Storing sensors

Janci · Mar 4, 2017

Hi

i am switching tanks soon and will need to store my profilux sensors for a while (> 1 month).
I read that there are some that cannot be stored dry and need to be submersed always.
What is the best way to do this and which fluid do I use?

I have:
- temperature sensor
- PH sensor
- redox sensor
- conductivity sensor

Thanks in advance

porter_painter · Mar 4, 2017

I have always wrapped the end of the probes up in saran wrap (us Brits call it cling film) with just a few drops of water in the tip to keep it damp. Then an elastic band around the probe to keep the wrap in place.

p7willm · Mar 4, 2017

Some sensors, the pH and I think Redox, have a liquid inside them and they work on the different concentrations of stuff in them and in the aquarium and the barrier between the two will let stuff through slowly. All the time the concentration of stuff in liquid on 2 sides of a barrier tend to equal out. This is why you need to callibrate the pH probe and why eventualy you have to replace it. When you take the probe out of water then the liquid can also seep through, this is bad. If you store the probe in tank water then it will be just like it was in the tank for a month, you might need to recalibrate and it takes 1 month off its life. They also make storage solutions for pH probes that will cost a bit of money and will make it seem like less than a month for the probe. For a month I would go with the tank water and calibrate when it went into the new tank.

Other probes, temp and conductivity, don't really care. The temp probe is just a thing that has its resistivity change based on temperature. It doesn't wear out and it doesn't care if it is measuring the temperature of the tank or the draw you have it stuck in. The conductivity probe has a pair of electrodes and it measures how much current flows between. Again, it doesn't care if it is measuring how much current flows between while in the tank or in the draw. When you put it back in be sure it doesn't catch any air bubbles and you might clean it while it's out and calibrate it when you put it back.

Janci · Mar 5, 2017

p7willm said:
Some sensors, the pH and I think Redox, have a liquid inside them and they work on the different concentrations of stuff in them and in the aquarium and the barrier between the two will let stuff through slowly. All the time the concentration of stuff in liquid on 2 sides of a barrier tend to equal out. This is why you need to callibrate the pH probe and why eventualy you have to replace it. When you take the probe out of water then the liquid can also seep through, this is bad. If you store the probe in tank water then it will be just like it was in the tank for a month, you might need to recalibrate and it takes 1 month off its life. They also make storage solutions for pH probes that will cost a bit of money and will make it seem like less than a month for the probe. For a month I would go with the tank water and calibrate when it went into the new tank.

Other probes, temp and conductivity, don't really care. The temp probe is just a thing that has its resistivity change based on temperature. It doesn't wear out and it doesn't care if it is measuring the temperature of the tank or the draw you have it stuck in. The conductivity probe has a pair of electrodes and it measures how much current flows between. Again, it doesn't care if it is measuring how much current flows between while in the tank or in the draw. When you put it back in be sure it doesn't catch any air bubbles and you might clean it while it's out and calibrate it when you put it back.

Thank you. Very helpful.
I will go with just tank water.