ph meter

[tony8404]

Hello everyone, I am in the market for a ph meter/pen. I looked through ebay and found a lot of different makes of ph testing devices. I am wondering which is the way to go...
I would like to get a 3in1 meter but there pricey. I was thinking of a ph meter that constatnly runs but thought a pen is better since i already have a tds pen.
The tds pen i have i was able to get from a walgreens in the water filtering section for 20 dollars. I seen on ebay they have similar ones but for ph testing. I really did not want to have to calibrate or use buffers. I found a couple that state no calibration needed it is automatic. Can anyone let me know if that is possible? it seems they all need to use a buffer ?

[serial_killer]

Calibration isnt hard or time consuming at all, don't let that deter you from a good deal.

I just got one of the yellow Milwalkee look-a-likes from china off ebay, it works great, so well I ordered another for my sister for x-mas. Cost under $20 shipped. Just read and make sure you get one with ATC.

[tony8404]

LOL, that is the exact same one i am looking at right now. Actually all day i have been comparing them. It is the same guy from china as well lol.

I had bought a ppm pen from walgreens for like 20 dollars one day i happened to be waiting for a prescription and was looking at water filters for the faucet and came across the tds pen. I could not believe it so i bought two of them. Funny thing is that they did not come with a calibration screw driver but there is a plastic piece you remove and there it is but the instructions say nothing about calibrating. but it seems it only reads up to 999ppm. Unless if it flashes once for 999 then shows a second number to add to that i do not know.

So i was hoping to come across one like the one i bought for ph instead of tds but had no luck as of yet.

Do you go through the solutions quickly? should i buy extras>? thanks

[serial_killer]

Yea I just got a big bottle from the hydro store for like $12, I usually do it once every 2 or 3 weeks, sometimes more like if I'm having a pH problem and want to make sure the meter isnt off and I really do have a problem. You don't have to store your electrode in it like some people say, you can use distilled water to save money.

[the.grow.doctor]

I Duo Test PH Tape, i think there are other brands aswell, i think it is called litunus paper, anyway the ph tape is very accurate and requires no calabration, you don't need electrode storage solution which all the pen type ph meteres tell you to use as well as electrode cleaning solution for the build up of salts, I just cut 1cm of test tape and with the scissors dip it in the neutrient and flick the excess of and compare the colors, the ones i get are 5m long roll which equates to 500 tests and cost around $45 dollars, some of the pen type meters especially the ceap ones, use ph buffer 4 and buffer 7, so you could be up for the cost of the pen, 2 types of calabration buffer and electrode storage and cleaning solutions before you even start to test, the last ph pen i had was "essentials" and in the fine print it says, you should cross cheak the accuracy of the pen from time to time which ph test tape, go figure. The only time I would recomend a pen type ph meter is if you are color blind and cant tell the difference between the colors on the tape, or if you are hard at seeing cus some of the meters have a large digital display and can be read easily, so i suppose its up to the individual which suits best...