VWC Meter/ Tensiometer/ Soil moisture meter

An METER ECH2O EC-5 sensor with ProCheck takes measurements of volumetric water content (VWC) of almost any soil and soilless mix (mineral soils, potting soils, rockwool, and perlite) and is not for air or water.  It can detect 0% - 100% VWC range with 0.001 m3/m3 VWC in mineral soils and 0.25% in growing  media.  It is accurate at ±0.03 m3/m3 typical in mineral soils that have solution EC <8 dS/m and ±0.02 m3/m3 in any porous medium.  ProCheck can save up to 5,000 individual readings which include sensor type, date, time, raw value, calibrated value, and calibration coefficients.

IMPORTANT: Please be careful with the EC-5 sensor as it is very sensitive. Make sure the sensor is clean and dry before and after use. Remove the batteries from the meter after use.

Materials:

  • EC-5 sensor connected to ProCheck reader
  • wash beaker
  • rinse bottle with distilled water
  • Kim wipes
  • hand gloves

Optional (to download data)

Methods:

  1. Plug the EC-5 sensor into the stereo connector at the top of the PROCHECK.  

Configuring the Procheck meter

  1. Press MENU to navigate to Configuration tab.
  2. Use the UP and DOWN buttons to scroll down to Date.  Enter the correct date then press Enter.
  3. Repeat step 2.  Select Time to input correct time then press Enter
  4. Under Configuration tab, select Calibration type, sensor type (EC5), and type of medium. Press SAVE to confirm settings.
  5. Refer to section 2.7 of the Procheck meter manual to apply custom settings.

Take a reading

  1. Press the MENU button till you reach the Measurement tab.
  2. Remove the rubber cap from the top of the sensor.  Clean sensor with distilled water and dry with Kim wipes.
  3. Dig a hole in your medium and bury the sensor into your medium.
  4. Press ENTER to engage the live update mode In live update mode, the ProCheck will take a reading every 30 s and update the screen. A pair of arrows rotate in the lower right corner during updates.
  5. Press ESC to exit the live update mode.
  6. Press SAVE to save the current reading on the display.

Annotate a reading with ID

  1. Under the Measurement tab, press SAVE to show the annotate screen which contains reading summary and annotation field.
  2. Use UP and DOWN to change the current character (A-Z, 0-9, or special characters or space). Press ENTER to move to the next value. Press ESC to return to a value.  Repeat until the last character.
  3. Press SAVE to save the annotation or MENU to return to the measurement tab without saving the record.

Download data (for multiple measurements instead of spot-checking)

  1. Launch ECH20 utility.
  2. Use the supplied USB-to-serial cable to connect ProCheck to a USB port on the computer. 
  3. Choose the correct communication port from the Connect via dropdown list. Click connect.
  4. Click the Download button in the toolbar to download all new data.
  5. Alternatively, if you want to download all the data, go to the Data menu, and select download all data.
  6. Edit the file name in the file save dialog
  7. Select the location on the computer to save the data
  8. Choose a file format. Data are saved as an excel workbook file by default.
  9. Click save to start the download.

For more info please refer to ProCheck Manual and EC-5 info page.


By Simmi Vasta, Andrew Yu and Vera Velasco, 2021-10-26

 

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