80 replies to this topic

[positiveContact]

I'm a Cellular Biochemist and I study pharmaceutical safety.

 

fair answer!  I meant do you keep your pH solutions around for longer and just use them anyway.  I guess you probably have access to them as often as you need through work though

[Brauer]

Ha! I thought you wanted my creds!

We discard them, now, because we don't use anything marked as expired. When I worked in poorer labs, we used to keep them around until they ran out, and retested them occasionally. I've tested very old ones (when the new ones came in) that were fine (maybe 5 years?) but have seen some go off.

The 4 years was from a publication by one of the buffer manufacturers. I paraphrased their comment about stability. In our industry, it is common to slap a 1 year expiry on reagents, just to safe.

[3rd party JKor]

I got a Milwaukee MH102. I bet its great but the probe was fuxored out of the box, so i've never used it. So, yeah, maybe Omega is better.

[HVB]

I got a Milwaukee MH102. I bet its great but the probe was fuxored out of the box, so i've never used it. So, yeah, maybe Omega is better.

I also have the 102 and I never liked it as much as the Omega.

[Big Nake]

I had the pen-style Milwaukee PH55. I don't like to say "it's garbage" but... it's garbage. It would drift, it would read the cal solutions wrong, it wouldn't complete the calibration (it kept saying WRNG on the screen... wrong?) and I just had issue after issue. I called support and they told me to let it sit in vinegar overnight. It worked and it told me that maybe the probe was dirty. But it only worked for one brewday and then it went all wonky again. I do not need high-maintenance brewing instruments that don't work. The Omega is a low-maintenance brewing instrument that DOES work. WIN!

[neddles]

This thread got me to check when my last calibration was. Turns out I had not calibrated in 11 months. Mixed up some fresh solution and checked it. +0.03 @7.00 and -0.02 @4.00. I'm pretty comfortable with that.

[Big Nake]

This thread got me to check when my last calibration was. Turns out I had not calibrated in 11 months. Mixed up some fresh solution and checked it. +0.03 @7.00 and -0.02 @4.00. I'm pretty comfortable with that.

I would be too.

[positiveContact]

I'm really waffling on this.  my wife asked if I wanted anything for my b-day.  will this make my life so much better?  ugh I hate being cheap sometimes.

[HVB]

Make your life better?  Maybe not.  Will it let you know you are hitting your pH - yes.  I am a numbers guy.  I like to know that where I am in the process and document it down.  If something is wrong I want to find out why.  If you are happy with the beer and your strips then maybe you do not need it.

[Big Nake]

Make your life better?  Maybe not.  Will it let you know you are hitting your pH - yes.  I am a numbers guy.  I like to know that where I am in the process and document it down.  If something is wrong I want to find out why.  If you are happy with the beer and your strips then maybe you do not need it.

I don't know that I'm a numbers guy but I do want to know various things that will have an impact on my beer and I HATE instruments that don't work or are unreliable. I don't look at my OG or FG anymore because I used to check it every time and it was always right where the software said it would be so in that case I'm not a numbers guy. I don't really care about checking efficiency either... I did that for the first 50 all-grain batches I did and they were all in the same zip code. But I want to know my mash temp so I got the Thermapen and I wanted to see where I was in terms of pH (I was not getting my pH low enough with the ColorpHast strips) so I got the Omega meter. I don't know if it makes your life better but I do like the idea that I am confident in my control of various parts of my brewing and that I'm not working with a blindfold in some of the areas I consider important. I'll add this: Having the meter has been educational enough for me that I could now probably work without a meter. I keep good notes on each style of beer I make and know how to get the pH where I want it. The meter is more of a formality now but I wouldn't be able to say that without getting the meter in the first place.

[positiveContact]

Make your life better?  Maybe not.  Will it let you know you are hitting your pH - yes.  I am a numbers guy.  I like to know that where I am in the process and document it down.  If something is wrong I want to find out why.  If you are happy with the beer and your strips then maybe you do not need it.

 

I like the beer but could it be better?  I can't be sure b/c I can't really trust the strips or my ability to read them.  they are only good for ball park and mine are pretty old so I question how good they are now.

[HVB]

I like the beer but could it be better?  I can't be sure b/c I can't really trust the strips or my ability to read them.  they are only good for ball park and mine are pretty old so I question how good they are now.

 

It could always be better .. at least that is what I tell myself

[Big Nake]

It could always be better .. at least that is what I tell myself

Yeah, that's what I'm usually thinking. It also seems like the thing where if you were trying to troubleshoot an issue, you will know some answers right away and lessen the variables that you have to deal with. I always hated when I would ask a question on a board about a certain issue and someone would say, "What was your mash pH?". Umm... well, my strips were kind of olive green. I don't have all the answers but I do know many of them because of my instruments. I need to be able to rely on them. Another part of it is that I have been brewing on a really, really old-school system this entire time... since 2004. I do not have a brewing rig that would take up one garage stall. I don't have a direct-fired MT, a plate chiller, pumps, electronic control pad, etc. I have a cooler, immersion chiller, standard vanilla 10g kettle, etc. Very manual and very simple. I can afford a decent thermometer and pH meter.

[matt6150]

It could always be better .. at least that is what I tell myself

Same here. It's my wife I need to convince that it could be better when I buy a $100 meter.

[Big Nake]

Any way to lower the sting of the cost of the meter by using it for other things? When I'm researching a pH issue sometimes I notice that people use their meter for things other than homebrewing... like cooking, aquariums and gardening. Just a thought.

[positiveContact]

Any way to lower the sting of the cost of the meter by using it for other things? When I'm researching a pH issue sometimes I notice that people use their meter for things other than homebrewing... like cooking, aquariums and gardening. Just a thought.

 

I don't think I need to measure any other pH numbers....

[positiveContact]

just to make sure this is the stuff I'd need right?

 

PHH-7011

More Than 25 In Stock

Price:  $101.00

Item Total:  $101.00

PH POCKET TESTER

PHA-7

More Than 25 In Stock

Price:  $12.00

Item Total:  $12.00

BUFFER PT-7PH BUFFER IS YELLOW

PHA-4

More Than 25 In Stock

Price:  $12.00

Item Total:  $12.00

BUFFER PT-4PH

PHA-10

More Than 25 In Stock

Price:  $12.00

Item Total:  $12.00

BUFFER PT-10PH

[Big Nake]

The meter comes with a small amount of storage solution, 4.0 and 7.0 cal solutions. What's the pH pocket tester? You can shop on Amazon for storage and cal solutions and save $$ there or try to find them locally so you don't have to pay for shipping. The meter does not require a lot of care and you will go through the solutions VERY slowly. Just make sure that the small cup that screws on over the probe has solution in it and that the meter is stored upright. I put mine into a tall, thin beer glass. If I don't use it for awhile, I just open it up and make sure the probe is wet. That's all you need to do. I have heard that the storage solution is just a 4.0 pH liquid. I have also heard that some people store their probe in "drinking water" or "spring water" instead of storage solution but that doesn't really jive since water wouldn't be a pH of 4.0. You could measure the storage solution pH and make your own with lactic acid (probably). I'm trying to hammer home the point that once you get the meter and maybe 8 ounces of the solutions, you're going to be gold for years and years, IME.

[positiveContact]

the shipping from omega is just a flat $10 so if the storage and cal solutions are a reasonable price there might not be a downside to ordering them right from the start.

 

the PHA-7 is this: 7.00 pH buffer solution 500 ml (1 pint) bottle

 

the other two are what you would expect, pH 4 and pH 10 buffer solutions (1 pint each).

 

so I guess you store in 7.00 pH and then calibrate with the 4 and 10?

[Big Nake]

The cal solutions are usually pH 4.0 and 7.0. I have never had any 10.0 solution. But if the storage solution is 7.0 then that would explain using spring or drinking water which is usually in the 7.0 pH range. I should really measure out the pH of the storage solution but honestly, I have so much of it that I don't really care. I bought a bottle of Atlas Scientific storage solution that I still have so I just use it. Also, a pint bottle of those solutions will literally last you FOREVER (I realize they supposedly have a shelf life) but my bottles are maybe only 8 ounces and even THEY are going to last forever.