Are cheap EC pens accurate?

My old Bluelab is giving inaccurate readings.
Thinking about picking up one of these cheap ones but I'm concerned about accuracy. Has anyone with actual experience with these cheap EC pens had any luck?
I know for a fact the cheap PH pens are useless and makes me question these
Link is what I'm thinking about

Do you grow in hydro?

yes they are. especially the ec meters. even the ph pen are good. i use a 20euros one and it works even better than the bluelab meter i had

I learned...



Be sure to confirm accuracy.

MickFoster said:

Do you grow in hydro?

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Soil. It's for the watering can checking the nutes

It's all about how lucky you are with the cheap ones.
That's suppose to read pH7.3~7.4 1030ppm
Why not just calibrate your blue?

father nature said:

Soil. It's for the watering can checking the nutes

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I haven't owned a ppm meter in 25 years.......when I ran DWC.

Good luck to you.

MickFoster said:

I haven't owned a ppm meter in 25 years.......when I ran DWC.

Good luck to you.

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In 25 years I'm sure you have it down to a science. But as a newbie how am I supposed to know the concentration of ferts in my water without a EC/ppm meter?

I have both bluelabs and those cheap from amazon it just drives me crazy don’t know which one to believe I just pay attention to the plants they will tell you when it’s to much

father nature said:

In 25 years I'm sure you have it down to a science. But as a newbie how am I supposed to know the concentration of ferts in my water without a EC/ppm meter?

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Once you mix up a few gallons you ll know,I go by ml per litre.Says 5ml/L on bottle I feed at 1.5 A and B Gives me .5 ec.Go up by .5 more ml from there.
And yes ive had good luck with cheap ppm meters.

I calibrate my meters quarterly just because I use them almost every day. out of all the meters I've bought I feel like the blue labs are the most accurate if u keep doing Maintainance on them. they are just like every other pen just higher quality.

Tonycannavis said:

I have both bluelabs and those cheap from amazon it just drives me crazy don’t know which want to believe I just pay attention to the plants they will tell you when it’s to much

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I bought the cheap one for the hell of it. I have the Bluelab 2.77 EC test solution. I'll check it and calibrate it to that. I only have a few weeks left in the grow this year so it should hopefully get me through the season

I've had nothing but bad results from cheap EC and pH meters. The couple of cheap EC meters ive tried gave readings upwards of 150-200ppm difference between them. I went to a Bluelab and have been so much happier and less frustrated ever since.

This one can be calibrated.

Digital Calibration (push button)

(Use the HM Digital TDS Calibration Solution (342 PPM) to periodically re-calibrate your HM Digital TDS meter )



Santa might bring me one of these...