How to prepare 342 ppm NaCl solution

Discussion in 'Modding' started by mayhem, 1 Jul 2011.

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1. 06-30-2011, 09:55 PM #1

   How to make your own calibration solution for PPM measurements. When Using TDS meters or PPM meter's to check your liquids in your water cooling equipment or even to test that some manufactures are really producing what they say they are you all ways need to calibrate your TDS / PPM test meters. This is all so good to test Di water as well so that you know your getting what you paid for. Now for testing Low PPM / TDS you need to calibrate your meter as close as possible to the target PPM you going to get. E.g Some company's say there pre-mixed liquids or Ultra pure water is around 5 ppm or 0.5 ppm. So the ideal Test solution for your test meter would be around 60 PPM to calibrate to. But there is a problem! normally you can only purchase 240 PPM calibration solutions. So here is how to make your very own Test solutions for calibrating you PPM / TDS readers so that you can accurate readings every time .... Now most measurements for taking PPM and TDS readings is done using the "NaCl" method so to make a NaCl solution for testing we can simple use normal every day table salt. What you do is take 1g of table salt and 1/2 Ltr (500ml) of Decent DI water or Ultra Pure H20. This will make a Test solution that is a NaCl of 2000 PPM wich to many is still way to high so what you then can do is take 250ml of that solution and add another 250 ml of DI water or Ultra Pure H20. this will then make a solution of 1000 PPM and again if you 1/2 it again and keep doing that you'll end up with a test solution of around about 125 PPM wich is near perfect for testing you calibration meters.

   When you testing lots of liquids daily this method of making your very own test solution saves you a fortune

   

   ....

   Note -= The best Temperature for testing solutions is 25c =-

   Last edited by mlwood37; 07-01-2011 at 08:24 AM.

2. 07-01-2011, 01:56 AM #2

   If you after easily testing the PH balance of liquids there is a real simple method that will only cost you a Red cabbage, (btw this is a good way to stop build up of biomass and keep your cooling system in tip top shape)

   Simply boil a red cabbage in water for about 5 to 8 min then strain off the cabbage. Give your wife the cabbage to make some thing nice later on for tea

   

   ....

   Once the red juice has cooled put it in a jar in the fridge. To test any liquid you think could be suspect you can do a 2 to 1 ratio of 2 part cabbage liquid to 1 part of your liquid you would like to test. PH range = 2 = RED (bad news - change out liquids) 4 = Purple (not good news - change out liquids) 6 = Violet (check you system) 8 = Blue (perfect leave your liquid alone) 10 = Blue/Green (check your system)

   12 = Green / yellow (swap out you liquid some thing is not right)

   Last edited by mlwood37; 07-01-2011 at 08:06 AM.

3. 07-01-2011, 07:15 AM #3

   Cool info. "Red cabbage contains a pigment molecule called flavin (an anthocyanin)."

   Regarding the home-made PPM callibration solution: it seems to me that you can't make a 125 PPM solution by diluting it with DI or ultra pure water without knowing for sure that your water source has fewer than 125 PPM count. For example, if your water contains 1000 PPM, no amount of diluting will result in smaller PPM. Unless you are diluting your NaCl in ultra-ultra-ULTRA pure water (i.e., HPLC grade), I believe that the PPM "signal" from NaCl will be swampled by the water PPM "background noise".

   Last edited by MegadetHCl; 07-01-2011 at 07:23 AM.

4. 07-01-2011, 08:01 AM #4

   ive made several solutions now from Ultra Pure H20 my self. I have 3 testers and re calibrated 2 that were off using my 3rd tester as the base line. All down to 125 ppm and it works fine. But saying that my 4th cheap ass tester that i no longer use never seemed to calibrate properly to 125ppm but would be fine using a 250ppm solution. So i presume it really depends on which equipment you use as well. The TDS meters i use are these 3.

   http://www.tdsmeter.com/products/com100.html

   
   http://www.tdsmeter.com/products/dm2.html
   http://www.tdsmeter.com/products/ps200.html The PH meter i use is this one

   http://uk.alibaba.com/product/375243...er-AZ8685.html

   How ever these are still just guides to doing it cheaply. Its better than paying £7.00 for test solutions for quick and simple testing. I thought id post it as many ppl complain about build up and never actually check there readings of there liquids when if they did they would probably find that 80% of the time it may be there PH balance is out or they have a really high TDS.

   I think TDS and PH meters should be a normal part of the tool kits for all water coolers.

   Last edited by mlwood37; 07-01-2011 at 08:09 AM.

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02/17/2006, 05:08 PM	#1
Registered Member     Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Struer, Denmark Posts: 174	Is it possible to make my own TDS calibration solution? I have a HM Digital TDS meter: http://www.tdsmeter.com/products/tds3.html and it needs to be calibrated. Since I live in Denmark the right calibration solution (http://www.tdsmeter.com/products/cal...nsolution.html) is very hard to get. Is it possible for me to make my own solution? I'm thinking of using this formula: 1 mg NaCl/liter of distilled water = 1 ppm TDS Am I right or can't this be used? If I'm right - where can I get NaCl, is it just regular table salt or can I get it at a pharmacy? Thanks in advance! /Carl

02/18/2006, 05:41 AM	#2
Reef Chemist     Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Arlington, Massachusetts Posts: 86,233	In general, if you use the TDS meter to monitor RO/DI devices, it isn't normally necessary to calibrate. Yes, IMO you could use table salt to make a standard. The two ways would be with a good scale and small amount of table salt in DI water, or a larger amount measured by teaspoon that you lowered in TDS by serial dilution. I have not worked out details of the latter however. What range of TDS does your meter cover? __________________ Randy Holmes-Farley Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef

02/18/2006, 05:43 AM	#3
Registered Member     Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Struer, Denmark Posts: 174	The range is 0 - 9990 ppm (mg/L)

02/18/2006, 05:46 AM	#4
Registered Member     Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Struer, Denmark Posts: 174	I think that it needs to be calibrated. It reads 1 ppm on the RO water, and 1 ppm is pretty low even for a RO unit.

02/18/2006, 05:50 AM	#5
Registered Member     Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Struer, Denmark Posts: 174	Then the calculation should be: 342 ppm TDS = 342 mg of salt + one liter of distilled water

02/18/2006, 08:13 AM	#6
Reef Chemist     Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Arlington, Massachusetts Posts: 86,233	Yes, if you can measure out that amount, that should be an adequate way to calibrate the meter. The weight measurement error will be smaller if you use a larger amount, and calibrate at, say 5,000 ppm (= 5 g/L). __________________ Randy Holmes-Farley Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef

02/18/2006, 09:15 AM	#7
Registered Member     Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Struer, Denmark Posts: 174	There is iodine in table salt . . . woun't that affect the reading?

02/18/2006, 09:31 AM	#8
Reef Chemist     Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Arlington, Massachusetts Posts: 86,233	No, it is not enough to be significant, although you can get table salt without it. The other ingredients also should not be a problem, since we are not expecting or needing to be closer than +/- 10% (or more). __________________ Randy Holmes-Farley Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef

02/18/2006, 09:41 AM	#9
Registered Member     Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Struer, Denmark Posts: 174	OK thanks Randy ! I'll wisit my local pharmacy Monday to get some distilled water.

02/18/2006, 01:30 PM	#10
Reef Chemist     Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Arlington, Massachusetts Posts: 86,233	You're welcome. Good luck and let us know how it works out. __________________ Randy Holmes-Farley Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef

02/20/2006, 11:48 AM	#11
Registered Member   Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: SW Florida Posts: 2,444	Quote: Originally posted by Randy Holmes-Farley Yes, if you can measure out that amount, that should be an adequate way to calibrate the meter. The weight measurement error will be smaller if you use a larger amount, and calibrate at, say 5,000 ppm (= 5 g/L). I am interested in this also. I have the same meter. I wanted to verify mine as I had a defective RO membrane. It is next to impossible to find a calibration soultion that is 342 ppm. How much is 5 grams of say Morton Salt in teaspons? Is store bought distilled water actually "0"ppm? As of today my ro/di is reading 0 ppm so I could use that and how ever much salt in a liter??

02/20/2006, 11:53 AM	#12
Reef Chemist     Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Arlington, Massachusetts Posts: 86,233	Does it really need to be 342 ppm? __________________ Randy Holmes-Farley Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef

02/20/2006, 02:44 PM	#13
Registered Member   Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: SW Florida Posts: 2,444	No, I do not think so. That's just what the web site above says their calibration solution is. I last used a packet conductivity solution of 10 micro something My tap water is about 342ppm. Now that I think about it, if my meter is reading "0" and calibrated to the 10. Can I just mix a trace amount of salt in a bottle of RO/DI and whatever ppm that comes to, use that as a check or standard? It shouldn't change over time if sealed will it? If we estimate the amount of Morton of salt to add to a liter of RO/DI to get somewhere close say 300 to 500 ppm that would be at least be in the ball park.

02/20/2006, 04:49 PM	#14
Reef Chemist     Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Arlington, Massachusetts Posts: 86,233	As long as your believe it is calibrated, then yes, it is trivial to make your own standard from DI water and some table salt. Good point! __________________ Randy Holmes-Farley Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef

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