Correctly Using and Maintaining an electronic pH meter?

So I got my Hanna pH meter the other day and I've read through the instructions a few times and I'm still not sure.

1) Do you have to calibrate before every use? If not how often should it be callibrated?

2.) How often and under what circumstances should the tape/cloth be pulled?

3.) It says to keep the sensor moist. How should this be done?

If anybody uses the same pH meter could ya just tell me how you maintain it or any useful tips? I'm not real familiar with this equipment and I don't want to break it or have it fall apart when it could be prevented.

This is my meter:

The Champ!

1-Calibrate it every three to four uses to be super accurate

2- Have no clue what you are talking about

3- Just fill the tip with a bit of tap water after each use and store it upright so the probe stays wet

:\ should be factory calibrated just use it and if your solution is pretty nasty rinse it off in the sink before you put the top back on - rinse the inside of the top once in a while. you should be fine. the top will hold a lil water inside on the sensors just make sure its not all full of things that will get stuck if it dries out - causes problems.

NewGrowth said:

2- Have no clue what you are talking about

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The little tape that acts as the sensor. In the directions it says to pull it out with a tweezers and cut off the old stuff as needed, but idk when to do it.

BudJunky said:

The little tape that acts as the sensor. In the directions it says to pull it out with a tweezers and cut off the old stuff as needed, but idk when to do it.

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Little tape? Really not sure about that.

The sensor is a probe encased in a thin layer of glass. You should not need to replace the probe for at least 6 months.

So ya, I just went to make some nutes and tried using my pH meter for the first time and I'm utterly confused. I used distilled water so that I could see if my meter required calibration. I poured 1/2 gallon (8 cups) of distilled water into my pitcher and checked the pH. It read something like 9.2 but kept dropping slightly every few seconds until it read 8.6 so I decided I had better calibrate again. I got out my bottles of calibration fluid and poured a small amount into 2 different dishes. I did the 4.01 calibration first. Then I rinsed in distilled water and calibrated the 7.01. After I initially calibrated the 7.01 I rinsed in distilled water and tried again. Literally 2 seconds after I had calibrated I got a reading of 7.1 so I calibrated again and decided that had to be close enough.

Now after calibration I tried reading the pH of my distilled water. This time I stick it in and initially it reads 7.2 which I considered to be close enough. However, after I kept it in the solution for a little longer I watched the reading drop. It continued to drop .1 just about every 10 seconds until it read 6.1 and kinda stabalized there. Now I added my 12.5 ml of bloom nutes and 2.5 ml of calmag and my pH reads around 3.0.

How do I know when my meter is giving me the right pH? Does the fact that the room all my water and nutes and pH meter are stored in has a temperature around 50F make a difference? Is it possible that my distilled water has a pH that far away from 7? (I see on the calibration solution that temp affects the pH of the solution)

pH seemed so much simpler in highschool chemistry and I took advanced/college chem.

Distilled water is too pure, try testing your tap water it has more dissolved minerals with ionic properties.

Ah, I see. The meter works by some conductive purpose and distilled water isn't conductive/conductive enough for an accurate reading?

BudJunky said:

Ah, I see. The meter works by some conductive purpose and distilled water isn't conductive/conductive enough for an accurate reading?

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Exactly So if you are using distilled water just add your nutrients and additives first then check and adjust the pH.

sounds to me like you un calibrated it... it was probably already calibrated, fool. the pH of your distilled water is not constant, it is variable. My tap water ranges from 7 to 8.5, and I've bought bottled water that was pH 8.0

now you need to go get real calibration solution

I have real calibration solution if you didn't see that before dude. And that's what I used to calibrate it so.. I believe it's right, I was just having problems with the reading drifting in distilled water. Any 3rd party opinions?

Also.. I just wanted to make sure that I was going for the right pH. I've been aiming for 6.0-6.7. If it matters at all my potting mix is 75% peat moss, vermiculite and perlite.

BudJunky said:

Also.. I just wanted to make sure that I was going for the right pH. I've been aiming for 6.0-6.7. If it matters at all my potting mix is 75% peat moss, vermiculite and perlite.

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6.3 is what I use for a similar mixture.

NewGrowth said:

Exactly So if you are using distilled water just add your nutrients and additives first then check and adjust the pH.

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he got it the first time lol... 5.8-6.2 here

you want to keep it between 6.3-6.8 ph

Stoney384 said:

you want to keep it between 6.3-6.8 ph

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WTF should I use then? I just got like 5 different ranges. 6.0-6.2 seems to be about the middle of everyone?

P.S. I am using soil not hydro.

To be honest, its not even that important to ph when using soil. I dont even PH anymore and my plants are just fine. If doing soil 6.5-6.8 will be fine if you really must ph.

Got the same meter and I love it. Works great and is a lot better than dealing with drops or strips.

Keep your pH around 6.5 when dealing with soil.