pH toooooo low!

[Want2BS8ed]

Shouldn't complain, we just hit our high for the day at 53 degrees... and I'm with you Dennis. Just got our gas bill in the mail yesterday and it's been a colder than normal winter here in Virginia.

M

 

[Brew12]

No, I did not.

I like doing that as a quick check.

Of course, I'm still confused. The fact you are getting the right voltage spread tells me the probe itself likely isn't bad. I want to believe that the odds of both pH solutions being low is very unlikely. This leads me to believe that I have no idea what I should believe. ;Blackeye

 

[FunkEngine]

I like doing that as a quick check.

Of course, I'm still confused. The fact you are getting the right voltage spread tells me the probe itself likely isn't bad. I want to believe that the odds of both pH solutions being low is very unlikely. This leads me to believe that I have no idea what I should believe. ;Blackeye

I have similar issues to OP, I get down to about 7.5 at night and top out anywhere from 7.7 to 7.9 during the day. At the time I was using kalk as my only supplement so I didn't even have the disadvantage of a calcium reactor pulling it lower. I know its a CO2 issue with my apartment as its sealed so tight that in 650sqft I have two (2) 50 pint dehumidifiers rated for almost 1000sqft each running on their lowest humidity setting, just to keep condensation off of the windows.

I did the cup test as well and hit similar numbers for outside air, my probe was the one included with the 2016 apex and was about 11 months old at the time. I calibrated it a few times during these tests, and got within margin of error for each test. Opening windows in the warmer months helps, but it barely pushed it over 8 after days with the windows open, and that's not really an option when its in the single digits outside.

I'm adding a small fuge, but I'm not holding my breath. Following along to see if OP is able to solve his problem.

 

[GoVols]

@FunkEngine

FWIW???

There's one reefer, on one of Randy's forums, that runs his cal reactor only at night, to help ph during lights out.
He's got the reactor's solenoid and ph probe / timed out / and controlled by his Apex.

 

[d2mini]

There's one reefer, on one of Randy's forums, that runs his cal reactor only at night, to help ph during lights out.
He's got the reactor's solenoid and ph probe / timed out / and controlled by his Apex.

Wouldn't that do the opposite? Maybe he turns it off at night?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Wouldn't that do the opposite? Maybe he turns it off at night?

Yes and yes.

 

[GoVols]

Wouldn't that do the opposite? Maybe he turns it off at night?

Sorry... ;Sorry

He only runs his cal reactor during lights on

My Bad ;Blackeye


Edit:
This is his Apex graph.

 

[Potatohead]

Randy is it possible different brands of salt mix could have different pH levels if the salinity/alkalinity were equal? Basically I am asking if the salt d2 is using could largely be responsible for this problem.

 

[Brew12]

Randy is it possible different brands of salt mix could have different pH levels if the salinity/alkalinity were equal? Basically I am asking if the salt d2 is using could largely be responsible for this problem.

Unfortunately, no. If you know the alkalinity you can calculate the CO2 content off of that. It won't change from salt mix to salt mix, other than that they mix to different alkalinity.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Randy is it possible different brands of salt mix could have different pH levels if the salinity/alkalinity were equal? Basically I am asking if the salt d2 is using could largely be responsible for this problem.

As soon is the salt is mixed in air, it is the alk and the home air CO2 level that determines the pH, not the initial pH of the mix.

 

[d2mini]

Yup.. pH probe issue.

Old probe: 7.68
New probe installed and calibrated 5 mins ago: 7.74

 

[GoVols]

Randy is it possible different brands of salt mix could have different pH levels if the salinity/alkalinity were equal? Basically I am asking if the salt d2 is using could largely be responsible for this problem.

Different media's brands in cal reactors, melt at different ph melting points.

Those man made media's for the Dastaco cal reactors has a real low ph melting point.

Gotta give @2una a "thank you" for a heads up on that one

 

[Scorpius]

Old probe: 7.68
New probe installed and calibrated 5 mins ago: 7.74

The plot thickens.... Maybe?

 

[Brew12]

Old probe: 7.68
New probe installed and calibrated 5 mins ago: 7.74

Unfortunately, I'm not surprised. The fact you had a 200mV spread on your calibration made me think replacing the probe wouldn't fix it. But, I also don't think your pH is actually that low. I've been reading through Profilux forums trying to see if I can find a similar issue. That outside water should have read 8.4ish.
I just wish I could put my finger on what the problem actually is.

Can you post your new calibration numbers?

 

[rushbattle]

I’m sure Randy will help (refute?) with this, but I think that you might have a grounding issue. Some sort of ground loop is interfering with accurate readings. It wouldn’t refute the theory, but you could try to ground the liquid that the probe gets moved to, to the tank water. Like a titanium wire between both bodies of water.

Any thoughts?

 

[GoVols]

I’m sure Randy will help (refute?) with this, but I think that you might have a grounding issue. Some sort of ground loop is interfering with accurate readings. It wouldn’t refute the theory, but you could try to ground the liquid that the probe gets moved to, to the tank water. Like a titanium wire between both bodies of water.

Any thoughts?

I don't know but @Brew12 is the wire grounding guru.

Hopefully it's not a GHL software glitch.

 

[2una]

That outside water should have read 8.4ish.
I just wish I could put my finger on what the problem actually is.

UPDATE:
The cup was outside this morning with a small pump circulating the water from 8am to 12 noon.

Maybe the devils in the detail - Dennis vigorously circulating or just spinning? think the theory is its supposed to be aerated

 

[d2mini]

Maybe the devils in the detail - Dennis vigorously circulating or just spinning? think the theory is its supposed to be aerated

Yeah, i was wondering about that too.

This morning my ph is 7.69.
So it is an improvement.

 

[Brew12]

I’m sure Randy will help (refute?) with this, but I think that you might have a grounding issue. Some sort of ground loop is interfering with accurate readings. It wouldn’t refute the theory, but you could try to ground the liquid that the probe gets moved to, to the tank water. Like a titanium wire between both bodies of water.

Any thoughts?

I thought about that but I doubt it is the problem. That would explain why it could calibrate ok but still not read correctly. Where this falls apart is that it should have read the sample from outside correctly. The fact it does not correctly read a sample in a different container rules out any problem within the tank itself.

Maybe the devils in the detail - Dennis vigorously circulating or just spinning? think the theory is its supposed to be aerated

Good point. But over 4 hours I would think that even with just a little circulating it would have come up more than it did. With an air pump you can do the test in 15 minutes.

This morning my ph is 7.69.

When you calibrated the new probe, did you retest it in the calibration fluids when you were done to verify they were correct?

Anc can you post the calibration numbers for the new probe?

 

[Shadowspop]

I assume pH 6.3 is a typo?

I wish it was. I originally started with API, then bought a Salifert...same thing. Had a friend come over with his higher end test kit and got a slightly higher reading, but that was later in the day than my testing.