pH + PPM meters?

What are you guys using to measure your pH & ppm levels?

BlueLab and Hannah are expensive brands but seem to be more reliable/accurate. Things like ATC (automatic temperature compensation) and accuracy are intricacies that worry me about the cheaper products (the $20-$25 pens you can find on Amazon).

I use a Hanna HI9813-6, it's simple to use and i've had it for over a year with no issues. They are a little expensive, but you get what you pay for. I have used the Bluelab's and they are very similar in function as the Hanna's.

You are right about bluelab and hanna! I've purchased several of those shkitty meters in the twenty to thirty dollar range off of amazon and most of them were defective out of the box. I sent them all back for a refund and finally decided to purchase a Hannah meter with the display and probe, it has ph, ppm, temperature and EC/microsemen sp? Functions. It cost around $200 new and i have no regrets.

If you want a stupid deal, here's one. Nutradip, which has the handheld and growboss have a warranty that's gonna get abused. They include a 24 month customer care plan in addition to their warranty and it includes accidental damage and coverage for loss/stolen. http://www.futureharvest.com/warranty/nutradip/loss-theft-coverage/ if you buy one, you can report it stolen and get a replacement one for cheap. also if you drop it in the res you can claim accidental damage but youve got to send it back. The stolen coverage means you end up with two of them. I've got a bluelab right now but my friends are running the growboss. I checked it out and they've been around for a long time and my friends like it. The warranty looks insane... and the product is made and assembled in canada. any thoughts? Im thinking of buying in on their website.

All the meters listed so far do NOT measure ppms.
Only EC and pH.

Check out Hanna's Colourimeter line, to tell you real "parts per million/billion".
They work well. About $50 for each individual element measured.

I tried those cheap digital meters and sent them back.....
I ended up getting the liquid PH kit from General Hydroponics with PH up and down.

Uberknot said:

I tried those cheap digital meters and sent them back.....
I ended up getting the liquid PH kit from General Hydroponics with PH up and down.

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Those?

Dumme said:

Those?

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most need the cablibration fluid and are not accurate out of the box. SO you have to buy it or make sure it comes with it.

with the PH fluid kit from GH its easy when its gold your all set.

I mean I almost spent the $140 or so for better a better one but the fluid and kit is like $12-14

I'm currently using the el-cheapo ebay PH meters, but 2 of them at all times.(using tape to join them side by side.)

I've learnt my lesson using a single more expensive meter.

Uberknot said:

most need the cablibration fluid and are not accurate out of the box. SO you have to buy it or make sure it comes with it.

with the PH fluid kit from GH its easy when its gold your all set.

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If you like to guess at the colour match, I'm sure youll be fine. I like an exact number. Yes, most digital meters need to be calibrated. Bluelab sells the Truncheon EC meter that does not need any calibration.

Dumme said:

If you like to guess at the colour match, I'm sure youll be fine. I like an exact number. Yes, most digital meters need to be calibrated. Bluelab sells the Truncheon EC meter that does not need any calibration.

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There is no guessing........yellow - GOLD - Green.

I also have a PPM meter which gives a rough estimate....

Uberknot said:

There is no guessing........yellow - GOLD - Green.

I also have a PPM meter which gives a rough estimate....

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As I said, "ppm meters" are not actually ppm's meters, just EC meters in disguise. EC meters don't measure ppms.

Color comparing tests are notoriously wrong over time, and most have an expiration date.

Dumme said:

As I said, "ppm meters" are not actually ppm's meters, just EC meters in disguise. EC meters don't measure ppms.

Color comparing tests are notoriously wrong over time.

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Well that is true depending on the water you use and whats in it.

I use:

Dumme said:

All the meters listed so far do NOT measure ppms.
Only EC and pH.

Check out Hanna's Colourimeter line, to tell you real "parts per million/billion".
They work well. About $50 for each individual element measured.

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Dumme, what are you saying? That Hanna's don't measure PPM's? Mine measures both PPM and EC, in case you have a Canadian friend at the house. Can you explain?

xmatox said:

Dumme, what are you saying? That Hanna's don't measure PPM's? Mine measures both PPM and EC, in case you have a Canadian friend at the house. Can you explain?

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That meter is a EC meter, not an ppm meter as advertised. The currently is NO meter on the market that measures ppm's in total.

You can calculate ppm's with an EC meter only if you follow the directions of the corresponding nutrient mixes directions. Any deviation for the directions of the mix, or additional adding of other mixes, including, but not limited to, hard tap water, will cumulatively throw off the accuracy of the EC meter.


This is NOT a ppm, but an EC meter:

Dumme said:

That meter is a EC meter, not an ppm meter as advertised. The currently is NO meter on the market that measures ppm's in total.

You can calculate ppm's with an EC meter only if you follow the directions of the corresponding nutrient mixes directions. Any deviation for the directions of the mix, or additional adding of other mixes, including, but not limited to, hard tap water, will cumulatively throw off the accuracy of the EC meter.


This is NOT a ppm, but an EC meter:
View attachment 3754574

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Ok, I have that meter and you can see both EC and PPM on that meter. Can you elaborate further?

Dumme said:

That meter is a EC meter, not an ppm meter as advertised. The currently is NO meter on the market that measures ppm's in total.

You can calculate ppm's with an EC meter only if you follow the directions of the corresponding nutrient mixes directions. Any deviation for the directions of the mix, or additional adding of other mixes, including, but not limited to, hard tap water, will cumulatively throw off the accuracy of the EC meter.


This is NOT a ppm, but an EC meter:
View attachment 3754574

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Are you saying that if the meter shows 1500 "ppm's" that it really is 1.5 EC?

Dumme said:

That meter is a EC meter, not an ppm meter as advertised. The currently is NO meter on the market that measures ppm's in total.

You can calculate ppm's with an EC meter only if you follow the directions of the corresponding nutrient mixes directions. Any deviation for the directions of the mix, or additional adding of other mixes, including, but not limited to, hard tap water, will cumulatively throw off the accuracy of the EC meter.


This is NOT a ppm, but an EC meter:
View attachment 3754574

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Found the answer, thanks for pointing that out.

xmatox said:

Are you saying that if the meter shows 1500 "ppm's" that it really is 1.5 EC?

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No, that's not what I'm saying.

I'll try to break it down....

EC or "electrical conductivity", is very easy to measure. That's what you have. Easy to use, and easy to manufacture, and why companies sell them. Easy profit.

Let just take a couple of compounds, bease it will be easier to understand.

Say you have a two part mix, flora A and flora B. The company that made the mix knows the formula and tells you what scale that used to get the proper ppm's from it.

...but say you wanna change the mix up,

Flora part B has nothing but Iron (Fe), and Flora part A has nothing but Nitrates (NO3).
With this knowledge, flora part B will have a higher EC value, because iron is more conducting.

If you mix the directions up, they won't match the scale used. There are many scales used. Each premix follows one of these scales. Here's 3, but I'm sure there's many more..


Now, a EC/ppm/TDS meter only measures EC, then it that's that number and multiples that by what ever sCale it's programed for. Some meters can do all three scales.

...It's still just an EC meter.