Canadian tire TDS meter

[Ripwoop]

I was in Canadian Tire the other day with my bro in law. He spotted a TDS meter. Had a look at it seems to be not a bad looking unit and pretty cheap ( 15bucks i think). My concern is well....it's Canadian Tire.....you guys think that it would be as accurate and other TDS meters?

Thanks

Rob

[mike31154]

TDS at CTire? Cool. Which store, i.e. where and what dept/aisle? Anywhere near Vernon?

[Ripwoop]

Yes it was in Vernon:) not sure what isle for sure but it was over the the car stuff. Had stuff like RV water filter replacement that kind of stuff. Sticker on the price tag saying new item.

[mike31154]

Nice, thanks for that. For 15 dollas, I'm willing to give it a go. Don't have a RO/DI unit yet anyhow, but it will be nice to see what the TDS of the Vernon tapwater is.

[justinl]

i would love to see someone buy this and compare its reading to a reading from an expensive aquarium grade TDS meter.

[mike31154]

What's an expensive one cost? As far as aquarium grade, you know what they say, as soon as a manufacturer puts the 'aquarium' label on it, the price doubles. TDS meters are used extensively outside the aquarium trade and I'm sure the basic design has been around for some time. I've never seen one in person, but from the photos etc. on various vendors' web pages they don't look that complex. Like most probe type instruments that's basically it, a metal probe(s) and the associated circuitry inside. Once you've paid the engineer to design the circuitry, the rest is gravy..... and marketing.

[new but handy]

Hey all; right now Vernon tap water up east hill is about 230 ppm
bottled water from london drugs is 5-10 ppm
and my ro unit is 1 ppm
I assume with all the boil water advisorys in the summer the tds would go way up. If I remember correctly the tds at my place in aug or sept was around 425 ppm. But I probably don't remember correctly.
my tank reading tips the scale with a flashing 999. I guess the meter won't read salty aquarium water, or there is a lot of stuff in there!

[new but handy]

I bought my tds meter online for $30 i think. It's a Intellitech don't know if it's good or not. It looks like a huge pen with 2 metal contacts and one rubber tipped one the rubber tipped one is for temp. compensation. the 2 metal ones measure the conductivity between them. The more conductivity the higher the tds

[mike31154]

Don't forget that depending on where you are in Vernon/Coldstream the source of your water will be different. Duteau Creek source is known for turbidity issues, but my water comes from the North Kal Lake intake. Good numbers for calcium/magnesium and pH isn't bad either. According to the Greater Vernon Water stats, the TDS at the North Kal Lake intake as of 14 July 08 was 238. Obviously there's some filtration/treatment downstream of that.

Additional numbers:
Hardness (CaCO3) 152
pH 7.8
Nitrate 0.069
Magnesium 9.8
Calcium 40.6

Of course these numbers are subject to change, but I would think Kal Lake is pretty stable as compared to Duteau Creek. Check the Greater Vernon Services site for info on the other sources. And I'm pretty sure the instruments used to tabulate these numbers are more accurate than anything available to the average aquarist.

[new but handy]

thats why I said up east hill. I know my water is terrible! I haven't drank it since I bought the house 3 years ago. 238 is not bad the max level for drinking water is 500ppm in canada. says health canada. (on my tds meter)!
I have to go tow a friend out of the ditch now. have fun

[Ripwoop]

"New but handy" I think that name was pretty close to what C tire's one was...not sure might have read up on the net and it's ringing the wrong bell..Anyway I would be willing to get one if some one would be willing to compare with a "high" grade one for accuracy. Any takers ?


Rob

[new but handy]

I was just in there looking for a rope to tow a friend out of the ditch. I looked for the tds but I didn't see it. I would like to compare mine with a different one as well just for fun.

[awa1979]

I bought one off ebay for 5 bucks last summer and tested it against a aquarium grade one, and the result was the same.

Take off the aquarium name and price comes down.

Timers are the same, can be found 1/2 the price at normal stores vs the aquarium stores.

[Ripwoop]

Hmm..interesting I'll be making a trip to C-Tire to crab one of those. I'll let you know what the name is of it. OHHHH crap!!!! *BONKS HEAD* very hard!!!! sorry guys !! it was in walmart ..big sigh... if you walk in the main doors it's in the far left back corner area. second isle back i believe. Not sure when the next time I'm heading in but i will get one asap.

[justinl]

oka yeah, i wasn't clear with my previous post. That's exactly what i meant. i know the aquarium label makes everything a lot cheaper... that's why half the hobby is dedicated to DIY and other ways to avoid buying things from the lfs at all cost. I would also like to see several comparison trials done on tap water of differing TDS levels to be sure of both precision and accuracy. i would be fantastic not to have to buy those ridiculously priced tds meters at the lfs.

[awa1979]

I doubt any of the TDS monitors are LFS/Aquarium Supply stores are made specific for aquarium use, labels are just changed when needed.


MOPS.ca sells the one I got off ebay for 5 bucks for 35 bucks.

http://www.mops.ca/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/skus/te/TEHM-TDS3.asp?L+scstore+nwnn7431Lucidff80eb80+123297059 5

[Ripwoop]

Ya that pretty much looks just like the one i saw. I would assume that all Walmarts carry the same stock. If anyone needs a TDS meter they sell them there :)

Rob

[Koresample]

what department in Wal Mart, Automotive?

[mike31154]

Yes, kind of near the automotive stuff, RV parts actually. I picked one up today. Brand is 'IntelliTEC". Made in China for 'Lancer and Loader Group'. Came with extensive instructions a spare set of batteries. It is not water proof (don't drop the whole unit into the water), 3 probes, 2 stainless steel for measuring TDS and a third for temperature compensation. Remembers last reading even after it's turned off. Auto-Off function, range is from 0 to 999 ppm with a resolution of 1 ppm. Accuracy +/- 5% @ 77 Fahrenheit. Two year warranty.

My tapwater measured 213 ppm and a bottle of opened distilled water I have kicking around measured 002 ppm. Good enough for this hobbyist.

[Ripwoop]

Grats on your new half price TDS meter :)

[mike31154]

Thx. Can't say I'm really a fan of WalMart, or WalMerde as one of my Quebec friends calls it. I'd like to support the little guy too, my grandparents ran a little corner store, but hard to resist that low price.

[Ripwoop]

My thoughts exactly!! I would assume it would sell in the pet stores out here for 60% more than what the LFS on the coast sell for. Just thought i would throw it out there in case it hasn't been mentioned before. :)

Rob.

[brickwood]

Should have just bought it when we were there. I am going to see if they have one down here. I am sure they carry the same stuff.

[Ripwoop]

i would have but you took all my money for the crabs you brought up LOL.:)

[mseepman]

I got one from Walmart about 6 months back and it's been great. I put my RODI in about 4 weeks back and it had the dual in-line meter. Both the Walmart one and the inline agreed on the TDS every time so far. 3 from my RO and 0 from my DI.

[brickwood]

i would have but you took all my money for the crabs you brought up LOL.:)

You're just lucky I like you enough to bring them up to you.:microwav:

[awa1979]

Thx. Can't say I'm really a fan of WalMart, or WalMerde as one of my Quebec friends calls it. I'd like to support the little guy too, my grandparents ran a little corner store, but hard to resist that low price.

I try as well, but its becoming more difficult to pay the higher prices of the independent small stores, I know they can't really compete but in these times I find myself going to Wally World more and more.

[Koresample]

Bought won yesterday as well, correct, its in the RV section. Tap water measured 180ppm and 'filtered' water from my fridge (new filter) measured 140ppm. I live in Westbank and the WFN is our water supplier. Guess that explains the algae growth. I added Fluval Phosphate removal media yesterday to my canister filter when i did a 10g water change, seems like my algae is double today! I am guessing it will take a few days for this media to have an effect.

[mike31154]

I ran canister filter for months with and without GFO (along with carbon) and couldn't tell the difference on my Hagen phosphate test kit. Maybe it's 'cause it's hard to read. The test result is never anything like the colour chart. Almost clear so I can only assume negligible to zero nitrates.... with or without GFO. Stopped running the GFO a month or so ago and no appreciable difference in algae growth. Still run carbon. My Chaeto grows well either way. So from my own experience, running GFO appears to have been an expensive proposition with no discernible benefit.

[mseepman]

The problem with Hagen tests kits is that they are Hagen Test kits. Being a Vernon reefer, we have nothing else to choose from unless we order on-line. I now run both the Hagen and Salifert and they don't get the same answers very often.

[Ripwoop]

you're just lucky i like you enough to bring them up to you.:microwav:

rofl

[Ripwoop]

The problem with Hagen tests kits is that they are Hagen Test kits. Being a Vernon reefer, we have nothing else to choose from unless we order on-line. I now run both the Hagen and Salifert and they don't get the same answers very often.

Interesting!!! how far off are the hagen test cause i use them too ( not much choice) could explain some stuff going on in my tank right now..Would you happen to have the KH test in hagen? how do you get dkh out of the readings? From what i understood from the back it says MG/L is ppm same thing..so under the saltwater peram's is says should be 105-125 MG/L. So, say you have it at the 125 MG/L, that is only 7dkh? little low no?

Rob

[Manny]

I would not trust anything from Canadian Tire.

[awa1979]

I would not trust anything from Canadian Tire.

If it is made by a company whose product is found elsewhere, there is no different then buying it somewhere else.

CT sells far more products then their own brand.