General Tools PH501 Digital Pocket PH Meter

It continuously displayed random ph reading, non-stop. Turns out, it was broken to begin with. Returned immediately and received full refund. Decided on Phinex Diagnostic test strips, not very hi-tech but works perfectly.

We have had this meter for 5 years. It works great and we hardly ever have to re-calibrate it.

This device functions as advertised.Reliable and fairly accurate.Just be sure to do the fairly simple calibration in the reference solution(supplied) after any significant time, and be sure to rinse the tip thoroughly after every use.

I've used a ton of PH pens over the years,.....most of which cost between $20 and $100 new. The cheap ones need to be recalibrated constantly, and then they commonly become useless in a matter of months. The expensive pens I've owned didn't outperform this $50 pen in any way.For the money, this is the best pen I've used. I've had it for about 6 months, and it still stays calibrated for a long time - and recalibrates easily and accurately, when necessary (it rarely drifts by more than 0.2).Many more expensive pens have replaceable electrodes - and I don't know if you can replace this pen's electrode. However, with the expensive pens I've owned, replacing the electrode hasn't made sense, economically speaking. Once the electrode is shot you might as well spend a few dollars more on a brand new pen, which will get you a brand new warranty. A warranty is a good thing in a PH pen, because they tend to be very temperamental.UPDATE: I purchased this pen in May 2010, and it just died on December 4, 2010. I know PH pens, and how delicate they are, and I have been handling this thing like a baby. It gets rinsed, properly stored with storage solution in the cap, and handled with extreme care,....and it's dead in 6 months. I'll update this update, with another update - once I see how General Tools handles warranty/replacement. The pen worked great, but with the way I used it and handled it, it should last at least a few years.

i got this and use once the second time the glass sensor was chatter and it was storage in the case and all, this is just junk, never had an accurate reading

Digital pocket pH meter, with 3.15-Inch electrode. Ph range from 0 to 14.0 pH. Includes Hard carrying case, 9-Volt battery, calibration solution and calibration screwdriver.

When we first purchased this it worked well for about five months. All the sudden it would not read any pH or calibrate. The display bounced from 0 to 14 and wouldn't settle.My husband is an industrial maintenance technician and does considerable work with pH systems. He contacted General Tools & Instruments about this problem through the "contact us" link on their web site. After a week they have not responded to help with the problem.My husband decided to take matters into his own hands to see if he could fix it. What he found is that the telescoping action of the probe causes the wires to the to flex and break at the top of the probe. Unless you have the skills to solder a very small gauge wire that is only about 1/16" long you will not be able to repair.It would probably last a long time if the telescoping feature was not used and the probe was left either extended or retracted permanently. Even in light of that I would not buy this unit again because of the lack of response from General Tool & Instruments New York, NY 10013.

I ordered this against my better judgement after reading the other reviews. It is the cheapest PH tester after all, and I figured, if I am really careful, it will last a year maybe. Wrong I was! It lasted all 5 uses, the digital screen stopped working, and I am left with a useless $50 plastic piece of garbage. I just sent this back to Amazon and hopefully they will credit me and remove this item from their website.