Opinions on CHECKER 1 Economical pH Tester

There were two recent threads in which this was discussed. A number of people had very poor experience with the Checker1, and a few were happy with it. But it is not really accurate enough for pH level testing, although it is apparently ok for acid titration. You can get a model PHEP5 (made by the same company) for about $70 (from

and others), and it seems to be worth the extra investment.

to within 0.1 or 0.15 of the true value (when I check them against each other and against themselves). It's easier to lose the top of the cheaper model which holds in the solution between uses. After making wine for about 3 years, I've gotten to the point where if I can get wine between 3.2 and 3.6, then any further fine tuning seems to not make much diference (and usually screws things up).

Lee

>

I had one and hated it, it was not reliable. I have the pHEP5 Negodki suggests; it's a great meter for the price. You might get it a little cheaper at grainger.com, or check the Hanna website, they run specials. Regards, Joe

Don't do it, Andy. I have one and found it worked adequately for home winemaking when it worked, but the probes don't seem to last me more than a year or two even when properly cleaned and stored (and I hardly use it). From my experience they are garbage and Hanna should be ashamed to have them on the market. I have an order out for a new pHep5, which is supposedly vastly superior in terms of both performance and reliability.

Richard

Thanks for all your help, it was just what I was looking for to make my decision.

Andy

Of course my strange woeful tale of pH meters continues... After finding out from Presque Isle (after much prompting) that my pHep5 is back ordered from a supplier who is also back ordered (i.e. no delivery date in sight), I decide during a bought of insomnia to try the Checker one more time (I had already tried calibrating it a half-dozen times in the last month with no success). Lo and behold, it's behaving perfectly in the wee hours of this morning...

Good timing too. The nicest thing about it is that the latest measurements are all a fair bit different than the pre-ferment ones, in varying directions, but the measurements all generally back up my sensory perception (taste). Perhaps the good part of the meter being unreliable is that I'm developing my sensory skills more, and the ironic part is that by the time I get a reliable meter I won't need it so badly :-)

Cheers!

Richard

Thought I'd throw my $.02 into this threat and share my experience.

I have the Checker pH meter and have personally found it to be more accurate than the literature states. True, they report its accuracy to within +/-0.2, which isn't the greatest accuracy for us winemakers. I understood this would be the worse case scenario and took my chances. Bought one for about $29 on eBay.

I had an independent lab take my must and test it. After calibration, my Checker pH meter tested the must at 3.42. The lab tested it at 3.41 on one meter and 3.48 another, which averaged to

3.45. So, my meter was accurate to about +/-0.04, which I found impressive!

A few things I will say about the Checker, at least mine... I need to recalibrate it each time I turn it on and use it for one or more tests. Also, it can take some time to settle on a reading. Sometimes it settles on a reading within five or so minutes, other times it's taken upwards of 20-30 minutes. I don't know why this is; perhaps this is normal for pH meters. I have no experience with pH meters prior to using the Checker.

This suits me fine, for the time being. When the electrode eventually goes, I'll probably spend a bit more for a meter of higher quality. But, if you're on a shoestring budget, are looking for a cheap meter, and don't mind the accuracy issue (which, for me, hasn't been an issue), I think this is a decent meter.

-Paul

Tip for storing the electrode and avoiding the cap altogether: take a butter tub (like a Fleischman's Light butter container), CLEAN it thoroughly, and fill it with 7.0 buffer solution. Cut a crosshatch (like a plus sign) on the top of the container and push the electrode through it into the solution. Let it stand in the container and put it away. Next time you want to use it, turn it on and calibrate it for 7.0, then take it out and place it in 4.0 buffer solution, calibrate it, then set it in your testing solution. When you're done, rinse the electrode and push it back in the 7.0 container, put it away and forget about it.

I hate that little black cap... it dries out too fast and, knowing me, I'll eventually lose it!

-Paul

has the phep5 for the same price, and has it for a few dollars more. Of course they may be back-ordered as well.

I love Presque Isle, but Grainger.com sells these and does not usually run out; they have a gazillion branches... Hanna has a website too, hannainst.com. Regards, Joe

Thanks Joe and Negodki!

I've sent an email to Hanna Canada's sales inbox, and see where they recommend. Maybe I should register as a reseller, because I don't know of anyone local here in Calgary who sells them and I know a few people who are interested :-)

I also checked Grainger.com but their Canadian affiliate does not stock any pH meters at this time :-(

I won't be ordering from Presque Isle again and wouldn't recommend it to anyone -- at least anyone in Canada. I had to inquire several times to find out the complete status of my order. If I remember correctly, the web ordering mechanism I used said they would contact me as to what shipping to use and a shipping estimate. I am also very certain that there was nothing in the website to suggest that the pHep5 was not in stock or may not be in stock. After several days of nothing (other than the automated receipt I got within seconds of submitting the order) I followed up via email. I was told it was shipped, but not told how. Then I noticed that my credit card charges were not for the full amount, so I inquired again to find out that the pHep5 was not included ("back ordered" with no mention of any estimated availability). Another inquiry got me the fact that it was shipped UPS, as well as the tracking #. Then when the package arrives, I find out that UPS handled the brokerage to the tune of an extra $35-ish -- so the freight and brokerage fee ended up being more than the cost of the first part of the order that was shipped (and incidentally, all of that stuff was non-essential stuff that I thought I might as well order along with the pHep5 because the prices were reasonable and it *shouldn't* really bump up the shipping, etc.) Meanwhile, yet one more inquiry failed to get any estimate of availability of the meter. So it's needless to say (but worth doing so just to blow off steam) that I cancelled the rest of the order because I'm not interested in waiting an indeterminate period of time just to pay nearly twice as much as I should have to.

Sorry for the rant. But I ordered from Presque Isle entirely because of all of the positive mentions in this newsgroup, so I feel compelled to let others know that at least in this circumstance their customer service was a serious letdown. I've dealt with all kinds of US suppliers over the last 15 years -- including in the "old days" of mail order before the internet, and many of whom were as small or smaller than Presque Isle -- and never before have I experienced this kind of ignorance and/or disregard in terms of both working with a customer and helping them avoid exhorbitant shipping/customs/brokerage fees. Shoppers outside of the US, beware.

Richard

joe snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com (Joe Sallustio) wrote in message news:...

news:...

Hmm, It seems you have quite a tough time with this order. My experience with the folks at Presque Isle have always been positive. I'm wondering if you tried using the telephone and talking directly to them? Your message intimates that you were corresponding entirely by email. Sometimes, if there is confusion, direct one to one talking makes all the difference.

There are plenty of sources in Canada for almost everything Presque Isle sells. I wouldn't worry about it.

I also had problems with Presque Isle this year. They got three things wrong on my 10-item order, and didn't respond to my emails asking them to rectify the situation. I finally spoke to Debby Lamm, and she sent me the correct items with apologies for the difficulties. Everything was solved before she finally got to my emails, which gives you some idea of the backlog they are experiencing.

They have been extremely busy this harvest season, and I think they hired some new staff to handle it, but haven't had time to train them properly.

In my experience, they will always determine the exact shipping costs for you before shipping your order, if you ask them to do so. They will also use any alternate shipping method you wish, and they are very willing to accept responsibility for errors, and correct them. UPS brokerage fees are standard, and Presque Isle is hardly responsible for them, anymore than they are for any Canadian Customs duties which may be assessed. It might have been nice if they had warned you that there would be such fees, but it is also reasonable that they might have assumed you knew what happens when you import goods into your country, and chose to order regardless. The same thing happens when I import goods from Canada.

Furthermore, if you were to discuss what happened with them, I suspect they would try to do something to make up for the difficulties you experienced, perhaps ship the Hannah without further freight charge, and by post to alleviate the brokerage fees.

I appreciate what you're both saying. Greg, my point was that they went ahead and shipped whatever portion they felt like, however they felt like, without consulting me whatsoever (in spite of their ordering mechanism leading me to believe that they would do otherwise).

Most of my email communication was with Debbie Lam. I did inform her of my reason for dissatisfaction in my last email when I requested that the last part of the order be cancelled. Her entire response was "Your backorder is cancelled." -- no apologies or offers to take any other action to rectify the situation. Not that I was expecting any, but this seems counter to your suspicion that they would try harder to correct the situation.

I can appreciate that they may be swamped during this year's crush, and I can also appreciate that they may be too accustomed to working with customers over the phone and may not yet have come to grips with their new web-based ordering system. But the fact that I can sympathize with them doesn't for one second mean that I would want anyone else to experience the frustration and needless expense that I have. I bear no grudge against them as human beings -- I just want people to be aware that this situation occurred, because in my mind if it's happened once to me it could just as easily happen again to someone else.

Anyhow, they're lucky that they seem to have built up a lot of good will with their customer base. Hopefully incidents like this, whether caused by growing pains or whatever, will be few in number and not damage their reputation much before they work out the kinks.

Richard

I have the same exact problem with PI concerning a PH meter and shipping the wrong yeast. Tim