My pH controller

[trippkid]

Just want to vent a little, my Milwaukee pH controller or probe is whack. I recently(Mon.) got a DIY denitrator from Darin, so I was back in the sump area, doing some testing of Nitrates and I looked at my controller and it was jumping all over the place, reading in the acidic ranges, all the way to one. It is now reading -pH, how is it possible to be on the negative side of pH. I have an extra probe and that does the same thing, so I am thinking that the controller went bad somehow, IDK. This really makes me mad, the controller was bought in October or November, I thought the first probe was bad(brand new), because the tip was dry and wouldn't really stable out to calibrate it, tried new solutions(bottles and small packets). They sent me a new probe and I conditioned it as instructed then calibrated, this one was a little better, but still took a long time and still never really stayed at a set point in the calibration solutions, I did the best I could with the calibration. Things like this really GOMFN, you pay good money for something and put your trust into it, and stuff like this happens 7 or 8 months down the road. I have not contacted Milwaukee yet, probably tomorrow or next week sometime, just makes me mad.
Have a good one everybody
Matt

 

[lpkenneys]

Vent away brother..thats what were here for.. I feel your pain....there is no quality Control anymore!

 

[volcom69]

I hear with that, my ph probe and my temp sensor both went at the same time for my RK2 controller, I just got the stuff today so i really hope it works when i put it in. Yea i woke up one morning and my lights were off, didnt know why i looked at the temp and it said 90 degrees, i checked it with another temp controller and it said 78. Then my ph probe took a crap, so its been a crappy week also. I hope everything else is doing ok for you though.

 

[trippkid]

Things are coming around Jason, tested the trates last night, and I have to say they were between 10 and 25ppm, so they are coming down with the reactor and doing water changes, I have done two since our meeting, 12-13 gallons each time, time will tell. Have a good one.
Matt

 

[Elysia]

Matt -- do you think it could have anything to do with the crazy voltage in the sump area? Maybe it just zapped the probes? Or maybe it makes reading the pH electronically more difficult (isn't pH a positive/negative ion thing?)

Good to hear about the nitrates. I hope that will solve your problems.

 

[trippkid]

Emily, Steve brought up the same thing last night when I was talking to him, I don't know for sure. Why would it have been OK for 8 months and just all of the sudden go whacky? I will try and recalibrate the probes and see if it helps, I don't really care, just that you have to keep an eye on the pH when running the NO3 reactor, they can bring it down, sort of like a Ca reactor. I am just manually checking it now.
You could be right though, IDK. Have a good weekend.
Matt