Got this PH tester ordered......anyone ever used it? Opinions?
- Thread starter MiguelCartel
- Start date
secretmicrogrow420
Well-Known Member
looks solid! i just saw they're quick tutorial for the gs4 on youtube and it looks like good quality i hope it works out good for you
Fangthane
Well-Known Member
I'm thinking I'd read Amazon reviews on that model, and they weren't all that encouraging. Of course, you gotta assume a decent percentage of them were written by complete idiots. As much as I feel dirty about doing it, I just broke down and ordered an Apera PH20 meter. For $25, what the hell.
Billy the Mountain
Well-Known Member
Are you sure it was the same meter?
The only negative review is indeed from an idiot complaining about the pH reading of distilled water.
Fangthane
Well-Known Member
Fairly sure. As much as I tell myself I don't really need one, I kinda drool over the nifty 5-in-1 meters, so it stuck somewhere in my mind. Any single product typically has numerous listings from various vendors. Funnily enough, it's not unusual for them to have broadly varying product ratings. It was a while back and I got the impression is was a brand new model. Maybe early models had some kinks to work out still? Or, hell, maybe I do smoke entirely too much weed.
That's not how Amazon works, at least not for the last several years. If the product is the same and the vendor is different, they share the same ratings because it's the product that is being rated and not the vendor (vendor ratings are elsewhere). This is one of the reasons why counterfeit products are able to flourish on Amazon.
GH trio: $35.89 from Granite Supply: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09M942WYB/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AQ9IO7SMV7BGN&th=1
Same quart-sized GH trio: $45.96 from Discount Hydroponics: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09M942WYB/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A8JZU8DS1G9S1&th=1
Both have the same rating of 4.7 over 5367 ratings.
Hell, even the 6-gallon sized trio has the same ratings/reviews and is sold from yet another vendor: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015TAZ32K/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AQ9IO7SMV7BGN&th=1
The kicker is if you wanted to spend the extra $10 to buy it from Discount Hydroponics for whatever reason and selected their listing, if the Amazon warehouse that has the stock from Granite Supply is closest to your home, they will ship their inventory to you because they want to get the product to you as fast as possible. They don't vet whether the products are coming from authorized dealers of the products when they stock their warehouses.
Edit: Actually, all 3 vendors are shipped and sold from the vendor, so the above about Amazon warehouses are only when the item is shipped by Amazon, which is the majority of products they sell.
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Fangthane
Well-Known Member
I guess bundling something with a buffer solution kit would technically make it a different product.
Are these different products? They have different ratings.
They are the same product but they are branded as a different brand so it is its own listing (the ones you linked are branded as GH Flora Series' and the ones I listed are branded as General Hydroponics). If you click other sellers on that page you linked, you will see other vendors selling it with the same reviews and ratings as the one you linked.
Those other sellers that I listed earlier are also selling under that "brand." Basically, the vendor wants to make sure their listing is as visible as possible so every "brand" the GH trio is listed under, they are also listing theirs under that.
12 listings under the real product brand, same ratings.
6 listings under a fake product brand, same ratings.
So 18 listings with only two different ratings makes my point wholly inaccurate? Okay, then.
I said products are rated based on the product and not the vendor. That is true, as you can see by 12 different vendors sharing the same exact ratings/reviews for the same product.
If someone lists a product under a fake brand, then that is considered a different product by Amazon and a new set of ratings and reviews will be populated.
Will you accept, "I was partially wrong" as were you, or no?
Fangthane
Well-Known Member
Fair enough.
Tolerance Break
Well-Known Member
I prefer the PH drops since my last apera probe failed and started drifting. Mind you, I was smoking alot at the time and I didn't always store it properly.
No calibration needed, no probe failure, no batteries, no storage fluid, just a few drops in a small vile, a quick shake, and you know where you stand.
No calibration needed, no probe failure, no batteries, no storage fluid, just a few drops in a small vile, a quick shake, and you know where you stand.
sfw1960
Well-Known Member
I was going to disagree also but we don't really need a whizzing match for something so trivial.
I've used the trio before and it works but IMO there's better stuff out there for less coin and I'm NOT supporting Monsanto if I can avoid it.
The "vendor" and the seller usually have two distinct links and yeah they muddle the reviews BIG TIME. I had a good relationship with a seller and they told me amz combines things willy nilly and it's more about their storage space on amz servers than the costumers better good. SURPRISE!!!
OK
Back to the pH meter... They're all over there in various colors and "brand" names likely stamped out of the same chiminilly pole barn and overall quality is crappy. I've got a 2-1 and it failed within a few months and was replaced because of the typical constant rolling display and wouldn't calibrate, which is what happened to my replacement as well. When I told the seller I use litmus paper to qualify the hunk of junk I got a full refund.
The reason I wanted 2-1 is LESS to go wrong.
If I could give one solid bit of advice here is to buy or make probe storage solution. A waste water treatment operator I used to know told me a moist pc of paper towel in the cap helps it last longer (he only used the $300 blue labs @ work).
I keep it in the solution when it's in-between test dips helps keep the Kcl from leaching from inside the glass probe's bulb.
Most of them boast a replaceable probe but it's either nowhere to be found or +50% the cost of a new meter!
If you just keep it vertical and in a sealed container like a Ziploc and Tupperware (or similar) you can get a year or more out of one - if it's sat for months an overnight soak might just bring it back for more if you're lucky and litmus paper is about $5 to keep the things honest.
That's what I like to do...
I've used the trio before and it works but IMO there's better stuff out there for less coin and I'm NOT supporting Monsanto if I can avoid it.
The "vendor" and the seller usually have two distinct links and yeah they muddle the reviews BIG TIME. I had a good relationship with a seller and they told me amz combines things willy nilly and it's more about their storage space on amz servers than the costumers better good. SURPRISE!!!
OK
Back to the pH meter... They're all over there in various colors and "brand" names likely stamped out of the same chiminilly pole barn and overall quality is crappy. I've got a 2-1 and it failed within a few months and was replaced because of the typical constant rolling display and wouldn't calibrate, which is what happened to my replacement as well. When I told the seller I use litmus paper to qualify the hunk of junk I got a full refund.
The reason I wanted 2-1 is LESS to go wrong.
If I could give one solid bit of advice here is to buy or make probe storage solution. A waste water treatment operator I used to know told me a moist pc of paper towel in the cap helps it last longer (he only used the $300 blue labs @ work).
I keep it in the solution when it's in-between test dips helps keep the Kcl from leaching from inside the glass probe's bulb.
Most of them boast a replaceable probe but it's either nowhere to be found or +50% the cost of a new meter!
If you just keep it vertical and in a sealed container like a Ziploc and Tupperware (or similar) you can get a year or more out of one - if it's sat for months an overnight soak might just bring it back for more if you're lucky and litmus paper is about $5 to keep the things honest.
That's what I like to do...
Fangthane
Well-Known Member
Been using just the drops for a few years now. Just something about subjective test results that I'm not really in love with. It's like I don't quite trust myself to interpret whether there's just the slightest hint of orange, or if it's still just piss yellow. I seem to have some odd mental block with differentiating between slight color variations, going all the way back to my time setting color on printing presses.
sfw1960
Well-Known Member
Just like the swatch needs good lighting when looking at litmus results.
Tolerance Break
Well-Known Member
I've found the idea range is as effective as a specific number. Between 5.7 and 6.4, or yellow with a touch of orange to a touch of green works for me.
I get that it's not for everyone, but the more I KISS the better everything seems to work out.