Reply With QuoteEr, anybody know?
furry plant grower
Have this Trans Instruments Eco-pH pen for 2years plus. It is now taking an agonisingly long time to get a reading. Even immediately after re-calibrating, it takes a long while.
I have to wave and wave the pen in the water and the pH drops by only 0.1. I know the pH is much lower so I continue to wave, sure enough it goes down by another point... 5 minutes later, when I'm sure the reading can't go lower, I call that the pH of the tank.
What should I do to fix it? I keep the tip moistened with tap water all the time, and I re-calibrate with pH 7 buffer monthly. Is there something else I need to do?
Warm regards,
Lawrence Lee
brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
furry plant grower
Er, anybody know?
Warm regards,
Lawrence Lee
brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
I believe these pH pens have a limited lifespan about a year or two. Check the instructions again. You can renew the probe on the pen by dipping into a special solution which I can't recall at the moment.
Looking at the situation, it's probably a much cheaper alternative to consider a new pH pen. Possibily a S$38 alternative from Hanna? Just as effective.
Cheers,
I have dwarf cichlids in my tanks! Do you?
Me too have this problem with my Eco-ph pen.
Did talked to the Trans Instruments counter at Aquarama, the guy was saying
it has reached the end of it's life.
furry plant grower
Ahhhh. Looks like a trip to the equipment section again.
Warm regards,
Lawrence Lee
brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
hi.....you can actually use a 3 Molar KCl solution to clean (sensitize) the probe by soaking it in the solution for 12 hours...if you can get the powder you can make the solution yourself but if you couldn't you can try getting the SERA 3 M KCl probe storage solution and see....
Yes. It was the KCl solution! Thanks for reminding me. It can extend the life of your probe. But not indefinitely.
Cheers,
I have dwarf cichlids in my tanks! Do you?
furry plant grower
Bought me the $38 Hanna pen. In the instruction sheet, is a good caution that was not stated in the instruction of my old pH pen:
"DO NOT USE DISTILLED OR DEIONISED WATER FOR STORAGE PURPOSES".
I now feel silly for "killing" my old pen by storing it in distilled water after noticing that the probe was getting mouldy being stored in tap water.
Anyway, hope those who are using the Trans Instruments Eco-pH pen learn from my lesson.
The instruction sheet on the Hanna pen also states that the probe should be stored with a few drops of pH7 solution or storage solution (Hi 70300).
My guess is this storage solution is Potassium Chloride. Can anybody direct me to where I can get this solution or where I can buy KCL?
Warm regards,
Lawrence Lee
brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
It ain't cheap from what I was told by the staff at Acez Instruments. They can bring it in for you if you want. For more info, go to http://www.acez.com.sg. They have a retail outlet at the B1 of sim lim tower. IMO, you should just use pH 4.0 to store the pH pen. It really doesn't matter since the pH probe/pen does have a certain shelf life. You are better off spending more on the buffer solutions and calibrate them before each test to obtain optimal accuracy.
Regards
Peter Gwee
furry plant grower
Oh, I thought that since Potassium Chloride is a fertiliser, it should be cheap, and I can safely use the pH pen straight off the cap without worrying that the storage solution will poison the tank. That's the reason why I'm not so keen to use calibration buffer as storage solution as I'm unsure what compounds go into making the buffer and don't want to poison the tank if there is any buffer that is not rinsed off properly.
Speaking of buffers, My pen's instruction do say that I can use its pH7 buffer as an alternative storage solution. Are there any differences between pH 7 and pH4 solutions?
Also are there differences in the composition of buffers between brands?
Warm regards,
Lawrence Lee
brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
You can use DI/RO or just plain water to rinse the pen/probe before usage to prevent contamination or poisoning. Calibration process is important and the use of a minimal 2 point setting is required for good results. DI water is useful for rinsing the probe during calibration since it removes all contaminates effectively.
Regards
Peter Gwee
furry plant grower
2-point calibration... why didn't I think of that when there are times I doubted my calibration for pH7 was accurate.
Thanks for the tip Peter.
Warm regards,
Lawrence Lee
brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
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