pH electronic meter recommendations

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That's a beauty! That window would save heaps of money vs. opening the door and gazing... all the while wishing you had a remote that could change the food.

"But darling dearest, I'll easily save it all back by taking full advantage of beer sales."

"Just tape up a piece of paper, ya boofhead."
 
I don't understand the pushback against electronic meters and "calibration"? It's much more accurate, precise, and not to mention faster. In the lab, you'd be hard pressed to find someone using a drop test or litmus paper to properly measure pH. The electric meters are pretty reliable. I find it easier to just press a button and read the pH then trying to compare colors under same light after doing the drop test. I can test my water in 2 seconds and only need enough light to read the LED screen. I bought just the simple one from tftestkits and it's been flawless after a month of use. Right out of the package required no calibration, and it's still spot on. I bought some calibration fluids from amazon to test it weekly, and it's never drifted yet. Though just being used for "neutral" water the drift on the electrode should be quite minimal through time.


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17.7k gal, 98 ft perimeter, IG quartz, 3HP EcoStar VSP, 1.5HP TriStar Dual Speed, 725 sq ft SwimClear Cartridge, Rainbow chlorinator, Paramount clear O3, Pro Logic controller, 500k BTU heater, AquaVac 500, Spillover Spa, 3 sheer waterfalls, 3 bubblers.
 
I have had the same problem. Second guessing myself. I worry cause my plaster is new and it’s up and down so quick. And winter is coming. I bought the yellow pen from the test kit site. Calibrated it and has been using it. I feel it is accurate to .2 from when I look at the color block from Taylor. Bit when I use the cheater ph buffer solution from the test site it’s roght on with using the pen. But the other day I compared both pen and Taylor test and they were .4 apart I feel so maybe I need to recalibrate.

What im starting to think is like what was said above if it is not bright violet or below that orange which is real easy then u r good and don’t worry if it 7.5 vs 7.8. The inbetween 7.5 to 7.9 for me is where it gets dicey. And it doesn’t really matter cause if u let it go and by he next day it’s bright violet 1 day didn’t make a difference and u fixed it.

I assume 1 day doesn’t matter at least for ph. Ya couple day I would assume.
 
The point is this - for most pools, a pH probe is simply unnecessary. This isn’t rocket fuel your mixing up, its pool water. A swimmable pool can have pH anywhere from 7.2 to 8.0. If adjustments in pH are needed, waiting a day is not going to cause any lasting harm or damage. The drops are cheap, stable and last a long time. I’ve had a 2oz bottle of R-0004 (about $6) last over three seasons now and it is spot on. No batteries, no wondering about calibration and I can sample the pool water and read the results in under a minute.

It’s ok to get an electronic meter if you want, it’s just simply not necessary.
 
FnC80 said:
I don't understand the pushback against electronic meters and "calibration"? It's much more accurate, precise, and not to mention faster. In the lab, you'd be hard pressed to find someone using a drop test or litmus paper to properly measure pH. The electric meters are pretty reliable. I find it easier to just press a button and read the pH then trying to compare colors under same light after doing the drop test. I can test my water in 2 seconds and only need enough light to read the LED screen. I bought just the simple one from tftestkits and it's been flawless after a month of use. Right out of the package required no calibration, and it's still spot on. I bought some calibration fluids from amazon to test it weekly, and it's never drifted yet. Though just being used for "neutral" water the drift on the electrode should be quite minimal through time.
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It isn't pushback, so much as it's just people saying that it isn't required. It is measuring with a micrometer and chopping with an axe. There's a reason that the acceptable numbers for all these chemicals and levels are ranges rather than specific numbers.
 
I took a sample to my pool store today and they tested it at 8.0. So assuming that was correct, I put the numbers in my poolcalc, and put in the required dosage of Muriatic to get to 7.4. Low and behold, I am now seeing orange and a clear 7.4. I don't think my test is not accurate per se, but I do need to learn to read it better! But this is good as I definitely can tell when it has orange in it. And I think any orange is an indication that I am in the correct zone. They also tested water clarity at 5 stars which is perfect!
 

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I have a few different ways to test ph,
Test strips that came with the pool, mainly used to amuse the grandkids playing mad sceintist.
A 20 year Electronic pen, mothballed.
An Otho/Phenol kit, used for a lot of years, now just for ph mainly, 3$ per year for a refill.
A Taylor 2006, used most often, real effective when I ask the wife hey what colour is this? She will tell me a number right away, voila we have a ph number for the day ;)
 
LFrankow said:
real effective when I ask the wife hey what colour is this? She will tell me a number right away, voila we have a ph number for the day ;)
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Haha, that's gold! For me it's the grandies and they get a kick out of it :) I especially love watching 2 or 3 them work toward consensus, and then the 7-yr-old confidently announces, "Yep, we say it's in between - call it a 7.7" (and then watch to be sure I enter it correctly!)
 
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