Many food processing companies store pH electrodes as spares for those that are currently in service.  This program works well to ensure testing can continue in the event an electrode has exhausted its usable life, or if a situation such as breakage occurs.

One drawback of this practice is that there are several styles of electrodes - especially those that are pressurized to ensure electrolyte flow - that have a set amount of usable life simply because of the way they are manufactured.  The other drawback is the determination and awarding of a manufacturer warranty for a new electrode.  Supply partners are increasingly stringent with their standards, making it more difficult to honor warranty claims, so we have some recommendations for lab managers!

  1. Always inspect each electrode upon receipt.
  2. Perform an initial calibration.
  3. Place spares into inventory as soon as possible.
  4. Consider monthly rotation of electrodes.
  5. Contact the supplier within 30 days of receipt for "out of box" failure.

Using these tips will help ensure your supplier can work with the manufacturer to remedy your warranty-related problem.