EC Meters?

[stealthcflbox]

Hi guys, another question from me!

 

I'm just looking into an EC meter but i'm a little confused. My local shop only has one and he want 60 bucks for it and wont budge on price. So

I've been checking a couple out on ebay.

 

There seems to be a fair difference between them though, starting from $10 and going to hundreds. I figure there is always an element of you get what you pay for, and quality prob will vary, but are there any other main differences?

 

What is confusing me is the measurement units used and the scales offered. First, most of the cheap ones seem to measure in something called, well I have no idea but it seems to be written as a back-to-front u followed by an s. What does this mean. The next price range seem to measure 3 items, EC, PPM and something else.

 

I wanted to get one that displays in EC as it is what I read about most and it is what my nute manufactures use, so is the different us (but with back to front u) measurement somehow related to EC, can these cheap meters be used?

 

Cheers stealth

[Devilspine]

Hey stealth, I'd recommend spending a few extra bucks and getting either a eutech ec or a blue lab truncheon ,both read in true ec and make things simple..

[iTiC]

Blue Labs have a good rep. Good tools good job :up:

[Cactus Jack]

You should not need to bother with EC readings, so long as your PH is in balance and you don't go overboard with nutrients, you're fine.

 

-BANG BANG!

[stealthcflbox]

You should not need to bother with EC readings, so long as your PH is in balance and you don't go overboard with nutrients, you're fine.

 

-BANG BANG!

 

This is not the first time I've heard this Jack, just thought it might come in handy when flushing coco, to test run off and see how much plain water is needed to get rid of the build up.

 

I checked out the eutech and blue tech units, they look good but kinda pricey at this stage, especially given Jacks advice. I might try out one of the shit $10 jobs for the time being and put most effort into the PH. Even if I don't know what units it's measuring in, at least I should be able to compare the water going in with the run off..........at least for a couple of weeks until the cheap thing breaks!!!

 

Hahah we'll see, at least if it a) breaks; or is so shit it need replacing, it's only 10 bucks i've wasted.

 

Thanks again guys

 

Stay high

 

Stealth

[Cactus Jack]

The $10 units usually measure in PPM, which should be fine, most nutrient manufacturers place recommended PPM and EC on their bottles.

 

If I may recommend http://www.4hydroponics.com/convertPPM.htm .

[jaikai]

Do check your EC readings. EC is more important than pH on any given day.

Also be aware that ppm readings are all over the shop. Different brands have different conversion factors, EC is universally uniform.

 

JAIKAI

[dynamin]

being able to measure both ec and ppm is useful. spend a little extra and get yourself a decent quality product. the last thing you want is to get a tool that doesn't work properly and have your plants suffer as a consequent.

[Stix87]

hey iv got a ec meter that reads ec and ppm i got it off ebay for $35 its probley they only thing that i have cheaped out on in my system im using it atm it basically a wand sorta like blue labs size i guess.

[Ford Fairlane]

µS = micro seimen . this is the unit of measurement used to test electrical conductivity (EC) of a solution. Here is a link to a fact sheet on the subject http://www.appslabs.com.au/salinity.htm