my meter is reading 0.33 is this good. unit is only 4 months old
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tds reading
- Thread starter reeferwanabe
- Start date
It's probably 033.
sorry your right did it again 018 I dont know why the first reading was 033?
IMO you want it as close to 0 as possible. Tell us more about your filter. How many stages, what brand, do you have a final DI stage?
Also what type of meter is it? If it's a Pinpoint it's a different type of reading then a typical TDS meter as the former gives readings in Micro Simens while the latter is in PPM. The Pinpoint readings when converted to PPM are much lower then the digital display would have you believe.
Carlo
Carlo
reeferwanabe said:
From Randy Holmes Farley:
Tips for Using TDS Meters
1. Always rinse the business end of TDS and conductivity meters before and after each use with as clean fresh water as you have available. The buildup of salts will interfere with proper operation, and the carryover of salts from one solution to another can skew the readings.
2. Do not touch or otherwise abrade the electrode surfaces, except with a soft, nonabrasive cloth.
3. Clean the electrodes, when necessary, by soaking the tip in acid (e.g., vinegar or diluted hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid)) and then rinsing well in water. If it is heavily fouled with organic material, soaking the tip in alcohol or bleach may help. Gentle wiping with a soft, nonabrasive cloth may also be acceptable.
4. If you care what the exact readings mean, be sure to calibrate the meter using a commercial standard. Some meters may require an exact standard, or any of several standards with a preset value, so get the meter first and see what you need. One standard is adequate. If all you care about is whether the reading is zero or not (for testing water purification systems), then calibration may not be important.
5. Nearly all conductivity (TDS) meters have automatic temperature compensation over the range from 0 to 50ºC. Even the least expensive units usually do this. If for some reason yours does not, the standard temperature for taking readings is 25ºC. Just be aware that readings in cooler temperatures will be artificially low if it is not corrected (about 2-4% per degree centigrade).
6. Only very expensive meters have cell constant adjustment. The "cell constant" is another word for calibration, but is somewhat more sophisticated as some units allow you to use different electrode assemblies optimized for different types of solutions. For example, some are optimized for low, medium, or high conductivities in the solutions to be tested. The meter would have to know what kind of electrode assembly it was attached to, if it were allowed to be changed. Most TDS meters will not permit this change.
7. If you are using a TDS or conductivity meter to monitor the performance of an RO membrane, then the measured value should drop by at least a factor of 10 from the starting tap water. So, for example, if the tap water reads 231 ppm, then the RO water should be less than 23 ppm. In many cases, it will drop much more than that. Less of a drop than a factor of 10 indicates a problem with the RO membrane.
8. If you are using a TDS or conductivity meter to monitor the performance of an RO/DI system, then the measured value should drop to near zero. Maybe 0-1 ppm. Higher values indicate that something is not functioning properly, or that the DI resin is becoming saturated and needs replacement. However, that does not necessarily mean that 2 ppm water is not OK to use. But beware that it may begin to rise fairly sharply when the resin becomes saturated. Do not agonize over 1 ppm vs. zero ppm. While pure water has a TDS well below 1 ppm, uncertainties from carbon dioxide in the air (which gets into the water and ionizes to provide some conductivity) and the TDS meter itself may yield results of 1 or 2 ppm even from pure water.
9. If you are using a TDS or conductivity meter to monitor the saturation of limewater, then it will have to be able to read as high as 10.5 mS/cm (about 9300 ppm of 442 equivalents). This linked article describes how that is done.
10. If you are using a TDS or conductivity meter to monitor the salinity of a marine aquarium, you will have to be able to read up to about 53 mS/cm (about 53,000 ppm of 442 equivalents). I do not suggest trying to determine salinity from diluted samples, as the conductivity of seawater does not drop linearly with dilution.
11. You can measure the TDS of a water sample in any way that is convenient given the water and the meter being used. The primary consideration is that the entire electrode assembly must be submerged in the sample without a lot of bubbles or solids present between the electrodes. So, for example, you cannot typically get a good reading by holding it in a stream of tap water because air often gets between the electrodes that way (resulting in an artificially low reading).
I hope this information proves useful in using your TDS meter successfully!
Happy Reefing!
sorry got busy and missed posts. 6 stage RD102 unit from water general used for 4 months regularly. I have 5 tanks so plenty of water used thru it. tds-3 by HM digital I never calibrated it just went for it as is. tried it again and test is 014 so I'm getting fluctuations I've only used it to test water coming from the unit. never in salt.Oh I forgot to mention I had the company change out membrane to a 75
I fill up 2 32 gal barrels one fresh one salt
The RO/DI unit if functioning correctly will remove the charges from the water (negative and positive charges) so the "pure" water is ION "hungry". The water will try and pull anything it can from the air or container it comes into contact with. Technically it can do this with glass also but the amount is so small it's almost not worth mentioning.
Typically if using hobby test kits you can notice this in phosphate and/or silicates (from the leaching).
Carlo
Typically if using hobby test kits you can notice this in phosphate and/or silicates (from the leaching).
Carlo
so when making water to use what should I put it into and the salt water I let it sit for 2 weeks in bucket before I use it is this no good?
You can cheat a bit and add a very small amount of either calcium or buffer into the RO/DI water. For example if you know your salt it "light" on calcium just add a bit to the RO/DI water as it's being made up. The water won't be "ion hungry" anymore and there will be no leaching.
There are numerous ways to go about this problem but to me the little bit of additive is the easiest.
Carlo
There are numerous ways to go about this problem but to me the little bit of additive is the easiest.
Carlo
I finally got around to testing the recommendations for testing water. I ran the water directly into a glass and the reading is 002 that makes me feel so much better and thanks for the help from all.
Good news. From the looks of your setups you'll be needing alot of water.