I own one and I have no complaints. It has several scales, and does not need to be calibrated. Probably still comes with 5 year warranty also. Useful for stirring nutes too.

I did a bit of research before I decided on this one. Its not the cheapest, but I have read they last years and years. If you need more technical information, I will try to find the packaging- let me know

Can't find a price on these things. Anyone has an idea?

$135 here in the US. I love mine. It's quite rugged and takes regular AA batteries that last quite some time. The pH meter is $179. I decided to go with something else for pH. Personally, I think the EC meter is well worth it if you have the money for it.

These things are THE EC/ppm meter to buy. Don't even bother looking at anything else. Well there is a cheaper Chinese knock-off that seems pretty decent. It's supposed to not need calibration and so on, just like the Bluelab, but I can't vouch for its actual quality.

My son-in-law got one that works pretty well for him, but I don't know enough about them to say much more than that.

Whatever the case, you don't want to mess with anything that requires calibration. They're just not as reliable and require a lot more work.

Get the Bluelab or one just like it.

You can buy the truncheon on E-BAY for $110.00

Norm

Zowie! I hit the jackpot. Thanks everyone!

I know the difference between cheap and quality. I don't mind paying for quality, so I'll get one ASAP.

Thanks again.

:O)

I have owned one for a while now. Mine seems to hold its accuracy to my knowledge. I am curious if you clean the probes according to specs. Do the readings sway if you go longer the stated 2 weeks?

I don't know, it's just too simple to keep it clean for me to bother finding out if it gets inaccurate without it.

All you really have to do is rinse the tip thoroughly and put the cap on.

Hey! Check this out: I was messing around and Googled Bluelab Truncheon and guess what popped up #8 on the Google Search?

The original message in this thread, that's what! The original message was posted Sept. 30th and today is October 10th.

Go figure!

Yeah, Google loves forums. That's actually how I found out about GardenWeb in the first place. I had some trouble with one of the tomato plants in my garden and was trying to figure out what was wrong and Google led me here.

I took the plunge and purchased one from my local hydro store today. They told me they would match any competitor's price and that turned out to be $110 brand new out of the box!

I tested all my nutes as soon as I got home and was I surprised! I thought I was borderline-overfeeding. Not so. In fact, I was a full .8 low. Go figure!

It does not require calibrating and works like a champ. I'm embarrassed to tell you what I was using to check EC up to today. It's smooth sailing, now!

Thanks for all the input.
:O)

"I'm embarrassed to tell you what I was using to check EC up to today."

Well when I started out I was using a measuring spoon to "check" my EC, so don't be embarassed. I was just making an educated guess as to how much I was mixing in to start with and just guesstimating from there.

I got lucky, though.