I need a cheap PH tester? Should I order this http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Hanna-Checke...QQcmdZViewItem

Give me some suggestions people. Where to order and what? Also how the heck do I use them. I'm a newb.

Hey there Leap, in the same boat as you, but looking for long term use..

Read this thread...

Ph testing equipment thoughts.

Peace,

Sock

I am comfused! I buy this ph test and I also need to buy cleaning solution, storage solution and ph buffer solution? what the heck do all these things do?

Leap,

You will need the pH tester and hi and lo calibration solutions. The pH "buffer" solution is to adjust the pH of the water to the desired level.

ISO

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Hey leap,You will need a PH tester to check the waters PH and your nutr mix PH.Ph can mess up your grow if it's off all the time.That Hanna go checker PH pen for $28.00 is crap I have one and you never can keep it calibrated.Dont buy that one.The better PH&tds pens by oakton are the best I found for the money.Just my opinion oakton works better and stays calibrated longer.With any PH pen or meter you have to calibrate it for it to give you accurate PH readings.To calibrate a PH pen you need PH 7.01 and 4.01 calibration solution.I did use the storeage solution,but I dont any more.It's easyer for me , cause I check The res everday so it dosent dry out.If you would not be using it for long periods of time use the storage solution.For hydro growing you need a PH and TDSorEC pen or you are just shooting craps with your grow.Heres a pix of my pen.Hope that helps.If you need more just hollar. Peace

Attached Images

DSC01185.jpg (72.9 KB, 21 views)

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Anything I may say or do is stickly for entertainment only.This is all make believe and is not To believe by me or anyonehttp:\\www.greenpassion.org/f73/over-grow-government-ogg-2009-what-8722/

to clean the prob you use distilled water and nothing fancy, to store the probe you use the 7.01 buffer/calibration/storage solution form Hanna. so what you need is some demi water from the next store and the 7.01 and 4.01 solution. as a tip by the bottled version as this saves money on the long run (the packs are only good for a single use and after that just waste). what is also handy are spar batteries even if a hanna pen doesn't use to much juice and maybe a spar probe as well as the long probes break quite easily. that is all you will need to keep it in good shape for the coming years.

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Keep the gun oiled and the thumb green!

Hey Leap, I'm gonna go with the Oaktron ultra basci, seems to have a really good track record around here with the serious Hydro-ers...

I will track down the site and put it up when I find it, they had them for $54..

Peace,

Sock

Here ya go...

Waterproof pHTestr® Basic

Sock

As someone with a tight budget I just use the type that where you compare the water to a paper. You can get them with bottles of ph up and down for $10 total at a pet store. Yes it's technically not as accurate but I've never had Ph problems.

thanks sock! i guess i will get one to.

If you are growing Hydro you have to have the test pens or meters to keep everything in check and know what's happening. Ph & tds or ec pen to have it at the levels that are needed to grow there best.PPM pen tells you the PARTS PER MILLION of your nutr mix and water.EC pens tells you the elecity of the salts in the nutr and the water mix.Both pens {ec&tds} are for measuring the strenght of the nutr and water.The dropes and the papper tests will not tell you if the PH is on the high side of 6.0 or the low side.Lets say it's 6.0 and the pen tests it and it's 6.9 the drops and the papper can only tell that it a 6 or 7 or 5 or what the ph point is.What the pens tell you it is 6.1 or 5.8 or what it is to the pen point of the high side or the low side.The other thing is color blind poeple cant read it right and how good is your color sight?It's a hard way to do hydro. Hope that helps,it's been a wake and bake morning. Peace

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Anything I may say or do is stickly for entertainment only.This is all make believe and is not To believe by me or anyonehttp:\\www.greenpassion.org/f73/over-grow-government-ogg-2009-what-8722/

I don't like the testers that have to be manually calibrated, in my past experiences their good for about 2 weeks or a month and then you can't get them to calibrate correctly anymore while you curse and sweat and strain your eyes while your trying to twist the little thingy and the numbers wont stop jumping lol It's enough to make a grown man cry I tell ya! Those cheap meters helped cause alot of stress on me and my plants in the past. If its not in the budget I can totally respect that but to save a few dimes it's just not worth buying a meter that has to be fussed with and takes too long to get a stable reading.
Here is the one I use for 2 years now with no problems...Oakton Instruments pH Testers The Basic tester is just as good but I need the Autotemp compensation feature because I sometimes finish up my grows with ice water.

Actually, I'm pretty sure you don't want to use distilled water as it will deionize the tester and ruin it in the process. Don't use distilled or deionized water. Use filtered or even plain tap water instead.