Salinity Probe drops to twenties randomly

Expansion modules and attachments
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luckybaker4
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2014 6:05 pm

Salinity Probe drops to twenties randomly

Post by luckybaker4 »

Hello,

I have a salinity expansion that has been working great for a couple months now. Out of nowhere, I noticed that it was showing the probe was getting a reading of 27 while in my sump.

I followed all the advice I've read here. Re-calibrated, put in a cup of tank water for a day, etc. It seemed to hold on to 34-35 for a while, and then just randomly dropped to 27 again out of nowhere.

It seems to be happening almost rather quickly, which made me think there was some voltage in the tank when a device kicked on, but isolating the probe in to a cup of water seemed to yield the same results.

Anyone have any more advice I should try?
rimai
Posts: 12881
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2011 6:47 pm

Re: Salinity Probe drops to twenties randomly

Post by rimai »

Try cleaning it with white vinegar.
Roberto.
luckybaker4
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2014 6:05 pm

Re: Salinity Probe drops to twenties randomly

Post by luckybaker4 »

rimai wrote:Try cleaning it with white vinegar.
Thanks for the advice. I soaked it in vinegar overnight, and although that didn't fix the problem, I believe I found the problem, and it's probably a first :)

Before I stuck it in the vinegar, I flipped it upside and noticed that there was a pod inside of the probe sitting between the two electrodes. I didn't think much of it, just knocked him out and then stuck it in the vinegar.

The next morning, I stuck it down back in the tank and got a 35.6 reading. Perfect (I haven't enabled temp compensation yet)!

That night, randomly it went back to 27. I went to check it out, and sure enough, a pod was up in the probe again. Knocked him out, and went back to 35.6 again.

I guess now I just need to figure out a way to keep the little guys out of there.
Piper
Posts: 296
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 7:13 am
Location: Oakley, CA

Re: Salinity Probe drops to twenties randomly

Post by Piper »

Great detective work! I would have thought that the salinity would have been the same on the pod just from osmosis :)

~Charlie
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