Titrators

Buying guide

What settles a titrator purchase first is the detection method, because it decides which chemistry the instrument can actually follow. A potentiometric titrator reads the potential of an electrode and locates the endpoint from the inflection in that curve, which suits acid-base and redox work where a colour indicator is imprecise or impossible. A Karl Fischer titrator is a separate class built for one job, measuring water content down to trace levels, and it comes in volumetric and coulometric forms that are not interchangeable: coulometric handles micrograms of water, volumetric handles percent-level moisture. Decide which chemistry you run before anything else, because an instrument bought for the wrong detection principle cannot be adapted to the right one.

From that follows the question of automation. A manual titrator relies on the operator to add reagent and read the endpoint; an automated titrator meters the reagent through a motorised burette, logs the curve and calculates the result, which matters where throughput is high or where a method has to be reproducible between analysts. Weigh how many samples pass through the bench against the price step automation adds.

On a used instrument the burette and the electrodes carry the history, not the chassis. A dosing unit wears, seals perish and an aged pH or Karl Fischer electrode drifts, so verify that the burette moves freely, that the electrode is present and responsive, and that the reagent lines are intact. Ask whether the unit still runs its control software and which electrode fits it, because a titrator separated from its sensor is a partial purchase. Where recalibration is needed, a warranty can be arranged in consultation for the specific listing.

The price band runs from EUR 12 to EUR 16.500, with an average near EUR 2.553. That spread separates bare manual glassware and spare dosing modules at the low end from complete automated potentiometric and Karl Fischer systems at the top. For a laboratory working to a budget, a used automated titrator is more affordable than its new equivalent, and most of the cost a buyer sees reflects the detection hardware rather than the frame. The brands that fill this range, chiefly Metrohm, Mettler Toledo, Metrohm AG, Hanna, Hach, are familiar enough that models can be compared directly on specification before anything is listed for sale.

Types of Titrators

Which titrator types are listed here?

Among the listings that specify a type, the catalogue is led by analytical instrument, karl fischer titrator, titrator, automated titrator, potentiometric titrator, titration system, and these describe real distinctions in how the measurement is made rather than cosmetic variants. A potentiometric titrator tracks the endpoint electrically and is the instrument of choice for acid-base and redox determinations in general analytical instrumentation. A Karl Fischer titrator is purpose-built for water determination and is the standard tool wherever moisture content has to be quantified in pharmaceuticals, solvents and foodstuffs. An automated titrator adds motorised dosing and software control to either principle, and a titration system usually bundles the burette, controller and sample changer as one configured unit. A buyer reaching for each is distinguished by chemistry and throughput: a quality-control bench running water content all day reaches for Karl Fischer, a methods laboratory running varied endpoints reaches for a flexible potentiometric platform.

In pharmaceutical and life sciences work, titration is a routine step in molecular diagnostics reagent preparation and in protein purification buffer control, where the exact strength of an acid or base governs a downstream reaction. Karl Fischer titrators serve water content analysis of lyophilised biologics, a specification that matters in biomanufacturing because residual moisture affects stability. Potentiometric titrators also used for assay standardisation in microbiology media preparation, where reagent concentration has to be fixed before culture. These are the long-tail uses a specialist laboratory depends on, and they explain why titrimetric analysis sits alongside spectroscopy and chromatography as a core method in the analytical laboratory.

The brands behind the titrator listings

The names that recur are Metrohm, Mettler Toledo, Metrohm AG, Hanna, Hach. Their presence shapes what a buyer can expect in practice: Metrohm and Mettler Toledo built much of the installed base of automated and Karl Fischer systems, so electrodes, dosing units and spare burettes for them are widely circulated and a given model is easy to compare against another of the same line. Hanna and Hach sit nearer the compact and field-oriented end, which tends to mean lower entry prices and simpler methods. A dense field of known makers works in the buyer's favour, because parts can be sourced via Questpair and a model's specification can be checked against a sibling before committing.

What a used titrator costs here

New, used and refurbished units are all present, and 96 percent of the listings are used. Prices run from EUR 12 to EUR 16.500. That range covers everything from a replacement dosing module or a length of manual glassware to a complete automated Karl Fischer bench with sample changer, so the figure a buyer lands on depends almost entirely on whether a full system or a component is being bought. A used or refurbished unit is listed below the price of its new equivalent, and where warranty matters it is arranged in consultation for the specific listing.