Hanna Halo Bluetooth PH Meter...observations from use.

Post Reply
harleykids
Passionate
Passionate
Posts: 310
Joined: Fri Jan 08, 2016 03:03
Location: Olathe, KS

Hanna Halo Bluetooth PH Meter...observations from use.

Post by harleykids » Thu Feb 25, 2016 19:47

I will add to this thread as I get more comfortable using the Hanna Halo bluetooth PH meter.

Here are my initial observations:

1) Probe will give you a warning if you try to read the PH of anything with a temp under 32F. My meat mix after casing was 25F and I stuck my meter in it and it said "exceeded probe working range". It still gave a reading of 5.77 @ 25F, but it had the warning pop up and stay up until 32F was reached. Once the meat mix hit 32.1F, the warning goes away. Reading at 32F was 5.82 At 44F reading is 5.83 PH.

2) Battery was 100% when I put the meter in the meat mix. 30 mins later battery was down to 95%. One hour later battery is down to 74% Since this meter is capable of data logging in real time, I thought it might be nice to see the graph of the PH over, say 48 hours of fermenting. But I don't think this meter will run for 48 hours on the two coin cells that power it. I would guess that if I get 12-18 hours out of it, that will be doing well. So this is an issue.
Hanna should have made this bluetooth meter with a mini USB charging port on it, so you could recharge the unit. This would have meant using Lion batteries or battery pack, not replaceable primary cells. A bit more cost for them, but much less hassle for the consumer.
I see the battery life of 12-18 hours a big negative, especially with the costly coin cells needed when replacing batteries.

The data will be interuppted when you change batteries, as you will lose your bluetooth connection. I see this as a design flaw. With a charger, you could have plugged the meter in while it was running and taken the 48 hours of data that you want to see over the fermenting time.

This meter is probably only good for taking readings at intervals, not running all the time.
Disappointing, but still better than PH strips.

3) When you remove the meter from its storage solution vial, there is no cap to put in the vial, in place of the meter. It would have been nice for them to include a cap for the storage vial, so when you were using the meter you wouldn't have to find a way to stand the storage vial up so the storage fluid won't spill out (bottom of the vial is not flat, that would have been too easy) A simple rubber stopper or plastic cap would be handy to seal the storage solution while the meter is in use.

4) On a positive note, the app seems to work very well, and the meter connects to BTLE without much of an issue. It is a very handy size to work with, nice and small.

That's all I have so far, will add to this as I use the meter more!

A couple of screen shots:

Image

Image
User avatar
Bob K
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 2232
Joined: Sun Jun 02, 2013 15:16
Location: Northwest Ct

Post by Bob K » Thu Feb 25, 2016 20:15

harleykids wrote:I see the battery life of 12-18 hours a big negative, especially with the costly coin cells needed when replacing batteries.
Was there an advertised life span /usage time for the batteries....may be old or spent batteries
ericrice
Beginner
Beginner
Posts: 28
Joined: Fri Jan 17, 2014 17:35
Location: Philadelphia

Post by ericrice » Thu Feb 25, 2016 21:18

I may be looking at the wrong model as it appears this one uses only one battery

HALO Glass Body Refillable pH Electrode with Bluetooth® - HI11312

For that one the site states a 500 hr battery life so maybe the battery(ies) were low?
The HALO's CR2032 lithium ion battery is easily replaceable and lasts for approximately 500 hours.
Occupation?? Part time Butcher, Chef, Microbiologist, Scientist and Meteorologist – does what pays the bills really matter?

Eric
harleykids
Passionate
Passionate
Posts: 310
Joined: Fri Jan 08, 2016 03:03
Location: Olathe, KS

Post by harleykids » Fri Feb 26, 2016 03:40

If you look at the pics above, you can see there was 100% battery at 10:27am, then down to 91% battery at 11:13am

An hour later it showed 69%.

Here is the meter I have:

http://hannainst.com/fc2022-halo-foodca ... ology.html

It says 500 hours battery life.

Mine must have had old batteries because after 1.5 hours it showed a 69% battery left.

So I shut it off and decided to take readings every 12 hours or so, to conserve battery life.

After I am done monitoring this batch, I will replace the batteries with new ones for sure!

This is the first time I have used the meter since I got it a couple of weeks ago from Evan at Craft Butcher Panty, so I know I didn't run the batteries down while I have had it.

If it really will support 500 hours of battery life, that would be great! But I have my doubts.
That would be like running the meter for 20 days straight! I would be surprised at that.
LOUSANTELLO
Forum Enthusiast
Forum Enthusiast
Posts: 573
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 23:35
Location: Chicago

Post by LOUSANTELLO » Fri Feb 26, 2016 05:40

I just did a job in Utah. I shipped a bunch of tools there along with a dozen AA and a dozen AAA batteries. The batteries were brand new duracells. When I got to Utah, all the batteries were shot. Something definitely happened to them in shipping.
User avatar
redzed
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3852
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2012 06:29
Location: Vancouver Island

Post by redzed » Fri Feb 26, 2016 18:10

Justin I've been thinking about you wanting to leave the electrode in the meat for a prolonged period of time. From what I have learned up to now is that glass pH electrodes have a limited life span that is affected by the amount of use. The electrode also needs to be kept in a solution when not being used. So if you have the probe out of the storage solution and in sensory mode for hours or days on end, you may be buying a new meter sooner than you think. Manufacturers compare the electrode to a battery that runs down with time and use.

Hanna produces good quality equipment, but maybe you should pose that question to them.
harleykids
Passionate
Passionate
Posts: 310
Joined: Fri Jan 08, 2016 03:03
Location: Olathe, KS

Post by harleykids » Fri Feb 26, 2016 21:37

Chris,

I asked them that. They said that leaving the meter in the meat mix doesn't affect the probe life. They said it would only affect the battery life, if I leave it on.

On this batch, I leave it in the mix and then turn it on/off as needed to take a PH reading. Pretty easy.

They said that probe life is really only affected by three things:

1) Not cleaning the probe when you are done, or using the wrong cleaning solution.
2) Not storing the probe in a Hanna probe storage solution.
3) Breaking the glass tip.

Other than that, they said the probe should last as long as it is taken care of as it should. They said that failed probes are caused by incorrect cleaning mainly.

I have the cleaning solution that came with my probe from Hanna (general cleaning solution), but the meat and grease cleaner was backordered.

So I will clean with the Hanna cleaner, and put the probe back in the Hanna storage solution. Hopefully that will suffice until I can get the Hanna meat and grease specific cleaner!
User avatar
Bob K
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 2232
Joined: Sun Jun 02, 2013 15:16
Location: Northwest Ct

Post by Bob K » Sat Feb 27, 2016 17:59

Since that is an all in one unit is it warrantied as a meter or a probe?
harleykids
Passionate
Passionate
Posts: 310
Joined: Fri Jan 08, 2016 03:03
Location: Olathe, KS

Post by harleykids » Sat Feb 27, 2016 18:09

Same warranty as their other meters.

1 year on the meter part, 6 months on the electrode.

You ship the whole unit back I guess.
Post Reply