Ph meter issues can anybody offer any help....!!

[daftpunk]

For Christs Sake, i borrowed a newish, same model as mine ph meter from a friend then calibrated both, although my meter was slower to calibrate, both gave spot on ph7 then ph4 readouts.
I then tested my reservoir water that has been stood overnight and it was showing on friends newer meter 5.9 and on my meter 6.3.
Considering last year my tap water was about 7ish straight from the tap im a little sceptical my friends meter is working correctly, especially when i had added 60ml of liquid silicon to the resevoir and then ph'ed back to the initial readings of 5.9. (btw i am in a soft water area and rec dose for silicon is 10ml per litre).
I then added nutrients and the ph then dropped to 5.2, this is in a 70 litre resevoir so to get the ph back to the chosen ph i have added over 40ml of ph up and the reading is still only @ 5.7-5.8ph and the water is cloudy as hell. Do you think my friends meter is a duffer too.:cry::confused2:

Daftpunk

 

[zem]

Welcome to PH lol everyone thinks hes got it right, no one really has it right, use the best estimation given your tools. I use a top notch bluelab pen and top notch ph drops as backup. I would like to have a second meter to compare, but I know that i can be off depending on factors. Anyway, with PH, you should go steady, the plants sort of adjust to the slight ph swings and feed anyway as long as you are in range. in your case, you can still drop it to read 5.5 on your meter and check on your friend's but that must be a 2 or 3 day gradual drop. With the right test drops and a colorless nutrient solution, you could know which meter is more likely to be right. Get Sera brand, flawless, a 0.5 swing is easily detected behind white light

 

[daftpunk]

Hi Zem, my ph meter is a good make and my newly ordered one is Essentials PH Meter also a good one.
The problem i am having is the amount of ph up im having to dose my reservoir tank to bring it with range for coco which is a massive amount compared to what i am used to doing, usually a few drop from a pipette, so that whay i am figuring they are both goosed especially as the made up solution is cloudy,
My reservoir once mixed stays put PH wise for a good week or so as i hand water my plants other than that i am just going to wait until my new one comes then probably have to chuck my made up solution if my guess is right.
Thanks for your advice Zem.
Daftpunk

 

[Budlight]

DaftPunk what nutrients are you using sounds exactly like what I just went through and was really confused when I added the pH up because it almost made my nutrients look like it was curdling and gone cloudy when I talk to the guy at the grow store he said it was fine I use General hydroponics for nutrients I noticed when you PH up it takes a lot more than if you pH down at least twice to three times as much I noticed my pH out of the top is usually seven but sometimes depending on time of the day it'll come out around 7 or 6.8 I know it sounds crazy but that's just how it is here for me

 

[zem]

i don't have any ph up, i just top with tap water high in carbonates, gives me the chance to beef up my feeding too

 

[daftpunk]

Lol i try and be a bit more on the ball than straight from the tap Zem, lol and Budlight i hear what you are saying but i have been using Vitalink Coco nutrients for past 6 years now and never had any problems, anyway i clicked on water in my postcode/zipcode area and my new ph meter is way out as is my friends meter too so im just waiting on new one being delivered to verify i am right.
Fyi information my water is super soft and delivered from the Lake District.
Daftpunk

 

[zem]

you'd be surprised how much carbonates tap water can have if you were living not that close to a lake with soft waters like yours. my tap water is at 8.2 ph 240ppm i really don't have to add that much to raise it from 5.5 to 5.7, i always find myself lowering the PH after top offs. Anyway, good luck with the new ph meter i hope that you got a good one