Ph Tester

[tippsy25]

I found an ol pool dip test kit... tests Ph, total alkalinity, chlorine, total hardness as ppm CaCO3.

Its just a strip of plastic with a diff colored portion for each of the tests mentioned above. The range of ph it detects is only from 6.4 - 8.4.

 

Are these things useful at all? Even close to accurate?

 

I tested the runoff after a watering and it came up as 6.4....should i trust this result?

 

Other results were: Chlorine = 0, Total Alkalinity = 80 (on a scale from 0 to 240), and Total Hardness = 500.

 

Im rather skeptical as to the accuracy of the Ph read out....has anyone ever reliably used these type of things before?

[phreakah]

Ummm, not being able to test below 6.4 is not good at all

They would be fairly accurate , but only within their operating range.

I have heard 5.8 is ideal for cannabis plants in hydro? So you would want to be able to test even lower than that.

[merl1n]

I've never used the test strips for hydro due to the range, I have found that you can't use hydro pH up and down on pools as the calcite builds up in the filters. Due to my 'quality' product, I ain't game to try pool products in my system.

I'm also a bit hesitant about pH meters. Personally I use Flairform, made in Perth, single drop into a test tube. It works, everytime.

No batteries. No build up on electrodes. Nothing ( the test tube is in the kit when you buy it )

 

Merl1n

[jimbojones5678]

You'll be way better off with a digital ph pen - great investment.

 

Jimbo

[Fibrofeend]

Yeah 10 bucks for a Flairform test kit, good value and fairly accurate every time - as long as you rinse test tube out with the fluids that are to be tested first = no worries