Hanna Alkalinity Tester...Accurate?

[JohnV8r]

I currently use an Elos test kit to test dKH. I am considering switching to a Hanna Alkalinity tester, but have no experience with Hanna test kits. What is the general consensus on the Hanna accuracy vs Elos chemical test kits; more accurate, the same, or worse?

Thanks in advance.

[jimrawr]

Hanna will test about 1dkh higher than Elos. Not sure which is correct

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[JohnV8r]

Hmmmm...interesting.

Thanks for that.

[zigzag1]

I think accuracy varies per unit (test kit to test kit). Mine seems to test a bit high comparatively. But I will say that I'm very happy with mine. While accuracy may vary, they are very consistent IME. Though I will say I'm very careful with my testing procedures - I can run my Hanna alkalinity test 3 times in a row and come up with results that are within 10 PPM each time. The Hanna Alkalinity and Phosphate checkers are two of my best investments, IMO. JMTC & GL!

[Drichards36]

I agree with the others, mine is pretty consistent whenever I use it.

[Steve175]

I disagree: I am a chemical engineer, am OCD with testing, am neurotic about cleaning the Hanna tubes, and I find Salifert both faster and more reproducible. I use Hanna only when I get a spurious result with Salifert which is almost never. I love my Hanna phosphate meter, however, as it is much more accurate than any other test.

[daddy2kids]

The Hanna alk checker does test a little high compared to Salifert's alk test, IMHO. I have used Salifert alk tests for about 18 months. I just bought a Hanna alk checker thinking it would be faster than the Sali test and knowing it might have absolute accuracy issues (see http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/8/review). In the range I measure (around a target alk of 3.5 mEq/L), for me the Hanna tests about 0.25 mEq/L higher than a brand new Sali alk test. I do find that the Hanna alk checker is very consistent, though.

Plus, the entire test time is about the same for me as a Salifert alk test (~5 minutes from start to finish). Oh well. I'm still glad I got it. I'm an electrical engineer and I do enjoy using the device.

What I would really like to see is a colorimeter tailored to the Salifert alk test to help me get a consistent endpoint time after time after time.