Buying my ppm and ph pens

[New2theGame]

I've decided to go with bluelab ph and ppm pens unless I'm told other wise. The ppm pen is 70 bucks and the ph pen is about 85. Thoughts? Good stuff? Have a better one? I'm listening

 

[D3]

I use a blulab combo meter. It has 1 probe and wIll gIve you precIse ppm and ph readings with just a touch of a button

 

[gourmet]

I have an HM digital PH80 pen and I love it. Doesn't need constant recalibration and all digital with a hold button so the PH reading "holds" when you take it out of the solution. Beat the Milwaukee I have. It is about 60 bucks but only does ph and temp, not ppm.

 

[AmateurAspirations]

I got my PH pen off Ebay for about $12 and I've zero problems with it. I even dropped it in the res once. After 2 days of drying it was back to normal. It has stayed calibrated the lst 2 months as well. I wasted a buffer packet because i was unsure.

 

[Sinisterhand]

I rock Blulab Ph and PPM pens and they work well, glitchy but good.

 

[rickyjack9]

my bluelab ppm meter (90dollars) says ER when i try to calibrate.everytime. i will never trust them again. thats new zealand for you. i tested my tapwater and it said zero. thats not right. my nutes said 450 so i doubled and it said 450 again. im going back to the hydro store tomorrow. the guy even mentioned when i bought it, that if any problems, they'd have to send it back to makers. what gives? the first time i calibrated, it was fine, 1385ppm. i also read from another post that bluelab is crap. i agree. i now only would buy the ones that can be adjusted with a tiny screwdriver like one i had several years ago...

 

[Hushpuppy]

I personally believe that you are judging BlueLab too harshly. I know several people including myself that use the BlueLab pens without any issues. I have also used the Pens that have to be adjusted with the little screwdriver, and my experience with those is that they don't stay in calibration well.

What you have experienced is something that can happen with the best products as they are special testing components and electronics that are subject to failure.

Also, you have to keep these sensitive testers maintained by not allowing the bulbs to dry out, and keeping them cleaned. I have found that if the PH pens are not kept in the 4.0 calibration fluid when not in use, that they will have more trouble staying calibrated, and they will fail much sooner.

 

[Locked]

I have never ever kept my probe bulb in 4.0 solution...I keep it in reg tap water and have done so with this probe for over a year. I recal every two weeks and most times it is not off or off by .1. Jmo

 

[rickyjack9]

hydro store let me exchange it after testing in a new solution and said it was bad. anyway the new one is working ok for now. we'll see. store even told me they make them to fail so u have to buy a new one. yes i agree, i was too harsh but time will tell. i emailed bluelab who told me to get a new test soluton. wow. what else can they say? the exchanged one is working. thats all i care about. everyone competes for our money. if we give it to them, then they think we deserve what we get. people with the gold make the rules and want more gold. we just need to be more careful and spend more wisely.

 

[skullcandy]

I also use the blu lab PH pen works great, good choice.

 

[rickyjack9]

ok my tapwater still reads zero, but the new ppm bluelab pen they gave me calibrated ok to 1390 like it supposed to. but 2 days later was 500 intead of correct 800 for my nutes. i was able to re-calibrate ok then read 800. in other words if you calibrate it works for a couple days. then drops reading to a too low of reading. it jumps around in calibration solution too. since i can recalibrate ok and often, i can use this pen ok. glitchy is accurate term i agree. but ok with recalibration as needed if it reads too low. yay

 

[trillions of atoms]

I have run many ph and ppm meters, cheap and high dollar. I just got a gift through my local shop on a kick *** Hanna ... I've had two Ecotek which were great meters, I just got one of the cheapie "$12" ones recently to have double and now triple check and the meter won't read nitrient solution just plain tap... Pretty interesting as I've gotten cheap cheap meters and they work great for a long time.

If I mix up my nutes and let it sit overnight and the reading is WACK ..... It's the meter every time.



Buy a quality meter whatever you choose and keep it calibrated.

 

[Hushpuppy]

On my BluLab PPM pen, it has 2 settings for testing ppm. One is 500 and the other is 700. These have to do with the way the pen translates the EC value to PPM. If you don't have it on the correct setting to match the calibration fluid that you have, it will not calibrate correctly. If you can't get it to calibrate properly and stay calibrated for more than a month then take it back and see if the people at the store can calibrate it.

I have noticed myself that the BlueLab ppm pen will not detect below a certain level. My well water has a PPM of 55 and my pen won't read it.

Hey Hammy :ciao: That's good that you have been able to keep your pen in regular water and stay calibrated. I can't remember which but I think its BlueLab that recommends using the 4.0 calibration fluid for storage. Before using that, I couldn't keep my pens right, and went through several before buying the BL

 

[WeedHopper]

Whats the difference between PPM and TDS? I got a TDS Pen with my Zero Water System.

 

[WeedHopper]

Answered my own question.

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) are the total amount of mobile charged ions, including minerals, salts or metals dissolved in a given volume of water, expressed in units of mg per unit volume of water (mg/L), also referred to as parts per million (ppm). TDS is directly related to the purity of water and the quality of water purification systems and affects everything that consumes, lives in, or uses water, whether organic or inorganic, whether for better or for worse.
I have never used one with my Grows,,just a PH and Temp Pen.

 

[trillions of atoms]

Parts per million-ppm

Total dissolved solids- tds

Just a measurement... Ppm has to do with purity as well..

 

[WeedHopper]

Thanks TOA. I probably shoulda looked it up 1st.

 

[trillions of atoms]

No prob wh... Sorry I answered after you had posted that. Think we were typing at the same time.

I have a nice EC meter too but I only use my combo meter... Being able to measure temp too is nice.

 

[Hushpuppy]

If you are growing with synthetic nutes, measuring nutes with TDS is very important. You can go by a schedule without checking but I like to keep up with my numbers until I know what the plants like, then it becomes routine to just add the same amounts for each run of plants.

 

[rickyjack9]

ok my second bluelab ppm, after they exchanged for the first. it wont stay calibrated either, my nutes say 450. when i added nute, it read 250. thats my last straw. you go ahead. im done with this brand. maybe the wands are better. they cost more. i'll try to exchange for nutes. i'll find a screwdriver type ppm meter. it worked last time i had one. Did my store get all the bad ones? i keep reading how good they are. i have yet to find one (ppm pen) that works more than a week. no adjustment. should have guessed/known.
im through listening to the bluelab pushers.