PH pen what do you use? good/bad and recommended

Take a look and make sure “maintenance free” means the meter does not require calibration prior to each use. That one feature would make it worth the price in my opinion. I have a Hach which is awesome, but I do a two point calibration (7.01 and 4.01) with prepared solutions prior to each use. If I could step that step with confidence the meter was accurate, I’d like this unit.

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because of the movement of ions in the glass membrane i would be very surprised if this meter is not subject to the same rules as the other meters ie: stored wet, calibration necessary. i would like to know more about this maintenance free design, but it sounds good.

also is the sensor tip replaceable? sensors don’t last forever and thats a pricey unit to replace

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Good points. I’d like to know what maintenance free means as well. This unit is quite more expensive than some of the other known names such as Hach and Milwaukee, but as you say, storage solutions and calibrations are a way of life. And yes, I have replaced my probe albeit the entire unit is not terribly more expensive than the probe alone. BUT…it IS replaceable.

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At over $200 the use of free in that advertisement anywhere is misleading. I have about $130 in two bluelab pen’s that are checked against each other very time I mix nutes “I mix and check what I have then recheck before with the other one in my grow room before I give it to the plant, same with PPM”.
% of mistakes goes way down
If it will last forever without probes changes it may be worth it

the electrode material in the glass bulb is a gel. so maybe its more stable? but how can anything be maintenance free?

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Not sure, haven’t seen it before. I know the apera Hanna and bluelab are solid.

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https://www.amazon.com/Apera-Instruments-AI311-Replaceable-2-00-16-00/dp/B01ENFOIQE/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1542905999&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=apera+ph20&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Apera-Instruments-Conductivity-Multi-Parameter-Replaceable/dp/B01ENFOIKA/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1542905999&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=apera+ph20&psc=1

One of these would be better and cheaper. I have the PH20 and it is the best meter I have ever had.

The extra money you will have can go to buy good lights

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Maybe the “gel” filled probe has something to do with the price.

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Ok @MT3 @dbrn32 @basementstealth @boardsbird @garrigan62 @raustin my wife just contacted Testo, they stated:
The 206-PH1 for liquids regarding maintenance compared to other PH pens is that the Testo is simply rinsed in detergent and water and tamped dry NOT WIPED and placed back into gel filled lid!
So you dont have to purchase storage solution, and was told there are 5 year old plus pens out in the market with the same electode being used due to being cleaned according to instructions and not dropped.
Yes the electrode is replaceable with a price of $79.00 US and yes it has to be calibrated, the simplicity of cleaning/storage and longevity of the electrode is attractive. Prices were from the Australian website and converted to US dollars
So after all that i have decided to purchase one and do an on going review on this site, it has a two year warranty in Australia.
I looked seriously at the Apera @MAXHeadRoom but could only purchase from the US contacted them last week about warranty in Ausralia but had no response!

Thanks all for your input it is always appreciated.

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Sorry did not notice you where down under. It must be frustrating to see us use products that are not available to you.

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You have no idea!!!

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So you can order from amazon but not all of the products are available. Is that how it works.

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Yes mate, today is the first day Australians can order from Amazon USA but a lot of the products cannot be shipped here, also warranty probs from overseas orders, but the info and genuine help on this forum makes up for it in spades :+1:

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Thanks for the info…I just ordered one 5 min ago from Amazon…:santa::rainbow:

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Had the said Pen coming up for a year now, would not use anything else, big :+1: for this one.

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@Newbiegrower251

Here is another thread I found with some info discussing pH/PPM meters…

Looking into all of them. :+1:

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I quickly scrolled through and see alot of references to apera and bluelab which we were already leaning towards. I think for me I’m going with the apera ph20 to save some money and my goal is to make it last 2 years then I’ll get a bluelab next

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