PH pen recommendation

Does anyone have a recommendation on a good ph pen that will last a decent amount of time, as in longer than a year. Or is that about the life cycle of one?

A $30 hannah from ebay will last longer than that if cared for.

yeah even a lower-end meter will last. Just don't ever check your ph/ppm over top of the reservoir....you will drop the meter eventually...I learned this from experience and paying out more $$$

leadcore said:

yeah even a lower-end meter will last. Just don't ever check your ph/ppm over top of the reservoir....you will drop the meter eventually...I learned this from experience and paying out more $$$

Click to expand...

LOL, I did this exact thing with my hanna pen meter two weeks ago! Dropped it into a 12 gallon res. I took it apart (well took battery out). shook it real good and let it dry. Meanwhile I went to hydro store and bought a Smart Portable Ph meter. Has a nice long probe on wire, easy as pie to check ph in anything now. The hanna dried out and seems to work fine again, I checked it against the Smart (100 dollar meter), and it was spot on. Now I have 2 Ph meters.

I superglued a popsicle stick to the side of my hannah so I can hold it and get it down in the water without dropping it.

my cheap generic digital meter is waterproof. dropped it in my watering can all too often.

Get some disposables for cheap. That way you don't have to worry about re-calibrating your electronic one and getting inaccurate readings. I bought a box of 50 for less than 10 bucks on eBay.

i had my Milwaukee from ebay for $24 shipped for 2 yrs, just ruined it in my res.... worked great

im not into the cheap stuff...theres a reason its cheap IMHO. i have a hannah that reads PPM/PH. not exactly sure of the model number but it was around $200. best meter ever, auto calibration, reads super quick & always acurate. i know its not always cool to spend a ton of cash, but i think you do it right the 1st time so you dont have to spend money the 2nd time.

I generally agree with quality but keep in mind that for what we are doing we don't need real precise pH readings. I'd rather put the money into good lights, nutes and seeds.

Illegal Smile said:

I generally agree with quality but keep in mind that for what we are doing we don't need real precise pH readings. I'd rather put the money into good lights, nutes and seeds.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the replies guys, I talked to the lady at the store around me today and she told me that your doing really good if your ph meter last for more than 1 1/2 years. So I'm guessing it really doesn't matter what one you get, just sick of buying these things, it seem like everytime I turn around I'm having to buy one lol.

If you can afford it get the hannah gro check ph/ec/tds, the $250 one not the chepo pens. It has the prob connected to the unit via a wire. Its pricey but you pay for what you get and I love mine gave away all my stupid little junky pens after buying that thing

jakeman311 said:

If you can afford it get the hannah gro check ph/ec/tds, the $250 one not the chepo pens. It has the prob connected to the unit via a wire. Its pricey but you pay for what you get and I love mine gave away all my stupid little junky pens after buying that thing

Click to expand...

I will never buy another hannah, I bought one before and it didn't work right at all. A friend of mine bought one as well and had the same issue, so I stay away from them.

bran1981 said:

I will never buy another hannah, I bought one before and it didn't work right at all. A friend of mine bought one as well and had the same issue, so I stay away from them.

Click to expand...

was it the kind with the dials on front where you can calibrate the unit yourself? like this
http://www.nationalgardenwholesale.com/ngw/gardening_supplies.aspx?request=HANNA_PH-EC-TDS_HI9813-6&title=pH / EC / TDS Meters __ Solutions&type=product thats the kind im talking about. the Pens are junk ill agree with you on that