Has anyone tried one of these (admittedly fairly cheap) PH
testers available for about $40? It claims to work in the
range of PH's from 0-14 and has a replaceable sensor..

Just curious as it would appear to quickly pay for itself
in lieu of buying test strips -- and be more accurate as
well.

X-addict

I got one about a year ago, and have barely used it. I could really only
advocate getting one if you have several tanks. Yes, it has the full range,
and yes, it reads to hundreths. But, it is only accurate to within +/- two
tenths - that's +/-0.2. What's the point of displaying to hundreths if it
is only accurate to within two tenths? Besides, most test strips or drop
testers are that accurate. I also found that it needs to be recalibrated
almost every time you use it. So, by the time you read it, calibrate it
with both test solutions, and read it again, you could have already tested
with strips or drops. But again, if you have several tanks to test, then it
would probably save time. I've found that I just don't measure my pH that
often anyway. Once you get a tank established and know your water supply,
it's really not that necessary. Of course, if you're experimenting with CO2
levels, you will want to test often until you can determine the best bubble
rate, etc.

Are they neat? Yeah. Is it more accurate? Maybe. Cheaper? Not really.
Faster? Only if you have several tanks to test. Hope that helps.

Jody

"X-Addict" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Has anyone tried one of these (admittedly fairly cheap) PH
testers available for about $40? It claims to work in the
range of PH's from 0-14 and has a replaceable sensor..

Just curious as it would appear to quickly pay for itself
in lieu of buying test strips -- and be more accurate as
well.

X-addict

In article , Jody wrote:
I got one about a year ago, and have barely used it. I could really only
advocate getting one if you have several tanks. Yes, it has the full range,
and yes, it reads to hundreths. But, it is only accurate to within +/- two
tenths - that's +/-0.2. What's the point of displaying to hundreths if it
is only accurate to within two tenths? Besides, most test strips or drop
testers are that accurate. I also found that it needs to be recalibrated
almost every time you use it. So, by the time you read it, calibrate it
with both test solutions, and read it again, you could have already tested
with strips or drops. But again, if you have several tanks to test, then it
would probably save time. I've found that I just don't measure my pH that
often anyway. Once you get a tank established and know your water supply,
it's really not that necessary. Of course, if you're experimenting with CO2
levels, you will want to test often until you can determine the best bubble
rate, etc.

Are they neat? Yeah. Is it more accurate? Maybe. Cheaper? Not really.
Faster? Only if you have several tanks to test. Hope that helps.

Cool.. Thanks for the info.. I guess I didn't think that you would have to
calibrate them before every use -- that would really make it not very
nice to use -- unless (as you mention) you've got several/numerous tanks!

Thanks for the info!

X-addict