EC meter - what's good?
- Thread starter Wargul
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Red Eye Hero
Baked
- User ID
- 642
Go BlueLab
Unknown User
Curing
- User ID
- 1118
i got the bluelab truncheon. Never needs calibration. Just clean it after use. It is Excellent. Should be in your price range.
Mellow oldfark
Trichome Enthusiast
- User ID
- 94
These are good , this is my spare.
My user is prob 10 year old with 1 calibration under its belt.
Around the $40 to $50
My user is prob 10 year old with 1 calibration under its belt.
Around the $40 to $50
seeded
Vegetating
- User ID
- 1404
100% agree with ya and doubly so after my cheap chinese ph meter wouldn't hold calibration for any longer than it was powered on. If someone out there wants to get the ph testing liquid cheaply google Bromothymol Blue. The version that comes with ph up and down is usually more concentrated but what's that matter when you can get a 250mL bottle for $15 and use a few more drops?
As for EC I've never really understood why people bother when they have clean water to start with which is virtually everyone with a running tap. It's simple enough to just go 1/4 or 1/2 strength feeds based on the amount of water you're using and I've never heard of a need to go any lower than 1/4 strength even for seedlings or cuttings. Even if you did though the math is dead simple to go 5% or 10% strength so I still wouldn't bother checking the EC. That could just be my inner shekel hoarder refusing to part with cash though as I'm sure those EC read outs have some valid use otherwise people wouldn't buy the testers.
Rats - I bought a ph as well as an EC meter. Of course it would be easy and more accurate with a chemical ph kit.
Indy
Misfit
- User ID
- 57
Yep this, and a bluelab truncheon.
I've had one truncheon fail on me (after 3 or 4 years), but while they're functioning they're pretty accurate.
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Unknown User
Curing
- User ID
- 1118
Add some blackstrap molasses for added flavorI dip my finger and taste to see if my ppms are going in hot
One Drop
Curing
- User ID
- 537
Yep and some lemonade for the extra sugars Iβm rough but Iβm cheapAdd some blackstrap molasses for added flavor
Jaz
Curing
- User ID
- 1379
Uncle J scored one of these you-beaut (you-shite) jobbies from eBay for under $20. The video below had me intrigued, since they can be calibrated, I had some hope.
It has a Vivosun stamp on it but the buttons don't perform the same as in the video.
My guess is these units are like those Hebe vapes where every man and his Snoop Dogg pay a Chinese company to stick their logo on it and then onsell it for twice or three times the price as the unbranded ones.
These blue ones go by various other names from what I've seen on y/t.
There's also unbranded white EC meters on eBay from under $10 which look identical bar the colour, the same button arrangement and I think the only difference between the higher priced ones is the carry case, which probably cost as much as the unit itself to manufacture, lol.
Don't ask me why there's a window in the case, you can't exactly dip the thing in solution while in the case so there's no need for a window to see the reading on the screen.
I've seen vids of people reviewing these meters for their hydro setups, straight out of the box with no hint of calibration; they don't have a clue!
Review:
First test, placing it in no-name distilled water:
A shake dry and then into Analytical Reagent, it was climbing and took quite a few minutes to settle @ 1200 ΞΌS/cm, not exactly accurate (I took a photo to save for the supplier should I need it).
Unlike the video, it took a bit of jiggery-pokery to figure out how to calibrate this one. The numbers (and letters) flash after you hold the Mode/Cal button in EC mode and instead of the up/down arrows, I was able to increase the reading using the on/off button instead but not in single digit increments like the vid; it jumps @20-30 or so with each press and it goes lower by pressing the Hold button and at the same @20-30 rate so I didn't get it exact but I was able to get very close.
I have to be honest, once calibrated this thing is surprisingly accurate, hitting the same numerical value each time I took it out and put it back into the solution over quite some time.
The downside:
I measured my tap water and after a clean I measured the solution again; it read @ 1500 ΞΌS/cm - this particular unit is not worthy of Dr. J's Stamp of Quality Assurance.
I took a photo and sent it with the first pic to the supplier letting him know his product isn't consistent, expecting to 'Return to Sender' his package for a replacement/refund.
His reply:
To avoid further inconvenience, we will refund you full money and you don't need to return it. Is that ok?
I can accept that, so I guess this is now my EC meter, though I'll probably end up using the battery to power my calculator.
I suspect the supplier is a distributor selling various Chinese products and has no idea about EC meters, no offer of replacement, just refund the customer, keep the feedback positive to keep selling more to unsuspecting buyers.
Conclusion:
If you have a thing for Measurements and Instrumentation, accuracy and precision or taking regular measurements for your hydroponic system and require accuracy - Avoid!
I may've got a dud unit but my gut tells me all the variants will be pretty much the same; you get what you pay for.
If you're doing the odd measurement you could absolutely use this for 'relative' measurements.
i.e. it'll be able to tell if your run-off is higher or lower than what you're putting in.
As you can see, it can tell you no-name distilled water is near 0, my tap water reads about 200 ΞΌS/cm +/- 50 ΞΌS/cm depending on temp and the reagent varies between 1200 and 1500 depending on temp and how it feels at the time, lol.
Before I put it in the bin, lol, I'd put this in the Low Accuracy/High Precision category and once calibrated it was both Accurate and Precise but for who knows how long and whether it's consistent in other fluids. That wild 1500 ΞΌS/cm reading doesn't give me confidence in this unit.
I did recalibrate again and it's reading accurately so if you're prepared to calibrate regularly you may find it useful.
The following day after placing it in the solution it was still reading in the ballpark, a day later and the result was varying throughout the day, up to 150 ΞΌS/cm off the reagent scale.
Apparently the older versions had a calibration screw under the fascia sticker but the newer models have the calibration built into the programming.
The unit I have is calibrated to the US 500ppm NaCl standard.
For those that don't know, different ppm standards are used across the continents, if you read some Aus. articles/books they could use the 700ppm KCl standard, so keep that in mind if you're following ppm recommendations.
EC however is a worldwide standard that doesn't change across continents.
j
It has a Vivosun stamp on it but the buttons don't perform the same as in the video.
My guess is these units are like those Hebe vapes where every man and his Snoop Dogg pay a Chinese company to stick their logo on it and then onsell it for twice or three times the price as the unbranded ones.
These blue ones go by various other names from what I've seen on y/t.
There's also unbranded white EC meters on eBay from under $10 which look identical bar the colour, the same button arrangement and I think the only difference between the higher priced ones is the carry case, which probably cost as much as the unit itself to manufacture, lol.
Don't ask me why there's a window in the case, you can't exactly dip the thing in solution while in the case so there's no need for a window to see the reading on the screen.
I've seen vids of people reviewing these meters for their hydro setups, straight out of the box with no hint of calibration; they don't have a clue!
Review:
First test, placing it in no-name distilled water:
A shake dry and then into Analytical Reagent, it was climbing and took quite a few minutes to settle @ 1200 ΞΌS/cm, not exactly accurate (I took a photo to save for the supplier should I need it).
Unlike the video, it took a bit of jiggery-pokery to figure out how to calibrate this one. The numbers (and letters) flash after you hold the Mode/Cal button in EC mode and instead of the up/down arrows, I was able to increase the reading using the on/off button instead but not in single digit increments like the vid; it jumps @20-30 or so with each press and it goes lower by pressing the Hold button and at the same @20-30 rate so I didn't get it exact but I was able to get very close.
I have to be honest, once calibrated this thing is surprisingly accurate, hitting the same numerical value each time I took it out and put it back into the solution over quite some time.
The downside:
I measured my tap water and after a clean I measured the solution again; it read @ 1500 ΞΌS/cm - this particular unit is not worthy of Dr. J's Stamp of Quality Assurance.
I took a photo and sent it with the first pic to the supplier letting him know his product isn't consistent, expecting to 'Return to Sender' his package for a replacement/refund.
His reply:
To avoid further inconvenience, we will refund you full money and you don't need to return it. Is that ok?
I can accept that, so I guess this is now my EC meter, though I'll probably end up using the battery to power my calculator.
I suspect the supplier is a distributor selling various Chinese products and has no idea about EC meters, no offer of replacement, just refund the customer, keep the feedback positive to keep selling more to unsuspecting buyers.
Conclusion:
If you have a thing for Measurements and Instrumentation, accuracy and precision or taking regular measurements for your hydroponic system and require accuracy - Avoid!
I may've got a dud unit but my gut tells me all the variants will be pretty much the same; you get what you pay for.
If you're doing the odd measurement you could absolutely use this for 'relative' measurements.
i.e. it'll be able to tell if your run-off is higher or lower than what you're putting in.
As you can see, it can tell you no-name distilled water is near 0, my tap water reads about 200 ΞΌS/cm +/- 50 ΞΌS/cm depending on temp and the reagent varies between 1200 and 1500 depending on temp and how it feels at the time, lol.
Before I put it in the bin, lol, I'd put this in the Low Accuracy/High Precision category and once calibrated it was both Accurate and Precise but for who knows how long and whether it's consistent in other fluids. That wild 1500 ΞΌS/cm reading doesn't give me confidence in this unit.
I did recalibrate again and it's reading accurately so if you're prepared to calibrate regularly you may find it useful.
The following day after placing it in the solution it was still reading in the ballpark, a day later and the result was varying throughout the day, up to 150 ΞΌS/cm off the reagent scale.
Apparently the older versions had a calibration screw under the fascia sticker but the newer models have the calibration built into the programming.
The unit I have is calibrated to the US 500ppm NaCl standard.
For those that don't know, different ppm standards are used across the continents, if you read some Aus. articles/books they could use the 700ppm KCl standard, so keep that in mind if you're following ppm recommendations.
EC however is a worldwide standard that doesn't change across continents.
j
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