I just bought a new Hanna pHep meter. It arrived this afternoon and on reading the instructions I see that it needs to be soaked in storage solution, (not supplied), for 2 hours before first use. You'd think that it would be supplied since it's essential. Storage solution costs $13 + deliv to Australia. Is there an alternative? The instructions expressly forbid using distilled or ionized water for storage. Also, the instructions say to keep the tissue inside the cap moist with storage solution and that if the sensor dries out unstable readings might result. What tissue? There was none in my cap. Is a small piece of foam acceptable? I've emailed the supplier, eSeasonGear, re the tissue in the cap and to voice my disapproval over the storage solution issue. It should be made clear that it's required.
The real problem is price - It'll cost you 80 bucks to get this sucker goin'. Solutions are ten bucks each. You need 3-4. Perfect for a commercial grower when price is not an object.
So I'm discovering. (Good price estimate, Bill.) Meter with delivery: $53 Storage solution: $13 + deliv Cleaning solution: $13 + deliv On top of that, there's 4.0pH and 7.0pH buffer solutions needed for calibration. (I already had those) Expensive overall, but it'll give me a higher degree of accuracy than indicator solution. I would have been happier if I'd known to order storage and cleaning solutions at the same time, too. If I knew the composition of the storage and cleaning solutions..... (I learned that instead of expensive sanitizer for my beer bottles, 3% H2O2 at 30ml/litre is the same and that instead of paying $23 per litre for developer for my circuit boards, I could use 10g/litre of caustic soda for about 10c.) There must be a similar solution here.
i just bought one from there not too long ago. was 108 bucks for a hanna meter with 3ft cord and all that. it came with six or 8 bags of dif solutions. as far as storage solution goes....the point is to keep the tip wet. get you some 7.0 i never used any solution so to speak to store my meter (old pen type meter). sometimes... the readings would be off and i would have to shake it in some water for a few seconds, then it would be fine. thats without even wetting it. i also just left it in my rez half the time floating. if i were to dig it out and stick it in a 7.0 or 4.1(?) right now... it might be off by +-.1 after letting it sit in water for a couple minutes. btw... my meter came beat up. scratched lcd and knicks on the meter itself. i sent an email wanting to know why i bought a referb. they said it was and i quote "BRAND NEW". after seeing your post... im wondering if they were truthful.
This definitely looks new - definitely a new box and absolutely no marks on the meter. This meter was cheaper than your's and didn't claim to come with storage and cleaning solutions, but also gave no hint they were needed. As for the missing tissue - I'll wait for their reply. (My old cheap Chinese meter that didn't give stable readings has a piece of foam in the cap. I might just cut a similar piece for the new meter.) Good to hear that storage might not be as critical as the instructions say. All the same, I'll probably buy some storage solution if I can't get it's composition. The instructions do specifically say not to use distilled or ionized water. Don't know why.
i bought my pHep and bought the buffer solutions and storage solution at the local hydro store, a lot cheaper. my storage also acts as a cleaner .. i keep it emerged in storage solution at all times.
Excellent. So it doesn't need to be Hanna's specialized solution. Makes sense. I'll check around a couple of suppliers. My old pH meter said to use distilled water for cleaning and storage, yet this one needs specialized solutions. Maybe that's why the cheap one didn't work well.
distilled water is boiled per say. would make the salts concentration higher. all i can figure on that one. dunno about ionized. found this. at least now you know whats in it. got any solid potassium chloride laying around?
No, you misunderstand the definition of distilled water. It has no salts or other solids and is more pure than rain water. It's made by boiling off water and collecting then condensing the steam. All solids remain in the boiling vessel. Thanks for the formula. Not sure if it'll do me any good but yeah, I've got oodles of solid potassium chloride laying around all over the place. I always have hydrochloric acid and potassium hydrogen phthalate too, just in case I need it. (Always Be Prepared)
Bought a Hanna 198107 Didnt realize it was such a hassle. Bought General Hydroponics 4.01 and 7.01 solution but wet storage or cleaning solutions so I dont even have a chance to use it. Tissue is extremely small and right in my meter. I wonder how long it lasts and how often to tear it off. No Hydroponics store around here. Good luck. It looks like you got yours aligned.
I thought you'd realise you had to order cleaning and storage solutions since I made such a big deal of it in this thread. That's the sensor junction. When it clogs you'll have trouble calibrating and getting stable readings. That's the time to pull it out a couple of mm and trim it. (Haven't had to do it with mine yet.) The tissue I was talking about should be in the cap, a piece of thin sponge rubber, to moisten when storing the meter. It keeps high humidity in the cap to keep the junction moist.
So, after a couple of months using this meter, it's back under discussion again. This thing won't stay calibrated, despite now having cleaning and storage solutions and carefully following the instructions to the letter. It drifts by 0.4pH in a week.
Sent it back. It shouldn't drift that much, that soon. I don't use storage solutions, I store it dripping wet in what ever I was last ph'ing, and I have never cleaned it even one time ever... keep's working well. Your's needs replacing, have words with the company.
Thank you for the response SkunkPatronus. (A fellow Skunk lover?) Do you specifically use a HI 98107? Hanna do have a good reputation, that's why I was so surprised at this thing's pathetic performance. I had a cheapy before this, that was erratic and swung wildly, so I went out of my way to buy a 'decent' brand AND all of the accessory solutions, only to find that I once again had a meter that I couldn't trust. I'll do as you suggest and contact Hanna. Problem is, since I bought the meter from the US, I'll have to pay shipping back there. (Just tested the meter and the offset has gone out by 0.1pH in 24 hours, reading 7.00 buffer as 7.1.) Meantime, back to the more reliable indicator solution. I've had about enough of fucking around with pH meters. I started a new thread on this subject earlier, to continue on from this old one. It's here:- http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/873726-warning-calibrate-your-phep-hi98107.html I have all sorts of meters here from my work - multimeters, inductance meter, low ohms meter, capacitance meter, a few others that I've forgotten, even an oscilloscope, and all are accurate, work well and don't ever drift. (Don't need calibrating, either.) I'm shocked at the comparative performance of my Hanna pH meter.