Salt level tester

[Rockman59]

Anyone have any suggestions on a good home-use salt level tester. I have seen the hand held models at pool stores but don't know who makes them or how much they cost.

[mas985]

You might want to check ebay I think I remember seeing one there.

[Davenj]

I used a drop test kit from Leslie. Used it to check against the Pool pilot. Readings are in 200ppm increments. Salt level doesn't change that much, so I could not justify the paying anymore than a drop test kit. I use Ben's kit for all other tests.

[mizzouguy]

I have the strips from a local pool store. They are pretty expensive....I think 10 strips for $15.00 or something like that. I used 1 at the beginning of last year and 1 and the beginning of this year and I don't recommend them. It gives you a base line, but they are a little hard to read as they basically get grainier in color as the number goes up.

I have the aquarite and if you use their chart, you'll get pretty close anyway, just undercut the number so you don't overdue it! (besided the fact that the aquarite will give you a good reading after a good 12 hours or so after adding the salt).

[waterbear]

Anyone have any suggestions on a good home-use salt level tester. I have seen the hand held models at pool stores but don't know who makes them or how much they cost.

Just realize that any electronic tester has to be calibrated against a standard solution for accurate results. The salt testers are actually measuring conductivity (as are the readouts on SWG's) and the results will vary with such factors as temperature and pH, which have to be taken into consideration.

The Goldline handheld tester runs about $140; LaMotte Tracer about $100, btw.

IMHO, A drop based kit such as Leslie's (I believe it is a repackaged Taylor kit) or even (GASP!) salt test strips:eek: are probably better for use at home. I have been using the Aquacheck salt test strips (until Ben's kit arrives) and have found that they agree with the pool store reading (Goldline/Hayward electronic tester) and run about 400 ppm below my readout on my aqualogic as do the pool store results (calibration issue on my unit?) Once I get Ben's kit I can compare them to see if they agree with the drop test. They are based on the same chromate/ silver nitrate chemistry as the drop test and each bottle is individually calibarated so this might be one instance where a test strip might perform ok. They are actually pretty easy to read but the test takes a few minutes to complete. I do notice that the calibration on the strips is such that the precision goes down as the salt level goes up. They have a precision of about <100 ppm when salt levels are below about 1000 ppm, jump up to about 250 ppn in the range of about 2800-4200 ppn and then climb up to around 500-800 ppm at higher levels. The advantage to a drop kit is that each drop represents 200 ppm chloride so the precision is constant even at higher cloride concentrations.

Hope this isnt too much information but I have experience with electronic water testing both with my aquariums (30 years of saltwater/reef tanks) and in a laboratory setting and I feel it really is more trouble than it's worth for a pool at home! Drop test kits are really much easier and quicker to use to get accurate readings.

[Poolsean]

If you look at the mechanical salt meter, they are mostly used with higher concentrations of salt, such as used with salt water fish tanks (above 20,000 ppm). A simple salt solution standard that will give about 3000 ppm is to mix two packets of Wendy's salt to 16 oz (a 1/2 liter bottle of water with these two packets will come out to about 2800 - 2900 ppm of salt).
I have used the MyronL meter calibrated for NaCl and am currently using the LaMotte Pocket Tracer. Both are very accurate, battery operated meters but are mostly based in conductivity. The good thing is that you can make assumptions between conductivity (TDS) and salinity.

[waterbear]

If you look at the mechanical salt meter, they are mostly used with higher concentrations of salt, such as used with salt water fish tanks (above 20,000 ppm). A simple salt solution standard that will give about 3000 ppm is to mix two packets of Wendy's salt to 16 oz (a 1/2 liter bottle of water with these two packets will come out to about 2800 - 2900 ppm of salt).
I have used the MyronL meter calibrated for NaCl and am currently using the LaMotte Pocket Tracer. Both are very accurate, battery operated meters but are mostly based in conductivity. The good thing is that you can make assumptions between conductivity (TDS) and salinity. Yes, but they are still assumptions (fairly accurate ones, I grant that) while a chemical test is actually testing for the concentration of Cl- ions.
I am wondering what you mean by MECHANICAL salt meter? If you are referring to a hydrometer it would be useless in a salt water pool because there would not be enough difference between the specific gravity of freshwater and water with about 3000 ppm salt to get any accurate type of reading. (Even though one of the major SWG manufacturers has what appears to be one on their website for testing salt levels)
The question becomes is the expense and extra work with an electronic condutivity tester necessary for a home user, not a technician or serviceman.
I DO love the way you mix up a standard!:D I can just see that in a college chemistry text..."Take 2 packets of Wendy's salt and transer the contents to a clean beaker..." Perhaps if my college text books had such instructions I might have stayed with pure chemistry instead of abandoning it after 3.5 years and changing majors!:rolleyes:

(BTW, I have heard exactly the same thing....that it will give a ppm around 2900! Now that I have access to a Hayward/Goldline meter I'm gonna have to try it out;))

I assume the MyronL model you have is the 512T5D. That one is pricy at around $170 plus calibration solutions but it is designed for pool/spa use for TDS and salt. Still needs calibration standards, however. (yes, there is a built in standard but that is only for quick field checks, if the calibration is off you need to recalibrate with a standard solution) The myronl 512T5 is the single reading meter, either TDS or salt depending on the calibration and is only slightly less expensive. Both of these meters are commen in pool stores that do testing and are supposed to be rinsed out with distilled water after each use, which I have never personally seen happen. Perhaps some pool stores do. The one I work at does not, alas:eek:, nor does the other one in my town that I go to for water checks (they use Taylor testing so I like their test reults a bit better than the Lamotte use at my store(just my personal bias, both are good) ..as long as the owner is the one doing the testing!)