Apera PC60-Z - battery leak (temperature off) and white color on conductivity portion of the probe.

[jc259]

I have an Apera PC60-Z and my temp readings were way off on the unit, stuck at 110-120F, no idea how long it had been like this as I hadn't really looked at the temp on the unit much since I have another digital temp for the pool on the heater. It looks like the batteries leaked some acid, the springs at the bottom had some fluid on them and there was some gunk on the outside bottom of the battery case inside the unit where the green wire connects the board to the battery case. I used some lemon juice and electrics cleaner to clean the gunk all out as it was really easy to disassemble. Also cleaned where the prob end connects with the pins to the main body. The temperature has now become much closer to what it should be ~74F vs actual 68F.

I have a new probe on the way as Apera said the probe was probably bad since it and the main unit was bought in 2021 when I spoke to them. This was before I noticed the battery leak, so there may be nothing wrong with my probe. Anyone had any experience with this before? I'd prefer not to buy a brand new unit if I don't have to.

Something else I noticed was that the two conductivity tips of the prob are not solid black they have quite a bit of white on them (pic attached). Could this be causing any of the issues with the temp? Anyone else ever have white on the prob there? Any idea if I should clean it of and if so with what?

 

[jc259]

Here is the info I received from Apera regarding the EC (conductivity)/PH combo probe via a few emails.

-For the EC probes, they have to be fully black and if you see silver/grey you know it's time to replace the probe. The coating will come off due to time or if left in KCI or sample type. For the PC60-Z you can use a couple of drops of tap water in the cap and that will be perfect! Or, if you would like to store the probe in KCI, make sure you just add enough for the pH probe and you can stand the meter up in the case.

-The temp. reading comes from the probe so replacing the probe should fix that issue along with the EC reading. As for cleaning the EC probe, just rinse in distilled water and shake the excess off.
For storage, you can just use a few drops of tap water in the cap.

-Since the probe has a pH probe, the distilled water can damage the pH probe. You can store an EC probe dry or in distilled water just not he combo.

 

[jc259]

Got a bit more clarity on the Combo EC (conductiivity)/PH probe.

Yes, for the combo you just need to rinse the probe in distilled water and shake it off. Then you can just put a few drops of tap water in the cap to keep it humid like you stated, that is perfect.

For just the pH probe (not combo) you can store it in KCI and for just the EC probe (not combo) you can store it dry or in distilled water.