Measuring & Control — Milwaukee

Reading in the hand or continuously at the tank. That difference decides which model you need, not the price.

Milwaukee's range splits into two groups that do quite different things. One reads when you walk over to it, the other reads all day. Anyone buying a handheld when what they really want to know is what the tank was doing at three in the morning has the wrong device.

Handheld meters

The pocket meters PH51, PH55 and the waterproof C66 are the simplest form: dip, read, done. The MW series is the step up, with the MW100 and PH600 for pH, the MW302 for EC and the MW806 as a 4-in-1 combination meter. The MW101 is the soil version. The EC40 is a waterproof 42 cm stick, meant to reach into a deep tank.

Continuous monitors

The MC series stays mounted on the system: the MC110 for pH, the MC310 for EC and the MC811 as a 3-in-1 with temperature. These sit with their probes in the liquid and keep reading. That is a different way of working from a handheld, with a different kind of upkeep: a probe permanently in nutrient solution needs cleaning and calibrating more often than a pen you put away dry.

Calibration fluid is a consumable, not an accessory

We stock the solutions separately in pH 4.01, pH 7.01, EC 1.413 and EC 12880 in 20 ml. Budget for them with every meter, because an uncalibrated meter does not read wrong so much as read something you cannot check. Solution degrades once opened, so buy what you will use.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a continuous monitor?
Only if drift between two readings would hurt you, for instance in a recirculating system. For hand watering a handheld is enough.

Can I push a pH meter into the substrate?
Not every one. The MW101 is the soil version; an ordinary pen is for liquid and will break if you push it in.

What is the difference between EC and TDS?
Two ways of presenting the same reading, with a conversion factor between them. Check which unit your meter shows before comparing a value with someone else's.