A suggestion for Hanna

[Joe31415]

One of the complaints I hear on this board from time to time, and an issue I've had as well, is that if you get distracted while waiting for the results, the checker will turn off and you'll have to start over. Not just a waste of time, but a waste of reagent. This, of course, being a bigger problem with the ones that require a countdown. I know some of them will remain on for 2 minutes and some for 10. I always check the directions and make sure not to walk way from the ones that only stay on for two minutes. More likely than not, it'll be off before I remember to check it.

My suggestion is that when you first turn the unit on, before it says Add C1, it displays the previous result. That way, you can safely walk away from it knowing that when you come back, be it in 11 minutes or 3 hours, you can hit the button and see what it said. With non-volatile memory (think: jump drives) being dirt cheap. I can only assume that adding a mb of storage (not that you'd even need that much) would add a few cents to the cost of production. Call it a dollar after any extra changes to the board and some minor updates to the code.

I know $50 is a nice price point, but I think a lot of people would pay an extra few dollars (or even five or ten) for a feature like this.

 

[Idoc]

On my ULR phosphorous, as soon as the C2 displays, I turn on a 3min timer on my phone and then start mixing up the reagent in the test water. Then, when my phone gets to 45 sec left, I clean the vial and insert it into the checker...then, I start my phone's 3min timer again. I have forgotten to look at the results previously and missed them...but now my phone alarm goes off and I don't miss any readings.

 

[Joe31415]

On my ULR phosphorous, as soon as the C2 displays, I turn on a 3min timer on my phone and then start mixing up the reagent in the test water. Then, when my phone gets to 45 sec left, I clean the vial and insert it into the checker...then, I start my phone's 3min timer again. I have forgotten to look at the results previously and missed them...but now my phone alarm goes off and I don't miss any readings.

That gives me another idea. While easier (for Hanna) to implement, it wouldn't work for my situation. But they could add an alarm to it. Maybe have it beep when there's 10 seconds left and/or an alarm that goes off every X seconds after the results display. With the option to disable the alarm since not everyone forgets and a lot of people certainly wouldn't want to listen to it.
As I said, something like that may not work for my (and other's) situation since I would be out of earshot. For me, when it happens, it's almost always because I ran out to grab the mail or went to do something in my yard...I'm easily distracted.

 

[PeterC99]

That gives me another idea. While easier (for Hanna) to implement, it wouldn't work for my situation. But they could add an alarm to it. Maybe have it beep when there's 10 seconds left and/or an alarm that goes off every X seconds after the results display. With the option to disable the alarm since not everyone forgets and a lot of people certainly wouldn't want to listen to it.
As I said, something like that may not work for my (and other's) situation since I would be out of earshot. For me, when it happens, it's almost always because I ran out to grab the mail or went to do something in my yard...I'm easily distracted.

Both great ideas and nice value adds to the Hanna checker. Thank you for suggesting and hoping the vendor listens to you and implements them!

 

[TonyP]

On my ULR phosphorous, as soon as the C2 displays, I turn on a 3min timer on my phone and then start mixing up the reagent in the test water. Then, when my phone gets to 45 sec left, I clean the vial and insert it into the checker...then, I start my phone's 3min timer again. I have forgotten to look at the results previously and missed them...but now my phone alarm goes off and I don't miss any readings.

I use this same method and haven't missed a reading.

 

[PeterC99]

I use this same method and haven't missed a reading.

Going to have to try this!

 

[Joe31415]

So, I just started the most recent BRS video and one of the first things they mention is that Hanna Checkers should beep when they finish counting down.