Good ph/ppm meters?

SDgoonie

SDgoonie

Well-Known Member
Can anyone link me to a good, affordable ph and ppm meters? Im expecting my hydro kit to be in this week and hopefully the beans i ordered as well. Is it ok to use distilled water in the kit without knowing the ph just for a week or so? Im planning on germing the seeds and puttin them in the hydro right away.
 
VictorVIcious

VictorVIcious

Well-Known Member
yes it is. Meters are an investment. If you are growing hydro get the Bluelab Truncheon, about $135.00, you will only buy one. You can always use the ph kit to test your water until you can get a good ph meter. VV
 
billybob88

billybob88

Well-Known Member
agood meter is just as important as lights, air and water i think. in hydroponics you must keep a very vigilant eye over you ph and ppms every day.

Milwaukee SM802 3in1 pH/EC/TDS tester or aquarium test - (eBay item 330150128430 end time Oct-22-07 18:26:37 PDT)

This is the meter i have and it works great. if your ph is all outta wack your plants cant uptake the nutrients that they can at optimum ph. plus if you dont know what your ppm is, how do you know how much nutes your giving them. i filled my new hydro system with has a 55 gallon drum for the first time the other day. i just went by the directions on the back of my nutes and when i tested after i poured i was at 2500+ ppm. that would of killed my plants for sure, or at least burnt the fuck out of em. anyways. meters are crucial.
 
email468

email468

Well-Known Member
I use a Hanna model HI 9813-6 and it works very well. billybob88 is right - regardless what meter you get - get one - they are indeed crucial.
 
Amys3977

Amys3977

Active Member
You can get a great TDS meter on ebay for 18.95. Thats what I use. I never have a problem. I dropped mine in my res. once and it still worked I just had to calibrate it and you can buy the calibration solution on ebay also.
 
W

wafflehouselover

Well-Known Member
use that link billybob gave you, that is very cheap, i got one like that for 200, its a ppm/ph meter and it works great. But i got me another one which reads faster then that which is the hanna.
 
billybob88

billybob88

Well-Known Member
yeah i heard hanna was the best, but i went with milwaukee cause i heard they were about as good. yeah that meter i have runs for 220 at the hydro shop. i picked mine up for 120 on ebay.
 
billybob88

billybob88

Well-Known Member
i thought about purchasing one of those types. but the thing is, what if you have more than one res to test? like i have a flowering res and a seperate veg system. youd have to disconnect everything out of ur res and move it over to the next one just to test, kinda a hassel. for the same price u can get that milwaukee one that is portable and is a trusted name brand. i also really never have to use solution to calibrate mine, if i wanna know its on mark i just put it in some reg water and make sure it goes to the right ph, ppm etc. the only thing is it doesnt have a temp guage. but u can use any thermometer for that.
 
W

wafflehouselover

Well-Known Member
my hydro guy which is dearest to me told me that you don't need to calibrate your meters for a yr! He told me just make sure that its clean, and if its dirty use a clean toothbrush to clean the probe and it will read more accurately.
 
billybob88

billybob88

Well-Known Member
word, i didnt know that. thanks for the tip!



ps. i want you smothered, want you covered, like my waffle house hashbrowns.
 
P

PHMeter

Active Member
billy just move it from one to the other. Once ya got yer soup where ya want it, move it around. I will only own one meter and that is a trimeter, it has tds, ph and temp. I made mine so i dont no where ya can buy em but they are available.
 
P

PHMeter

Active Member
wafflehouselover said:
my hydro guy which is dearest to me told me that you don't need to calibrate your meters for a yr! He told me just make sure that its clean, and if its dirty use a clean toothbrush to clean the probe and it will read more accurately.
Click to expand...

make sure ya keep that test prong in distilled water if you leave it out of the resorvoir for any reason.
 
W

wafflehouselover

Well-Known Member
btw, billy, that milwakee if you test mutl res heres a trick. after every res test hold your probe and kinda whip it but still hold it in your hand so you can get all the water and debree out of the probe, turn it off and then it back on then test your next res. If you do this you won't have to wait for the meter to slowly read the next res.
 
daddychrisg

daddychrisg

Well-Known Member
I think a tri-meter is the only way to go..Think about this, you will need a meter in each one of your res's, so buy a tri-meter now, carry it back and forth and plug the fucking thing in, and when you can afford another one, buy it and you will be set. Don't buy something that you will later not use...That is my two cents..



permalink
btw, billy, that milwakee if you test mutl res heres a trick. after every res test hold your probe and kinda whip it but still hold it in your hand so you can get all the water and debree out of the probe, turn it off and then it back on then test your next res. If you do this you won't have to wait for the meter to slowly read the next res.

works well! Keep your ph meters clean and there measurement is faster also...
 
billybob88

billybob88

Well-Known Member
word, i hear ya. i just like my milwaukee just fine. it works great, reads fast and i can test everything without unplugging anything. simply press a button and drop it in and your golden. i just dont want to spend 300 dollars on meters when i only need one.
 
U

Up4anything

Active Member
billybob88 said:
agood meter is just as important as lights, air and water i think. in hydroponics you must keep a very vigilant eye over you ph and ppms every day.

Milwaukee SM802 3in1 pH/EC/TDS tester or aquarium test - (eBay item 330150128430 end time Oct-22-07 18:26:37 PDT)

This is the meter i have and it works great. if your ph is all outta wack your plants cant uptake the nutrients that they can at optimum ph. plus if you dont know what your ppm is, how do you know how much nutes your giving them. i filled my new hydro system with has a 55 gallon drum for the first time the other day. i just went by the directions on the back of my nutes and when i tested after i poured i was at 2500+ ppm. that would of killed my plants for sure, or at least burnt the fuck out of em. anyways. meters are crucial.
Click to expand...
that's the meter I used to have and that's where I got it too! Best price I could find ANYWHERE - i've since stepped up to a Blue Lab and love it too.

I just found out on another thread that I know that guy (GROW-a-lot). We went to school together and were stationed together for a short bit. funny how small a world it is.
 
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