Branded Probes vs Ebay probes

[johnnyenv]

Hi,

Does anyone have any real world experience of saying pitching a £100 probe vs a bay £30 one?

 

[Mark Taber]

I would also be in any responses

 

[Waterjockey]

Hi,

Does anyone have any real world experience of saying pitching a £100 probe vs a bay £30 one?

Trying that now. Been using a cheapie ebay probe for about 6 weeks now....calibrated ok. Have no long term experience to share yet

 

[Mark Taber]

Be interested if you could post your results in a few months from now.
Following with interest.

 

[Waterjockey]

Be interested if you could post your results in a few months from now.
Following with interest.

Will do.

 

[johnnyenv]

Trying that now. Been using a cheapie ebay probe for about 6 weeks now....calibrated ok. Have no long term experience to share yet

Hi,

Have you tested with any other equipment to see if you're getting results within an acceptable range?

 

[smh254]

I've been using this pH probe for four months. It's matched my Apex lab grade pH probe exactly.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/152640969667

 

[TMB]

I've been using this pH probe for four months. It's matched my Apex lab grade pH probe exactly.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/152640969667

smh, when you say it has matched your Apex probe exactly, are you running 2 probes at once to compare readings? or is it returning readings as expected from past experience. The reason I ask is because with a price of ~$18 it would be worth it to buy a PM1 and run 2 probes for a while until someone gets an understanding of the reliability of these probes. Definitely something I'm going to think about trying. Thank you for the link!

 

[smh254]

Yes I'm running 2 probs. Ok so there not exact. The apex probe runs about 1. higher but this is do to the placement. Apex probe 1.5 years old and is in the first chamber of my sump. I have a skimmer with Co2 scrubber and the overflow from the tank very turbulent. eBay probe is in the Second chamber stuck down in chaeto very calm. I have a pretty big PH swing daily. The swing on the probs are the same. I placed the to probs together this morning. I'll repost in the week to show how close they are.

 

[Waterjockey]

Hi,

Have you tested with any other equipment to see if you're getting results within an acceptable range?

Other than it calibrated fine, no. It is reading within the ranges that are historically typical for my tank and about where I would expect it to be. If I drop it in 7.0 buffer solution and it reads about 7.0, and I drop it in 10.0 buffer solution and it reads about 10.0, I can see no reason to suspect the slope readings are wrong, or any reason to purchase more probes to test it against.

 

[TMB]

That's awesome smh254!! Thank you for posting your results.

 

[smh254]

Here's how thee eBay probe is doing after I moved it closer to the apex probe.

 

[TMB]

Great find, and comparison data smh! I appreciate you efforts!

 

[smh254]

Apex probe almost 2 years old and going strong. EBay probe seven months old and is dead. You get what you pay for.

 

[Waterjockey]

Just thought I would post an update....the cheapie pH probe has bit the dust. It would appear it lasted somewhere around 6-7 months. Ordered a new Pinpoint probe a couple of days ago. Sample size of this experiment was exactly (1), so not exactly scientifical, but my last pinpoint probe lasted about 4x as long.

 

[johnnyenv]

Thanks smh524. Thats fantastic! AT least its worth having a cheaper probe as a short term fix. I must admit until yesterday I was using a 2nd hand Neptune PH probe that is easily 2-3 years old and its reading accurately (until I smashed it accidentally).

 

[[Cameron]]

Higher quality probes will typically last much longer than ones made with cheap electrode and junction. The main problem is that a "cheap" probe looks just like a "lab grade" probe from the outside.