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Poll

How long does your typical pH meter probe last when stored properly?

1-6 months
0 (0%)
6-12 months
0 (0%)
12-18 months
2 (11.8%)
18 months +
15 (88.2%)

Total Members Voted: 16

Author Topic: How long does your pH meter ELECTRODE last (when stored properly)  (Read 1476 times)

Offline majorvices

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Just curious to see these results for something I am putting together. This is assuming the meter ELECTRODE is stored in storage solution.
« Last Edit: December 30, 2020, 09:28:54 am by majorvices »

Offline lupulus

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Re: How long does your pH meter probe last (when stored properly)
« Reply #1 on: December 30, 2020, 09:03:36 am »
9 years and counting

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Offline dmtaylor

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Re: How long does your pH meter probe last (when stored properly)
« Reply #2 on: December 30, 2020, 09:22:58 am »
I am still using el cheapo Chinese meter from Amazon, which has served me well for the past three years and counting.  When eventually it fails, oh well, 15 bucks.
Dave

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Offline majorvices

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Re: How long does your pH meter probe last (when stored properly)
« Reply #3 on: December 30, 2020, 09:27:52 am »
Wow I don't think I ever had a probe last longer than a year. Not what I was expecting so far.

FYI I'm talking about the probe ELECTRODE replacement not the actual meter.

Offline mainebrewer

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Re: How long does your pH meter ELECTRODE last (when stored properly)
« Reply #4 on: December 30, 2020, 10:17:44 am »
I checked 18+ months but I've never had a probe last much longer than 24 months. And that's being careful with them, no high temps and always stored in the storage solution.
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Offline Thirsty_Monk

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How long does your pH meter ELECTRODE last (when stored properly)
« Reply #5 on: December 30, 2020, 11:46:53 am »
I bought my Apera pH meter on 06/04/2019.

I am using it almost every day. Flushing with RO water and storing in storage solution.

If pH reading is slower I just change storage solution. Still going strong.
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Offline mabrungard

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Re: How long does your pH meter ELECTRODE last (when stored properly)
« Reply #6 on: December 30, 2020, 12:11:56 pm »
Using with only room-temp solutions and wort and storing in a good storage solution, should easily provide many years of service.  I just replaced my old probe from my MW-101 after about 7 years of service.  Of course, I'm only brewing maybe 6 or 7 times a year, but you get the idea of its overall use. 

When used in a commercial brewery setting with daily brewing, I'd say that a year could be about it.
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Offline lupulus

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Re: How long does your pH meter ELECTRODE last (when stored properly)
« Reply #7 on: December 30, 2020, 12:57:23 pm »
9 years and counting

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Both the meter and the probe, nine years!
30-50 measurements per year.
Greisinger pH meter bought in Germany. Used.

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« Last Edit: December 30, 2020, 01:01:18 pm by lupulus »
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Offline ynotbrusum

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Re: How long does your pH meter ELECTRODE last (when stored properly)
« Reply #8 on: December 30, 2020, 04:24:19 pm »
I am hard on things, generally, but I have treated the pH meter with super cautious care and I have about five years on it.  I haven’t used it recently, though, so I’ll see if I jinxed it!
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Re: How long does your pH meter ELECTRODE last (when stored properly)
« Reply #9 on: December 30, 2020, 05:55:03 pm »
Definitely 2+ years.  When I moved and took a break from brewing for a year or so, the probe was still stored with the cap on in the storage solution.  But at 4-5 years old it was taking forever to find a reading.  It was still acceptable in wort, but was mostly unusable in my highly corrosive bit lightly buffered well water (pH 5.2, almost no alkalinity)

Offline majorvices

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Re: How long does your pH meter ELECTRODE last (when stored properly)
« Reply #10 on: December 31, 2020, 08:44:37 am »
I am hard on things, generally, but I have treated the pH meter with super cautious care and I have about five years on it.  I haven’t used it recently, though, so I’ll see if I jinxed it!

Me too but I somehow still own the first hydrometer I ever owned from my first homebrew kit. Yet I somehow constantly manage to break my electrodes.

Offline Saccharomyces

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Re: How long does your pH meter ELECTRODE last (when stored properly)
« Reply #11 on: December 31, 2020, 08:59:40 am »
Definitely 2+ years.  When I moved and took a break from brewing for a year or so, the probe was still stored with the cap on in the storage solution.  But at 4-5 years old it was taking forever to find a reading.  It was still acceptable in wort, but was mostly unusable in my highly corrosive bit lightly buffered well water (pH 5.2, almost no alkalinity)

If you value your plumbing fixtures and valves, I would have an acid filter installed after your pressure tank.  That is what I had to do when I lived on a home with weakly-buffered acidic well water.  Trust me, that buffer is not all that weak when it comes to corroding copper and brass.  The trade off is higher alkalinity, but if your well is anything like mine, there is not much in the way of dissolved solids.  I used calcium hyroxide (obtainable in food-grade form as pickling lime) to precipitate the carbonate hardness added by the calcite in the acid filter before switching to using an RO filter.