ph probe problems

[coralcruze]

I currently have two ph probes one for main tank reading and the other for calcium reactor control. I also purchased these probes as allong with my entire reef comuter not long ago.

about a month ago my ph probe connected to my calcium reactor started to go haywire out of range. since then I have tried lightly cleaning the probe and reactor to recalibrating it. Nothing seems to have worked. could you please help me get this back in order?

here are my graphs:
http://www.reeftronics.net/ben-w/apex-history
*** please notice the PH2 last 30 day chart. I have it programed to be within a ph range of 6.3 - 6.5. This chart is supposed to look like a zig zag that bounces between these two set points. I'll try and upload a graph showing the correct patern if anyone ins interested.

what is going on? is there anything I can do or is the probe no good?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[aquamanic]

One thing you can try is to switch probes (you will need to recalibrate both) and see if the problem moves with the probe.

If it does, then problem is the probe.

If it doesn't and the problem seems to stay with the PM2, then it's either the module or your reactor.

If the problem goes away, then chalk it up to gremlins.

 

[RussM]

Benny, I just removed the data point that appears to have been obtained while calibrating the probe... the pH2 30-day graph now shows much better detail.

 

[coralcruze]

One thing you can try is to switch probes (you will need to recalibrate both) and see if the problem moves with the probe.

If it does, then problem is the probe.

If it doesn't and the problem seems to stay with the PM2, then it's either the module or your reactor.

If the problem goes away, then chalk it up to gremlins.

Benny, I just removed the data point that appears to have been obtained while calibrating the probe... the pH2 30-day graph now shows much better detail.

Thanks Russ...I appreciate that... BTW your site is awsome. went away recently and was loging in everyday. I love it so thanks again.

Yeah that datapoint was when I recalibrated the suspected bad probe for the main tank and then i stuck it into the water of the main tank. after that I again recalibrated it back to the low regent 4.0-7.0 and stuck it back into my reactor. I checked back and now am noticing that that probe is showing the ph raising despite the fact that i've INCREASED bubble count about 3x from before to try and see if the ph in the reactord drops. I'm also going to take aquamedics advice and test the good probe in the cal. reactor just to be sure its not the reactor. although that is highly doubtful. but then it cmay indicate that my pm2 is bad. It been just over 90 day period but if you account for the graph date its well within the 90 guarantee. If it is the probe, i would hope Neptune will take care of me. for now more testing. I'll report back tomorrow if anything changes. thanks

 

[coralcruze]

ok... hooked up my ph probe to my cal. reactor after recalibrated it to low regent (4.0-7.0) and stuck the ph2 probe in the tank (still calibtated for low regent so please ignore it for now) I can already see within just a few short minutes that the reading has droped to 6.68 ph and dropping quickly... when it gets to 6.5 I will lower the bubble count to normal opperation mode and let it run for the next few days to see if it ocillates between 6.3 and 6.5 as its supposed to per programed operation. But from what I can tell so far it seems to be a bad probe which does not make me feel good knowing I've only had the probe for a short three months. I have to hit the sack for now... long day tomorrow. Thanks again for all of your help.

 

[coralcruze]

ok this morning I see that the ph in the cal reactor now being read by PH has dropped below 6.12 and wast waiting to see why the gas was not shutting down/. turns out that I forgot to change the programing as the probe reading the cal reator was not ph2...DUH. so as soon as I changed the programing to read ph instead of ph2 the gas delivery turned off as it is set to do so at 6.2

I think its confirmed that the ph probe was the issue unless anyone has any other suggestion to try something else???

Ben

 

[aquamanic]

I think that proved it but I'd still give it a couple of days to be sure.

Is the probe in your main tank (that was in your reactor) working correctly or not? In theory, it should not be reading correctly (remember though that it must be recalibrated since the calibration settings are saved in the module it's plugged in to).

 

[coralcruze]

Is the probe in your main tank (that was in your reactor) working correctly or not? In theory, it should not be reading correctly (remember though that it must be recalibrated since the calibration settings are saved in the module it's plugged in to).

Thanks aquamanic...

YES, i did recalibrate it to the high regent 7.0-10.0 and tested it in the tank and it read low ph if I remember it was somewhere around 7.8-7.9 range so it did not read correctly in the main tank. since running this test I recalibrated it back to the low regent 4.0-7.0 and its been siting in the tank since.

Right now I'm dealing with a consequence of all of this... since I did not change the programing when I switched the ph probes the gas remained on past the shut off point of 6.2 so what I noticed was a column of column of gas in my cal reactor and the gas was being forced back into my main tank... so now I'm not sure what my ph is in my main tank. I'm working on switching the good probe back into the main tank and will probably be making some ph correctional changes over time. Not sure how bad it is though. all my corals and fish seem to be fine at the moment so will keep you updated.

 

[coralcruze]

I just called neptune... I won't speak about the outcome here yet as my main objective it to try and get this probe to work.

What i will say now is that I spoke to CURT and he basically told me that if you can recalibrate the probe than its not bad. is this true? Because I told him that yes even though I am able to recalibrate it and it does state "complete" that it is still out of range. I did mention to him the steps that I have taken to determine that the probe went bad. However, he just kept saying that the probe is not bad that its something else. I don't think he wanted to listen to me but thats discussion for another day. :furious:

I basically have no choice but to try and repair the situation. Very upset :furious:

So my question is can a probe be repared?

 

[swearint]

After calibration, did you verify by placing the probe back into the solutions to see if you get the correct readings? If you do decide to buy a replacement, you might consider buying a Pinpoint branded probe. It is my understanding that is the actual manufacturer of the Neptune probes. I have also heard they offer a longer warranty, but was not able to verify that on the Pinpoint website. Also, a lab grade probe is reputed to last twice as long for not much more in cost.

Todd

 

[coralcruze]

After calibration, did you verify by placing the probe back into the solutions to see if you get the correct readings? If you do decide to buy a replacement, you might consider buying a Pinpoint branded probe. It is my understanding that is the actual manufacturer of the Neptune probes. I have also heard they offer a longer warranty, but was not able to verify that on the Pinpoint website. Also, a lab grade probe is reputed to last twice as long for not much more in cost.

Todd

Thanks for the info... I will try that tonight. i did not try placing it back into the calibration fluid to see if it shows correctly.

as for pinpoint... I too have heard that Neptune has thier probes made by Pinpoint. If thats the case I'm not sure why Neptune does not offer the same warrante? I guess its to cover themselves and covering is what they did with me. as this was "technically" a few short weeks after warrantee. If a company useses technicallities with me I won't purchase from them. Unfortunatly I found this out the hard way but not so surprised as I've heard from others here. None the less I won't be buying Pinpoint either I don't think... BTW, my probe was a "lab grade" probe but still i wasn't taken care of as a customer that made a large investment with many upgrades. Its a shame.

 

[coralcruze]

ok I just tried to recalibrate the bad probe and now it will not even calibrate... but I did try to place the good probe I have in the solutions high and low and it red it no problem. within one to 5 digits off the mark. so thats pretty good. I guess I'm screwed as far as the other probe. what a total waste of money/time.

 

[aquamanic]

I just tried to recalibrate the bad probe and now it will not even calibrate

This now contradicts your post #9. I'd get back in touch with Neptune and see if their response is different.

 

[coralcruze]

This now contradicts your post #9. I'd get back in touch with Neptune and see if their response is different.

Unfortunatelyfor me, I'm afraid thats not going to make a differance... But I will e-mail Neptune. I'm also trying to contact the place I purchased the unit from to see if they can do anything.

do you think I can get the probe going again if I place it in a diluted vinigar solution??? should I try it? seems like such a waste. thanks

 

[aquamanic]

Try it. You've got nothing to lose. Also, scrub it with a soft toothbrush by twisting it into the bristles (vs. running the bristles back and forth over the bulb).

 

[r0ck0]

Benny, I just removed the data point that appears to have been obtained while calibrating the probe... the pH2 30-day graph now shows much better detail.

Russ, is it possible to remove those calibration spikes from the apex directly? Or able to turn off logging during calibration?

 

[aquamanic]

You can't remove that data from the Apex because Russ polls your Apex periodically and stores the data in his own database. That's why he has to remove it.

Yes, you can turn off logging while you calibrate by setting the log interval to something high via Data Log - Log Interval from the display module.

 

[RussM]

Alan speaks truth...

 

[coralcruze]

Try it. You've got nothing to lose. Also, scrub it with a soft toothbrush by twisting it into the bristles (vs. running the bristles back and forth over the bulb).

Ok I did send the e-mail... it cant hurt but after talking to CURT I'm not holding my breath. he made me feel like this is all my fault, lol. None the less I love the product despite the hic-up... I won't put any more of my money into it as i planned and I may not reccomend it as strongly as I have been but I'm takling this as what it is. short end of the stick

doing the cleaning to the probe tonight. thanks so much.

*** BTW, I don't know if this means anything but the bad probe was placed back into my cal. reactor and I have been noticing the numbers move a bit. i know the value must be wrong but not sure why the numbers are moving?

 

[coralcruze]

how can a probe that can't be calibrated be showing shifting numbers? can someone please explain this to me?