Ph Meter - 1st use

[dan125]

Morning all

I slipped a cheap yellow pen stype Ph meter into my amazon basket when doing the xmas shopping and am just having a 1st look at it before using it on a brew at the weekend.
I've found some useful info in old threads but can anyone please clarify:

Is deionised water the same as distilled, for Ph meter purposes at least?

Should I give the probe a soak in DI water before 1st use? - the instructions recommend this if the probe has dried out and I have no idea how long its been sat on shelf.

Finally, how trustworthy is the factory calibration? And is there any reason why I shouldn't use one of the Ph9.18 calibration powder sachets to check it? (saving the more useful Ph 6.86 & 4.0 sachets for later)

:

 

[terrym]

Is deionised water the same as distilled, for Ph meter purposes at least?

Yes it is.

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
pH buffer solutions are available online but they cost a few quid each.
For example, https://www.omega.co.uk/pptst/PHA4_7_10.html?pn=PHA-7
The shelf life is 1 year.

 

[dan125]

Yes it is.

Thanks - thats good - I never seem to see distilled anywhere.
:

 

[dan125]

Hi!
pH buffer solutions are available online but they cost a few quid each.
For example, https://www.omega.co.uk/pptst/PHA4_7_10.html?pn=PHA-7
The shelf life is 1 year.

Thanks but I'm not sure they would work as they are different Ph's to the sachets that came with the meter. It doesn't seem to have an adjuster screw for calibration, but rather a button for 'auto' calibration at the given Ph's.

 

[Bigcol49]

It doesn't seem to have an adjuster screw for calibration . . .

Hi!
Sorry! My cheap yellow pH pen has an adjuster screw - it even came with a matching screwdriver. It has only two sachets of powder.
I read some "iffy" reviews about these cheap pens so mine's been on the top shelf for some time and hasn't been used yet.

 

[Hoddy]

I calibrated mine with the solution first time i used it. I did a quick test against water and found it was out by 0.7 so re cal was well worth while.

Did you get the same yellow one like mine?

As I use a calculator I’ve found the pen useful to just check and confirm that I’ve got the ph I want. And that it’s staying there during mash and boil.


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[dan125]

I calibrated mine with the solution first time i used it. I did a quick test against water and found it was out by 0.7 so re cal was well worth while.

Did you get the same yellow one like mine?

As I use a calculator I’ve found the pen useful to just check and confirm that I’ve got the ph I want. And that it’s staying there during mash and boil.

Not sure if its the same as yours - I got this one (excuse the festive tablecloth).

Can you check them against water? I thought water Ph would vary depending on the dissolved minerals???
I was wondering if there were any common household liquids with known Ph's that I could check the meter calibration with. I noticed that @strange-steve mentioned on a different thead that degassed coca-cola had a ph of 2.6, so I might pick a can up today.

 

[strange-steve]

Have a look at my thread here where I compare a relatively expensive meter with a cheap pH pen.

Water isn't really any good for calibration, even distilled water because the meter will struggle to get an accurate reading due to the low ion content.

 

[Honk]

I've had one of these for a while but not got around to using it yet. Do you need new satchets of the buffer for each calibration or can it be made up and stored for later use?

 

[dan125]

Have a look at my thread here where I compare a relatively expensive meter with a cheap pH pen.

Water isn't really any good for calibration, even distilled water because the meter will struggle to get an accurate reading due to the low ion content.

Yes, saw that thread thanks Steve :thumb:
Good to see that the cheap yellow meters seem to hold up OK.

 

[Hoddy]

Have a look at my thread here where I compare a relatively expensive meter with a cheap pH pen.



Water isn't really any good for calibration, even distilled water because the meter will struggle to get an accurate reading due to the low ion content.

Yup that’s the same one [emoji1303]

What I meant was it struggled to read 7.7 which is the usual ph of my water.

Then when I went through the calibration procedure with the dissolved calibration powders the meter was about 0.7 off.

After that I went through the cal adjust procedure and got it bang on.

Like I said I’ve found it useful to confirm I am where I’ve calculated I should be rather than use it as a point of adjustment.


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[dan125]

I've had one of these for a while but not got around to using it yet. Do you need new satchets of the buffer for each calibration or can it be made up and stored for later use?

Good question - I'd assumed it would need to be chucked after use :-?

 

[Hoddy]

Good question - I'd assumed it would need to be chucked after use :-?

You get a few of each packet. At least I did in my one. You have to use a set about of water to get the right dilution. So no need to keep packets.


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[dan125]

Yup that’s the same one [emoji1303]

Like I said I’ve found it useful to confirm I am where I’ve calculated I should be rather than use it as a point of adjustment.

Yep - I'm not gonna faff around trying to adjust the mash ph. I just want to check it so I can adjust next time round if need be.

 

[Martybhoy]

I have a pH meter and I use acidulated malt in the grain bill to adjust. But I don't adjust it mid-mash, I just take a note for the next time.

1% of the grain bill as acidulated malt lowers the pH by 0.1. For pales I use 3%, 2% for bitters and browns, and % for stouts and porters, and I've always hit 5.1 - 5.2 pH.

 

[strange-steve]

I have a pH meter and I use acidulated malt in the grain bill to adjust. But I don't adjust it mid-mash, I just take a note for the next time.

1% of the grain bill as acidulated malt lowers the pH by 0.1. For pales I use 3%, 2% for bitters and browns, and % for stouts and porters, and I've always hit 5.1 - 5.2 pH.

I do exactly the same, have you been reading AJ Delange?

 

[Martybhoy]

Lol no. I got the 1% per pH point from the malt miller website and through experience discovered the different amounts based on what type of beer I was making.

It's a fairly good system and pretty much always works for me. Good to know someone else uses the same method [emoji106]

 

[strange-steve]

Ha, fair nuff, it's essentially what brewing water expert AJ Delange describes in his simple approach to water treatment (link).

 

[Martybhoy]

Ahh now. I recognise that thread. Very possible that I used that for research at one point. I think I came away from it rather confused with the detail of it all, but perhaps some of the simplistic elements of it stuck with me