cannabis. I store it in storage solution, which you should do with all ph probes to prevent the electrode from degrading due to salt buildups etc. I do calibrate regularly. I have nothing bad to say about this tool, I have been extremely pleased with it for about 10 years now.

end_of_the_tunnel said:

Thought some kind of buffer was needed to ensure long life of probe.

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I use pH probes often for work, and yes, the bulb is to be kept moist during storage. On professional meters this usually means keeping a damp piece of sponge in a container that envelops the bulb (i.e. in the cap). Might be fine to just leave it in a glass of water (the sponge is used I believe in part when probes are shipped [leaking liquids = bad]).

dbz said:

I use an Hanna HI-9813 6N. It is a professional PH EC TDS meter. I did not get it for weed, I got it because for a while I was selling organic hot sauce that I grew and made. In order to ensure that it met requirements I needed a meter with high accuracy, then i found it useful in brewing beer and now cultivation of cannabis. I store it in storage solution, which you should do with all ph probes to prevent the electrode from degrading due to salt buildups etc. I do calibrate regularly. I have nothing bad to say about this tool, I have been extremely pleased with it for about 10 years now.

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So by storage solution, do you mean a 7.0 cal solution?

Over the past year I've gone through three cheap-er pH pens that just crapped out on me despite using best practices. After some debate, frustration and lots of research I finally just found the best deal I could and invested in the Bluelab pH soil meter and its the best money I've spent. Fast and reliable in soil and solution. using it a couple months now and calibration hasn't drifted at all. Easy to clean and keep in the storage solution too. I just love it after being so frustrated with the cheap pens.

I like this one .... pretty stable readings plus water proof.
Under $100 .... don’t Remember exact price but ordered on Walmart . Com and got free ship at the time.

DarthVaper84 said:

So by storage solution, do you mean a 7.0 cal solution?

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I use Hanna Storage solution. You can just search for PH meter storage solution. The storage solution is different than a cal or buffer solution. Just put some in the cap. I have a cleaning solution, a storage solution and 4, 7 and 10 cal solutions.

Budzbuddha said:

I like this one .... pretty stable readings plus water proof.
Under $100 .... don’t Remember exact price but ordered on Walmart . Com and got free ship at the time.

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This is the one I have, love it too.

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Good old fashioned PH test kit for swimming pools!

Renfro said:

Apera PH60S is my favorite, it will read soil or coco as well as liquids. The normal PH60 is cheaper and is liquid only. Gets readings fast and has 2 decimal point accuracy.

Bluelab makes a great pen, slower to read, 1 decimal precision.

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I actually bought an Apera PH60S after your quiz. Yet to use it as I’m stocking up for my winter grow.

Looks like a beast though!