# Questions about this Milwaukee PH56 meter



## geek (Jun 13, 2013)

Received unit a few days ago.

-do you calibrate the unit every time you want to check the ph of your wine?

-I keep the unit open without the cap in a cup with a bit of spring water, about an inch, good? (probe sumerged in spring water)

-the 2 solutions that came with it, the 7 and 4 solutions, is it ok to leave them in an open small glass container? I've left them open since day1 in the basement

-when calibrating this unit shows a warning sign (WRNG) when in the 4 solution and then I leave it there and it goes through and calibrates to 4.01, any thoughts? (I passed the meter very quickly from the 7 to the 4 solution)

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## Runningwolf (Jun 13, 2013)

So you removed the meter from the 7 buffer directly into 4 buffer without a rinse. You just contaminated your 4 buffer.


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## Pumpkinman (Jun 13, 2013)

Agreed,
You need to rinse with distilled water between buffers, and yes you must calibrate every time you take the meter from the storage solution to test.


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## geek (Jun 13, 2013)

the instructions that came with it clearly say to move probe quickly from 7 to 4, nothing about rinsing with water......what am I missing ???


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## geek (Jun 13, 2013)

see a picture of the instructions that came with the unit and also this youtube video.........nothing about rinsing before putting probe into 4.1 solution.....

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crUvzkvG3e0[/ame]

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## BernardSmith (Jun 13, 2013)

I agree with the others: if you are actually putting the probe in the buffer containers with the full solution of buffers then I think you may be contaminating the second buffer. I am not familiar with the brand of meter you are using but what I do is pour a small amount of buffer into test tubes or very small glass containers and then calibrate using a sample of the 7 buffer solution , wash the probe in water and then calibrate using a sample of the 4 solution. I would think you want to try to keep the probe away from the full container of buffer solution


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## geek (Jun 13, 2013)

that would mean both the instructions and the video are wrong....
Really does not make sense..


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## Pumpkinman (Jun 14, 2013)

Varis, you are correct, my Milwaukee says the same thing, my apologies, I thought that you were talking about not rinsing the probe off when you took it out of the storage solution. 
My directions say the same thing to calibrate the device, after the meter registers "rec" you are supposed to take it out of the "7" buffer solution and quickly put it into the "4" buffer solution, once that passes, it is calibrated.


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## Runningwolf (Jun 14, 2013)

...but if you do that, do not save the buffer for another use. Other instructions will tell you to have two containers of "4" and stick it in one first for a rinse and the second for a test.


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## geek (Jun 14, 2013)

Runningwolf said:


> ...but if you do that, do not save the buffer for another use. Other instructions will tell you to have two containers of "4" and stick it in one first for a rinse and the second for a test.



I didn't save aside any fluid....so is it really bad now?

Also, I'd like to know if the glass container with the liquid is ok to leave open/exposed. I have them both open in the basement.

thanks.


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## GEM (Jun 15, 2013)

I think you need to get new buffer and keep it sealed in a small bottle. I also think you contaminate your solution when you stick prob in it that has not been rinsed in distiller water, so dump it and get new solutions.


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