Super dumb question but: I noticed a thick wad of sort of waxy gunk stuck up inside my PH meter, the standard type of thing you can get for $30-ish on Amazon or whatever. It looked quite fitted to the gap it was wedged up in, right next to the sensor thingy (sorry, I lack the proper vocabulary). Is that an integral part of the equipment, like, say, that gel doctors use before doing an ultrasound etc? If not, what the actual heck? Maybe it’s part of the packaging? No idea! Is that something I should have noticed and discarded a while ago? I’ve only ever seen / owned one PH meter (I’m new to this).
PS. I “lost” this odd substance when drying my meter. It just mysteriously vanished. Am I, like, growing buds more potent than I realise? I should say that I’ve used the meter since, and it’s giving me readings broadly consistent with what I’d have expected pre-discovery of the unknown matter.
This mystery substance was sitting in the space I’ve marked in green. Looking at this meter this closely, which I think I haven’t done since it got it, well, it makes me embarrassed to show it. But in the spirit of candour, here it is!
Looks gross. Even though I do run it under water after measuring ph of water with organic nutrients in (some of them are very sticky almost like molasses… I think it’s beet sugars or something). Anyway!
Doh! Thanks! So as a rule, there’s no gelatinous, kinda gross slimy stuff as standard on pH meters! Got it! Do I need to be especially careful in cleaning this? Are there parts I should totally avoid any contact with? I realise, I’ve literally no idea what this meter actually is or how it works. As Arthur C. Clarke once put it: “any technology sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic”.
Proper care of PH meters is very spotty on this forum. I ruined a couple of them before understanding what I need to do.
PH meter has to remain wet. The glass bulb is hydrophilic (likes water) and if it dries out will crack. Meter probe is supposed to be stored in either storage solution or 4.01 PH calibration solution. Rinsing in distilled water is okay but storing in it will damage the probe.
That’s a very cheap pH meter. It very well could be a layer of clear gel to make the meter waterproof. (Very typical for Chinese) I would clean the black gunk off the other probe pieces as that layer of gel looks way too uniform and there’s no explanation as to what that could be. I would leave it on there (my two cents)
@Myfriendis410 I did I know this, I have never stored mine in water LOL I just use it, sometimes rinse it off, wipe it against my shirt and put the cap on LOL LOL
Oh no, yet another quite significant chasm of stuff I had no idea about opens beneath my feet! Ahhhh! Nothing in the very brief instructions says anything about storing in the way you describe, @Myfriendis410. Thanks for all that info and insight though–I had no idea!! Upon reflection, I wonder if what I had seen (and somehow lost–see above) was some kind of gel originally stuck to the inside top of the lid to keep this water-loving bulb “wet”? Maybe that’s what this gunk was, come unstuck somehow? Because up to now, I’ve been doing what @Jayjay504 is doing. And the meter -seems- to work. Its results match what local authorities say their readings are out of the tap (this data is available in the place I live). I guess I need a new meter though?
Thanks @Lostgirl. I didn’t have a chance to check out that link properly, and now I see it’s been removed. Do this forum’s rules allow you to remind me of the name/company at least? If so, and you wouldn’t mind, I’d appreciate it! Cool if not, thanks!
Hi again @Myfriendis410 . So I’ve double checked and this PH Meter’s instructions… and they say NOTHING about storing the meter when not in use. Nothing at all. And yet, when I search Amazon for PH Meter Solution, the same company that makes the meter also sells this. Is this what I am looking for? And how do I use it? Just pour some into a small receptacle and then place the meter in the solution (as though I’m testing a sample of the water I use intend to use on the plants?
Do I need to be especially careful in cleaning this? Are there parts I should totally avoid any contact with? I realise, I’ve literally no idea what this meter actually is or how it works. As Arthur C. Clarke once put it: “any technology sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic”.
And yet, when I search Amazon for PH Meter Solution, the same company that makes the meter also sells