What pH meter is everybody using?

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Mcbobs

Mcbobs

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Looking on Amazon, there's a ton of different pH meters, but it seems a lot of them are the same thing just in different colors. For the most part, the different brands seem to all have pretty good reviews, but they're all reviews based on getting free or reduced price meters.

What pH meters are the fine folks of homebrewtalk using nowadays? Any real winners? Any meters to stay away from? I'll also be looking for good buffer solution so any advice as to what brands are preferred would be appreciated as well.

Thanks everyone!
 
Mcbobs said:
Looking on Amazon, there's a ton of different pH meters, but it seems a lot of them are the same thing just in different colors. For the most part, the different brands seem to all have pretty good reviews, but they're all reviews based on getting free or reduced price meters.

What pH meters are the fine folks of homebrewtalk using nowadays? Any real winners? Any meters to stay away from? I'll also be looking for good buffer solution so any advice as to what brands are preferred would be appreciated as well.

Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...

keep in mind this is leftover from my saltwater tank but I'm using a Milwaukee mc120. You probably might need not this much. :)
 
The three that get the most discussion here, in order, are the Hach Pro pH+, the Milwaukee MW102 and the Omega pH7011. These have all passed muster (i.e. the stability test detailed in the Sticky). Unless you are willing to go higher in price than these three (which are all a bit over $100) you are likely to be disappointed.
 
I've also used MW102 but to give you a variety I'll also mention another pH meter that I have used.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N7432II/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I bought this one years ago when I first started brewing since I wasn't sure how into water chemistry I would end up getting. It worked well for the first several uses however after about 5 uses became quite inaccurate even despite calibration. Some of this is most likely my fault due to poor storage of the pH probe itself.

If you are not sure how into mash pH and water chemistry you will be in the future then this this might be a decent option. I think this is a a step up from pH strips but of course its not a great pH meter. Everyone is different, just depends on what your goals are.
 
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I also have the Hach pocket pro plus. It's been a good meter for me. The first one I got was an early production run and had some issues but the replacement I got has been working great. It's unusual in that you don't need to use a storage solution. I just do what AJ has suggested and put a couple of drops of water in the cap. It seems to store fine that way. The downside of all meters is the future probe replacement cost. You should do the math on that when comparing. They all go bad eventually.
 
vbwolpert said:
Has anyone tried the meter from "dr meter" ph100.
Dr.Meter PH100 0.01 Resolution High Accuracy Pocket Size pH Meter with ATC, 0-14pH Measurement Range, White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ST3VTQ4/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Click to expand...

This is one that I was considering pretty heavily, but ended up making a costly mistake and got the yellow one that was mentioned earlier. Even after testing just 1 beer, I already regret having bought it. It refuses to calibrate right and doesn't seem to have the resolution that I'm looking for. When calibrating, I can get 7.0 buffer to read right, but then using 4.0 buffer, it won't read correctly. Seems that I can get one buffer to read right, but then it just throws off the second buffer solution. The big reason that I got it was that it came with a TDS meter that I wanted as well, but they're probably gonna get returned in favor of something a little more accurate and reliable. The pH meter that you listed will probably be my next purchase.
 
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vbwolpert said:
Has anyone tried the meter from "dr meter" ph100.
Dr.Meter PH100 0.01 Resolution High Accuracy Pocket Size pH Meter with ATC, 0-14pH Measurement Range, White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ST3VTQ4/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Click to expand...

As I said in No. 3 if you go below $100 you are likely to be disappointed. Read the reviews. It seems to work OK and then goes south after a few months with an unidentifiable manufacturer so no recourse. This is typical of cheap meters. The community is fortunate that technology has advanced to the point where you can get a good meter for $120 or so and HBT has vetted 3 of them. There may, of course, be others out there and if you find one and would like to do the stability test for us that would be great. If the unit costs less than $100, however, it is unlikely to perform well or to last very long. In this particular case the name of the product alone should be sufficient to scare you off.
 
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Wow! That Hanna unit is nifty, but I too would be very concerned with its durability and lack of a protective sheath for the bulb. The other problem is potentially what the cost of a replacement probe is. It appears that you might have to pony up for an entire unit.
 
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Gentlemen,

Many thanks for your comments.

Ye, the unit is somewhat unprotected if it were to fall; however I am usually fairly careful with my equipment.

Will try to do a stability check on it soon; when I was purchasing it, I didn't think about probe replacement exercise. Given that it is a fairly high-end model and I am very careful about probe storage (and cooling the wort samples), hopefully the probe will last for quite some time.
 
Curious if anyone has tried the Bluelab pH meters? I've used their meters in the past for non-brewing applications and have been impressed. Their standard pH meter doesn't have temperature compensation, however their combo meter does. The EC measurement can be useful for estimating TDS of your water source. I'm wondering how these would stack up against the Milwaukee meters.

https://www.bluelab.com/products/type/meters/combo-meter.aspx

The Bluelab combo meter is a bit different from the Milwaukee combo meters (MW801 & MW802) in that it uses separate probes for pH and EC/temperature. This is a disadvantage in that both probes are required to be in solution for temperature compensation to function, which is a minor inconvenience. It's an advantage however, in that pH probes typically wear out much faster than EC probes, and replacing the Bluelab pH probe is $20-$30 cheaper than replacing the Milwaukee combination pH/EC probe.

Both Milwaukee and Bluelab combo meters have an operating range up to 122F.

Bluelab also backs their meters with a 5 year warranty (6 months for the pH probe) vs 2 years for Milwaukee (also 6 months for the probe, I believe).

Neither the Bluelab nor the Milwaukee are accurate to +/- .01pH like the Hach and Omega units however.
 

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