PH Meter - Trusty Friend or Worst Enemy?????

The 7.01 left out evaporated for me and I was even left with some nasty stuff.

Question:

I noticed that my meter develops some algae or dark material (mold) I have no clue on the inside of the plastic. I cleaned it with tap water and rinsed it real good, does anyone else run into this issue? I have started leaving the top off to allow it to air dry. I know its bad to leave them out who replaces the cap and puts it in a drawer? Who leaves it out to air dry? Who rinses it & immediately places it in 7.0 solution for storage until its next use.

I get buildups on my meters over time, and a simple light brushing with a toothbrush
and some alcohol cleans it right up.

I used to be a firm believer in leaving the cap on with some moisture to not let dry
out. But for the last 2 years or so I've let them dry out with no change in their performance
and every time I calibrate they're pretty much still dead on. I run a pair of Oakton TDS/Ph
pens.

Even my generic Trimeter I got from china seems to deal ok with letting the wands dry out
instead of storing in a solution. I did notice more flex in the calibration with this model, but
still works fine when calibrated every 2 weeks or so.

Thanks for the response

im on my second miwaukee ph tester. the next one i get i think will be different. it needs to be calibrated every week at the least, i just dont trust it. I keep it in storage solution and rinse it off every time after i use it with well water that has 40ppm. the first one i had i stored in just water. this one now gets kept in storage solution but i don't see any difference. i still have to calibrate it every week, so the storage solution doenst seem to be helping at all

Weedler said:

The 7.01 left out evaporated for me and I was even left with some nasty stuff.

Question:

I noticed that my meter develops some algae or dark material (mold) I have no clue on the inside of the plastic. I cleaned it with tap water and rinsed it real good, does anyone else run into this issue? I have started leaving the top off to allow it to air dry. I know its bad to leave them out who replaces the cap and puts it in a drawer? Who leaves it out to air dry? Who rinses it & immediately places it in 7.0 solution for storage until its next use.

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I used to leave my probe out to dry at first but now I just keep the probe in a glass of water.. since my grow is done I put the cap back on it and put it in the case..

£10er cheapys i buy and they last for a grow or 2 before i calibrate and never had a prob, and unless your changing your system all the time ya should no how much of ph up or down to use!

I rarley use ph pen nomore, just for peace of mind no and again lol

yea, my current grow turned out way better than my last due to lack of ph meter calibration. it needs to be done a little too often, but it's vital your plants development. nothing sucks more than checking your meter only to discover you've been given your plants 7.8 ph on accident.

i only check my ph if my plants look bad which is never unless i have mites or they are lil yellow and need food.

my soil plants get whatever comes out of the hose but when i was growing in a hyro system i checked the ph every time i walked into the room.

Phillip J Fry said:

i only check my ph if my plants look bad which is never unless i have mites or they are lil yellow and need food.

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If you're using your PH meter daily and it has a cap, put tap water in the cap, and store it upright. Never use deionized water, like distilled, it leaches the chemicals out of the probe, throws it off and shortens the life. It's ok to use distilled to grow, just don't store in it. Cleaning can be done in hot 4.01 solution, if really dirty, let set in bleach, or HCI for half an hour, wash well, then condition in 7.0 solution for an hour. Each company makes a storage solution for there meters, I use a solution by Hanna, but only if it's gonna be awhile before the next use. GL

Hm, think I better stick with the drops for now.

advanced nutrients ph perfect sensi grow and bloom.. i never check/adjust my ph

markybuds said:

advanced nutrients ph perfect sensi grow and bloom.. i never check/adjust my ph

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Indeed.

I started week 7 today and I have only used my pH meter once since the flip. When I did test in week 5, it read a perfect 5.75-5.80!