Ph probe ballast interference

Anybody got any experience with a ph probe getting interference form the ballast? Thought the Ph probe went out but, after talking with tech support they said that its possible that the Ph probe picks up waves form the ballast. Did some testing on it and sure enough that was the issue.

It's possible that electrical interference could affect the reading of a digital pH probe. Take a sample and measure away from the ballast.

I have had this interference happen in the past. I had some nutradip trimeters on all of my reservoirs. I bought one of the early style Lumatek digital ballasts (when they were silver) to test out. As soon as the lights would come on the meters would start reading gibberish, really high numbers that constantly changed. If I unplugged the lumatek ballast the meters would resume normal operation.

The early ballasts emitted a ton of RFI and that can cause unshielded electronics to misbehave. If your ballast does emit RFI and you have cable internet or TV, it is possible for your ballast to interfere with other cable customers that are on your local cable loop. If this happens you will get a knock on the door when they determine the RFI is coming from your home.

Probes are set up inline on the reservoir. So cant really take readings away from the area. I was aware of interference of other electrical equipment just hadn't really ever considered a Ph probe. In my commercial growing days we had sophisticated equipment but the ballasts only ran in the middle of the night for a few hours so I was neve around to witness any interference that happened. EC probes seem to be unaffected just the Ph probe.

May I ask what brand of ballast is the offender?

Renfro said:

May I ask what brand of ballast is the offender?

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I have found all the digital ballasts I’ve used cause interference. Apollo, Lumatec and iPower. This could be just my experience though.

I can say that the Phantom Commercial DE's don't cause any issues with RFI.

Vivosun I got off amazon in a pinch. Old one shit the bed and needed one asap. Odd thing is it worked just fine for a couple weeks no issue before going crazy.

ktmracer51 said:

Odd thing is it worked just fine for a couple weeks no issue before going crazy.

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That is odd. Have you messed with any electrical wiring? Perhaps the ground to that ballast is not connected? The ground is what is connected to the "shielding" on the ballast. Were it not connected than your shielding looses it's effectiveness.

Nope haven't touched a thing. Just plugged in a brand new ballast I just got in from the old one that got replaced under warranty. Still showing interference, not as bad but its still reading funny. Not sure why it read fine a couple weeks then didn't. Hanna tech sent me a new probe to try that and it defiantly wasn't the probe. Turn off the ballast and everything reads fine.