eXact dip vs. Hannah
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Randy Holmes-Farley
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There are long threads of people disappointed in the idip.
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They do seem to keep working on it (the iDip) and I hope they do as it shows some potential to be easier for some people. But it does still need work. I would hold off on getting it. I've been wanting to get it since it came out but glad I have held off and waiting for more maturity.
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Indeed there are a lot of negative comments about the eXact Idip, I have been using the new model for 8 months now, and yes I can tell you that they might have released some of the test regents/strips to soon, but the company has responded very quickly to correcting the issues. For instance the Magnesium was off by 400 points and they corrected (Magnesium was compared to Red Sea test) and now very close in comparisons. I have 4 of the Hanna Checkers and needless to say they are sitting on a shelf collecting dust. I would recommend the IDip testing kit to everyone that wants accurate test result on a consistence bases.
Hanna Instruments
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Hello Everyone,
Thank you for using our products and for your feedback. We appreciate your comments and wanted to make ourselves available for questions relating to water testing. We have made some improvements to the Calcium Checker. Our phosphate/phosphorus and alkalinity Checkers are always well received and have very little complaints regarding the units.
We apologize for any inaccurate readings you may have experienced with our Calcium Checker. Our HI758 Calcium Checker uses a 100 to 1 dilution to analyze calcium. It is important to make sure you are using the new HI731339P volumetric pipette to administer saltwater sample to the cuvette. Any increased or decreased sample size will result in inaccurate readings.
In addition, it is best to use deionized water with very low conductivity when zeroing the Checker at C1 phase. Calcium can be found in many freshwater sources and any amount present in the original freshwater used can lead to inaccurate readings. If you are using your own RODI water, make sure to use a calibrated TDS meter and test the water in your reservoir, not just the output of your inline monitor fixed onto the unit. Its possible that ionic particles make their way back into your storage tank.
Also visit our blog to make sure you are following our 8 checker best practices such as indexing the cuvette in the same position every time, removing any air bubbles, finger prints or smudges and using separate pipettes/syringes for freshwater and saltwater.
A big advantage to using our Checkers compared to other testing instruments is each Checker is based off of a standard method in chemistry. Each Checker is designed for a single parameter measurement. All of our Checkers are based on chemical methods with a specific wavelength. For example, the HI772 Marine Alkalinity dKH Checker has a LED @ 610 nm while the HI736 Marine Ultra Low Range Phosphorus Checker has LED @ 525 nm. Each method requires a specific wavelength for maximum accuracy and repeat-ability. This is why all of the Checkers are sold as individual kits, versus selling one unit that measures all parameters. This is also why our more expensive bench-top photometers use multiple filters/light sources to produce numerous wavelengths to measure different parameters rather than using just one NM wavelength to test everything (our HI83303 Aquaculture Photometer uses 5 LEDs with 420 nm, 466 nm, 525 nm, 575 nm, and 610 nm narrow band interference filters). All of our reagents come with MSDS sheets for proper storage and handling instructions.
We own our own manufacturing plant and do not outsource production like many other companies do. We are still a privately owned family run organization with operations in over 65 countries. When you buy Hanna you are getting testing equipment from a company that supplies analytical instruments to over 15 major industries ranging from metal plating, food production, marine research institutions, aquaculture, wastewater treatment, environmental monitoring, agriculture, brewers, wine makers and more.
Thanks for the feedback everyone, we strive to provide the best testing experience for all of our customers and encourage anyone to reach out if they ever have problems with your analytical instruments. Feel free to DM us or contact [email protected] or call 877-My-Hanna.
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Shredded
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I know a lot of people had issues with the Hanna Ca checker as I did originally. Once I got the procedure down, my results are within a point or two over an over again. i no longer have any doubts about it. My main issue was with the initial fresh water source. Even though I was buying water that should have had no calcium, it actually did. I always get prepped before starting. I open my packet, and clean my cuvette before starting. Once I zero the cuvette, I add the powder reagent and mix thoroughly and then check the color for a nice solid orange. ANY hint of a color difference means that your fresh water source contained calcium and your readings will be off.
Ooooh, I learn something new everyday!
I've been following their instructions, which said to add the 0.1ml sample water to the zero'ed cuvette before adding the powder reagent, but I didn't know you could do it the other way round to test for initial zeroing...
Shredded
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Yes the first time I did it was accidental and I saw a slight color change. It was throwing the test off 100 ppm. So I do it that way every time, especially after buying new water. I have done it both ways, (once I know my test water is good) and the test results are the same.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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I wish they had designed it better so it wasn't so freakishly sensitive to traces of calcium in the blank.
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