The bluelab ph pen is fucking bullshit.

[Skyrim]

So I bought a bluelab pen a little over a week ago. I followed all the steps on bluelabs youtube page and website. I let it soak in their storage solution for 24 hours, I even use their brand of ph buffer.

So, calibrating time comes around and I put it in their ph 7.0. It starts off at 6.7 and them declines down to 6.2. I took it back to the hydro shop and they gave me a new one. I do the same thing, and the same thing happens AGAIN! Is it the storage solution? Who else here has a bluelab? I hear people swear by these things. Everyone that tells me about them says they come calibrated right out of the box. Then why don't they calibrate properly in 7.0? I've used plenty of other ph testers before, this is horse shit.

 

[supchaka]

How about the temp of the solution? The colder it is the lower the PH will read. Most calibration stuff shows the temp their stuff should be set in.

 

[Doobius1]

Bluelab have been having problems. Great pen if you get one that works. Seriously I am on my 5th one. 2 replacements from the company and one from grow store. Ive bought 2 of them cause when the first one broke, I couldnt wait for new one to come from New Zealand. They have good customer service

 

[Popcorn900]

Bluelab have been having problems. Great pen if you get one that works. Seriously I am on my 5th one. 2 replacements from the company and one from grow store. Ive bought 2 of them cause when the first one broke, I couldnt wait for new one to come from New Zealand. They have good customer service

Great pen if you get one that works, then you say you have gone thru 5 already? I say the pen is shit if thats the case.

 

[dimebong]

How about the temp of the solution? The colder it is the lower the PH will read. Most calibration stuff shows the temp their stuff should be set in.

I thought that only affected the cheap ones off ebay.

 

[Samwell Seed Well]

ive had a PPm and PH meter for 3 years i am not a perfect owner of PPM and PH meters they get tossed, dirty and forgotten


and everytime i use them again or calibrate them they are 100%


NZ products are top notch

my shop is older so well established, no BS from them

 

[jondamon]

I have a BLUELAB pen.

I soaked in plain tap water for 24hours.

Then calibrated with 7 and 4 buffers.

You place the probe in the buffer and wait for the reading to stabalise. Then you press and hold cal for it to calibrate to 7.

Rinse and repeat in buffer4.

The instructions I had said to soak in plain tap water.




Don't know what the issue is your having but IMO great pen.



J

 

[Samwell Seed Well]

itis a great pen, tawain knock offs just suck

 

[Cobnobuler]

So is this Hanna meter I once bought http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hanna-Checker1-pH-Meter-FREE-Calibration-Buffer-/170543846662?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b5349506
I learned quickly that I could possibly do far more harm than good with readings that just refuse to properly dial in.
I dont even mess with PH rather than use that. I throw some dolomite lime in once during the grow and its never been a big issue for me.
I know some will strongly disagree but I said " fuck them meters, too much bullshit, and bullshit aint no fun"

 

[Green Troll]

How about the temp of the solution? The colder it is the lower the PH will read. Most calibration stuff shows the temp their stuff should be set in.

http://reagecon.com/pdf/technicalpapers/Effects_of_Temperature_on_pH_v4-_TSP-01-2.pdf

unless he is boiling his buffer, i call bullshit on this

 

[jondamon]

http://reagecon.com/pdf/technicalpapers/Effects_of_Temperature_on_pH_v4-_TSP-01-2.pdf

unless he is boiling his buffer, i call bullshit on this

Even if it were the case, the BLUELAB had a temp sensor.



J

 

[lushgreen]

How about the temp of the solution? The colder it is the lower the PH will read. Most calibration stuff shows the temp their stuff should be set in.

temp compensation really doesn't matter as much as people say. between 15 and 30 degrees it's something like 0.02 off.

 

[steelheadguy]

Wtf i need to buy a test kit. What should i buy. I was willing to buy the pen until i read this

Sent from my HTC One using Rollitup mobile app

 

[JohnnySocko]

I dunno, I've literally spent hundreds of dollars on higher end pH pens: Milwaukee, Hanna, pinpoint blah blah blah....
So follow whatever advice you want, but over the last 25yrs I've found during a "50 dollar span" that cheapo pens are a better value-to-accuracy bargain

What I'm saying is for every 50-100 bucks spent, you are better off buying 4-5 cheapo yellow pH pens (and accepting the fact they are bullshit accurate and will die shortly/eventually) as opposed to buying 1 good one and trusting it during that span (basically buy 2-3 cheap ones at the same time and compare results with 2ea with one for backup!!)
...
trust me, we are looking for ball park accuracy to the 10th decimal point, we ain't distilling Plutonium 90 and shit....

 

[jazlm]

My calibration solution states directly on the bottle: 7.0/4.0 @ 25 degrees C. Temp of the solution does matter.
Just read and follow directions. BlueLab products are top of the line, no issues for me.
They make them simple enough for a child to use.

 

[jondamon]

My calibration solution states directly on the bottle: 7.0/4.0 @ 25 degrees C. Temp of the solution does matter.
Just read and follow directions. BlueLab products are top of the line, no issues for me.
They make them simple enough for a child to use.

Just thought I would pop back to this thread and report about my BLUELAB.


After 5 months of using it, and storing it in KCI. Cleaning it every week and calibrating every time I used it, it crapped out and gave me ER error.

Took it back to my local shop and they mailed it back to BLUELAB.

BLUELAB "cleaned" it and recalibrated it.

I tested it and it calibrated fine.


Then the next day I figured lets try and see what buffer7 reads on the pen.

Low and behold after calibrating the day before the buffer7 solution is reading 6.5.


I would advise everyone who is using pH critical equipment to calibrate before every use.


BLUELAB to be fair have really disappointed me with this pen.



J

 

[NorthofEngland]

Just thought I would pop back to this thread and report about my BLUELAB.


After 5 months of using it, and storing it in KCI. Cleaning it every week and calibrating every time I used it, it crapped out and gave me ER error.

Took it back to my local shop and they mailed it back to BLUELAB.

BLUELAB "cleaned" it and recalibrated it.

I tested it and it calibrated fine.


Then the next day I figured lets try and see what buffer7 reads on the pen.

Low and behold after calibrating the day before the buffer7 solution is reading 6.5.


I would advise everyone who is using pH critical equipment to calibrate before every use.


BLUELAB to be fair have really disappointed me with this pen.



J

I wasn't going to bother with pH and EC testers. I was being helped by someone who was 'against' all that type of thing.
He followed a recipe that worked OK and advised me to do the same.
But my tap water turned out to be 0.5EC, I nute burned my baby cuttings and quickly changed my mind about the EC/pH thing.

I bought the cheapest - ESSENTIALS. Both for about £90.
That was Mid-November.

I check calibration every week and, so far, neither have drifted off mark, at all.
Yesterday my EC read 2,8 in EC2.8/CF 28 buffer
and my pH was bang on also.

I don't think i'd bother to pay the money for blue lab after being so pleased with my much cheaper Essentials

 

[skunkd0c]

I wasn't going to bother with pH and EC testers. I was being helped by someone who was 'against' all that type of thing.
He followed a recipe that worked OK and advised me to do the same.
But my tap water turned out to be 0.5EC, I nute burned my baby cuttings and quickly changed my mind about the EC/pH thing.

I bought the cheapest - ESSENTIALS. Both for about £90.
That was Mid-November.

I check calibration every week and, so far, neither have drifted off mark, at all.
Yesterday my EC read 2,8 in EC2.8/CF 28 buffer
and my pH was bang on also.

I don't think i'd bother to pay the money for blue lab after being so pleased with my much cheaper Essentials

If your water supply is stable hardwater ph 7.2-7.4
you should find ph adjustments unnecessary but i would always keep an eye on the EC
all of the main brands of food, canna GH vitalink etc will work they have hard water versions
this will keep the ph around 6 for the most part, anywhere between 6-7 works fine
for nft dwc passive hydro i have not owned a ph meter for many years
if you have to take readings the test kits work fine they measure in .2 increments

peace

 

[yowie]

I recently bought a pH pen, soaked in kci solution for 24 hours, then did ph 7.0 test, you have to wait a minute or so to stabilise, then press calibrate button, do the same for the 4.0 solution, if done correctly you should have a pH sign with a tick next to it, this will give accurate readings for a month, then have to do all again, well worth the effort, i had lots of nute problems until i invested in one, now wouldn't be without one, good luck, also only buy the NZ one.

 

[thegreensurfer]

I had a BL pen, and it gave out after 1 year.
Now I use the BL ph probe, the one that is externally wired to the display/cal box.. If the probe craps then a new one is only $40 or so. 40/year ph maintenance cost isnt too bad.