Hana Instruments pH Meter?

[TygGer]

Are these any good?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=58191&item=3822634797

 

[Atari]

Yep, that's the one I got this morning

 

[saltcreep1025]

be sure u order extra calibrating things

 

[TygGer]

be sure u order extra calibrating things

Gotta link?

 

[Atari]

It comes pre-calibrated and they give you both sets of calibration fluids anyway, so you don't really need to order anything else.

 

[TygGer]

Thanks Atari

 

[TygGer]

My ph meter just came in yesterday. I ordered both the TDS and PH meter from the same person to save on shipping.

I need help trying to calibrate the ph meter. It says that I need to get 7.01 buffer fluid. Is this necessary and how do I do it?

The instructions also say to store the electrode in HI 70300 Storage Solution and not to use DI or Distilled water. Do I really need to store it in the "Storage Solution" and why can't I use DI or Distilled water? And if I need the Storage Solution, where can I buy it???

 

[Atari]

Hehe ignore the storage bit, Hanna just wants more money out of ya..

Didn't you get packets of calibration fluid with it?

And have you tried using the meter yet? They come factory calibrated.

 

[CBRGuy]

I bought a phPrep2, but I didn't get any calibration fluid either. I had to order it on the net it came to like 21 bucks (the company ripped me off on shipping).

My meter was reading my water at 7.2 which I know was off, becuase I tested it on three different sources. One of which was a fresh made bucket of water.

But they storage thing... You can use the same claibration fluid if you want. it's just bad to had a big swing in the Ph. (well at least that's what the instructions said.

 

[TygGer]

Nope, the unit I got on ebay did not come with any calibration fluid. Did yours come with it? I ordered from "thesilvergenie". Hanna pH TESTER, METER Aquarium/Hydroponics/Lab.

Whats strange is the description on ebay says that it comes pre-calibrated, but I could of sworn that the intructions tell you to calibrate it before using ???

I used it testing tap water and the reading was 8.xx. How can I verify if the pH meter is correctly calibrated without the calibration fluid? Can I use distilled water and if so, what is the pH of distilled water suppose to be?

And lastly, about storing the unit... is it suppose to be stored wet or can we store it dry??

 

[rayjay]

Don't trust the meter to be calibrated when you get it.
Also, when they sometimes have calibration packets with them, they usually are for pH4 and pH7 which is no good for testing pH values above 7. You have to get standard solutions of pH7 and pH10 to get accurate readings for salt water pH.
I store mine wet, with water in the protective cap that fits on the end.
When I test a sample, I leave it sit until the reading stabilizes, as it sometimes takes more than a little time to get a stable reading.

 

[saltcreep1025]

Ive found that to get a good reading i have to take a cup of water out of my tank and test that. If i stick it right into the tank it cant get a stable reading very well and reads really low. is that normal?

 

[Atari]

I store mine dry and have never calibrated it.. when I test I dip it straight into the tank and the reading stabilizes after a few seconds. It shows pH as 8.0 in the morning and 8.3 in the evening which is what my Seachem test kit always gave me too.

 

[TygGer]

Don't trust the meter to be calibrated when you get it.
Also, when they sometimes have calibration packets with them, they usually are for pH4 and pH7 which is no good for testing pH values above 7. You have to get standard solutions of pH7 and pH10 to get accurate readings for salt water pH.
I store mine wet, with water in the protective cap that fits on the end.
When I test a sample, I leave it sit until the reading stabilizes, as it sometimes takes more than a little time to get a stable reading.

What fluid are you using to store it, regular tap water?

 

[rayjay]

I just dip the cap in the aged tap water I have on hand, and then place the cap on the meter until next use. I believe if you read the instructions that come with the meter, it will tell you to store wet, but not in calibration fluid.

 

[Atari]

Actually the instructions say you can use the calibration fluid to store it OR buy the storage fluid.

 

[TygGer]

Ok, time to search for either calibration or storage fluid... hmm, might as well get calibration fluid as it can serve a dual purpose. Anyone know what's so special about this "storage" fluid?

If using tap water if fine for storage, I may as well use that. I dont want to damage anything, especially when the intructions say not to use RO water. Wonder why... ?

 

[Atari]

Think about it this way.. the electrodes are bone dry when you get the meter. Who knows how long that particular meter may have been on the shelf or wherever. If it was at all damaging to store it dry then they would be factory shipped in storage fluid!

 

[TygGer]

Understandable... but what if the electrode was not designed to be dried after each use? What if, by doing so causes the electrode to wear prematurely and in the mean time cause the readings to be off?

 

[Atari]

It has nothing to do with wearing it out.. if anything it might throw the calibration off a little but since these meters have an accuracy of +/- 0.2 anyway, I doubt it would be significant.

I still say if storage solution was really that important then it would come with the meter.