fat_astronaut
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Looking for a reliable pH meter, available on amazon.ca, around $25 max. Any recommendations?
Can you suggest a good, cheap pH meter?
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brewbama
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http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0087LOWIA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
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Hermit
fuddle
Resolution: 0.1 pH.
Accuracy: ±0.1 pH (20°C), ±0.2 pH.
0.1pH is the stated accuracy and I wouldn't call that "very accurate" for what we do. Or is it .2? In that case it is a huge difference. For our purposes 0.1 matters. There is a difference between 5.3 and 5.5. There is a bigger difference between 5.2. and 5.6. This may be better than nothing and, depending on budget,may be a good choice but to call it "very accurate" is misleading at best.
Yes. Save the $25, skip the pub for 3 nights and get a decent meter for around $100. You are still on the edge there but 'reliable pH meteter' and 'around $25' are conflicting phrases.
You might want to look at https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/ph-meter-calibration-302256/. In that article I recommend the Hach PocketPro+. While this is a good meter they are having trouble with shipping defective units. They have, thus far, always made good but the Milwaukee MW102 is apparently equally good but people aren't reporting infant mortality with it. It also has a separate electrode which some people prefer.
It has resolution of 0.1 and an accuracy of 0.05?
mdabbles
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Mine will display for example, 5.25. Its been right on with everything I have benchmarked it to. Enough on this. I'm happy, that's all that matters.
I'm happy you're happy and I am never sure how to approach lotus eaters here. What is more important than an individual's happiness is that readers are prevented from getting the impression that they can buy an accurate pH meter for $7.00. As that price includes shipping and the seller's markup you are talking about a pH meter that costs under $5 to make. As that's just about impossible I strongly suspect, but do not know, that the sellers of these $7-10 'instruments' are buying the factory's seconds and selling them at reduced prices. There is nothing wrong with that as long as the realizable accuracy is correctly stated as there are applications where accuracy of 0.1 - 0.2 is good enough. Brewing is not one of them.
I strongly encourage people to do the stability test at https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/ph-...ration-302256/ as this gives a true picture of how accurate one's meter really is.
I strongly encourage people to do the stability test at https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/ph-...ration-302256/ as this gives a true picture of how accurate one's meter really is.
Let me rephrase that then:
What is more important than an individual's happiness is that readers are prevented from getting the impression that they can buy an accurate pH meter for $27.00.
What is more important than an individual's happiness is that readers are prevented from getting the impression that they can buy an accurate pH meter for $27.00.
homebrewdad
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Have to agree with ajdelange.
There are tons of thermometers out there, you don't have to spend $100 on a thermapen to get a good one. Readings will take a little longer, but you can still get accurate temps.
$25 pH meters are a waste of money in my book. Just get some testing strips - you're not giving up much accuracy.
pH is a fairly exact science. If you're not going to get something accurate to .01, why bother?
OP, save your money and get a $100 pH meter.
There are tons of thermometers out there, you don't have to spend $100 on a thermapen to get a good one. Readings will take a little longer, but you can still get accurate temps.
$25 pH meters are a waste of money in my book. Just get some testing strips - you're not giving up much accuracy.
pH is a fairly exact science. If you're not going to get something accurate to .01, why bother?
OP, save your money and get a $100 pH meter.
Hermit
fuddle
So now you say you have a different model just the same brand?
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user 141939
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I just recieved the crappy pH meter from Hong Kong yesterday. I brought it to the lab where I work to check it out.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087LOWIA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
The pH meter I was comparing it to is thermo orion 410A+ with a recently replaced electrode, the RICCA buffers are the ones we use at the lab. I wanted to compare both the meter (pHmeter) and the calibration powders (phBuffer) that came with it and here are my results:
After calibrating the thermo meter, (the pHmeter I did not have to calibrate, which surprised me)...
RICCA 7.0 buffer, thermo meter: 6.98
RICCA 7.0 buffer, pHMeter: 7.0
RICCA 4.0 buffer, thermo meter: 3.99
RICCA 4.0 buffer, pHmeter: 4.0
Tap water, thermo meter: 7.52
Tap water, pHmeter: 7.8
Tap water repeat , thermo meter 7.50
Tap water repeat, pHmeter: 7.7
pHBuffer 6.86, thermo meter: 6.82
pHbuffer 6.86, pHmeter: 7.0
pHbuffer 4.01, thermo meter: 3.99
pHbuffer 4.01, pHmeter: 4.1
and a closing cal check:
RICCA 7.0 buffer, thermo meter: 7.01
RICCA 7.0 buffer, pHMeter: 7.1
RICCA 4.0 buffer, thermo meter: 3.97
RICCA 4.0 buffer, pHmeter: 4.1
Sorry my data is not very neat.
My initial impressions would be that it's probably only good for checking to see if you are way off on the mash but certainly not fine tuning anything. The buffers were spot on thought
I wasn't gonna post anything yet because I plan on testing her out more, but these are my initial observations.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087LOWIA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
The pH meter I was comparing it to is thermo orion 410A+ with a recently replaced electrode, the RICCA buffers are the ones we use at the lab. I wanted to compare both the meter (pHmeter) and the calibration powders (phBuffer) that came with it and here are my results:
After calibrating the thermo meter, (the pHmeter I did not have to calibrate, which surprised me)...
RICCA 7.0 buffer, thermo meter: 6.98
RICCA 7.0 buffer, pHMeter: 7.0
RICCA 4.0 buffer, thermo meter: 3.99
RICCA 4.0 buffer, pHmeter: 4.0
Tap water, thermo meter: 7.52
Tap water, pHmeter: 7.8
Tap water repeat , thermo meter 7.50
Tap water repeat, pHmeter: 7.7
pHBuffer 6.86, thermo meter: 6.82
pHbuffer 6.86, pHmeter: 7.0
pHbuffer 4.01, thermo meter: 3.99
pHbuffer 4.01, pHmeter: 4.1
and a closing cal check:
RICCA 7.0 buffer, thermo meter: 7.01
RICCA 7.0 buffer, pHMeter: 7.1
RICCA 4.0 buffer, thermo meter: 3.97
RICCA 4.0 buffer, pHmeter: 4.1
Sorry my data is not very neat.
My initial impressions would be that it's probably only good for checking to see if you are way off on the mash but certainly not fine tuning anything. The buffers were spot on thought
I wasn't gonna post anything yet because I plan on testing her out more, but these are my initial observations.
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Stay polite you punk....ajdelange is very helpful on water chemistry here so get lost if you don't like actual facts
+1 Ajdelange's posts are some of the best here. He has been very helpful.
As a water engineer your man has been exposed to lots and lots of Hach equipment and they do make good gear. It's in use in water treatment facilities all over the world. It was on this basis that I bought one of the Hach meters as soon as it was released about a year ago and I haven't been disappointed. It's performance (which means temporal stability) is excellent. However it is only fair to point out that others have been disappointed in that the meters they received from Hach did not work out of the box or failed within a week or so. It is also only fair to point out that in every such case that has been reported on here Hach bent over backwards to rectify the problem and everyone eventually wound up with a working meter.
As this unit has been on the market for less than a year we don't know about long term electrode longevity at this point.
fat_astronaut
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I did end up buying a $30 one before I saw all these other posts, but I will save up for a better one for the near future.
One question: How often do you have to replace the bulb in your meter to keep it accurate? I thought I read once a year somewhere, but would that be applied to a lab that was using it multiple times a day?
One question: How often do you have to replace the bulb in your meter to keep it accurate? I thought I read once a year somewhere, but would that be applied to a lab that was using it multiple times a day?
It used to be once a year if you were lucky. The technology has advanced and it can now be several years. I have one electrode that I think I've been using for almost 5 years now and in general get 2-1/2 or more it seems on others.
Does life depend on usage? It has to at least to the extent that the more you use it the more likely you are to damage it. One thing that definitely would relate to amount of use would be if you use the electrode in hot solutions such as mash or wort. The thermal stresses from such use do, apparently, effect longevity. I suppose another factor might be frequent protein/sugar buildup requiring frequent cleaning which might be a stressor. In the old days the final step was a HFl soak which actually removed glass. Today its more likely to be a much gentler treatment with an enzymatic cleaner. In any case, in typical home brewing use I think you should expect at least a couple of years.
If your meter tells you slope and offset info at each cal you can keep track of your electrode's aging. The meters that don't display this data will often refuse to accept a cal if the slope goes below 95%. Slow response is the usual indicator that an electrode is getting tired. If cleaning doesn't quicken the response, get the slope up over 95% or allow the meter to accept the calibration it is time to replace.
Does life depend on usage? It has to at least to the extent that the more you use it the more likely you are to damage it. One thing that definitely would relate to amount of use would be if you use the electrode in hot solutions such as mash or wort. The thermal stresses from such use do, apparently, effect longevity. I suppose another factor might be frequent protein/sugar buildup requiring frequent cleaning which might be a stressor. In the old days the final step was a HFl soak which actually removed glass. Today its more likely to be a much gentler treatment with an enzymatic cleaner. In any case, in typical home brewing use I think you should expect at least a couple of years.
If your meter tells you slope and offset info at each cal you can keep track of your electrode's aging. The meters that don't display this data will often refuse to accept a cal if the slope goes below 95%. Slow response is the usual indicator that an electrode is getting tired. If cleaning doesn't quicken the response, get the slope up over 95% or allow the meter to accept the calibration it is time to replace.
Hermit
fuddle
I think I heard of this stuff on the telescope making list. This is nasty crap if it is the same thing I'm thinking of.
Yes it is. The molecule is so small that it readily penetrates tissue working its way right to the bone where it reacts with the bone calcium doing extensive damage. Also reacts with other calcium in the body leading to all sorts of problems.
When used to etch/clean glass (as in rejuvenating a pH electrode) extremely poisonous silicoln fluoride gasses are given off.
When used to etch/clean glass (as in rejuvenating a pH electrode) extremely poisonous silicoln fluoride gasses are given off.
johncieera
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Check on ebay an Amazon for many Cheap meters
But don't buy them. The bitterness of low price remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
