CYA test, optical illussion??

[Dooms_day]

i dont get this test, you fill the solution of pool water and CYA reganent untill you cant see the dot... well i filled it to about the top and held it at my waist but still see a dot, am i looking at it wrong or doing something wrong? dunno, i think i just have no CYA i added about 5 pounds of acid because my pool was ph crazy when it opened and 2 clorine packs so i thought i should get some reading

[duraleigh]

It seems you are doing the test just fine. It would indicate that you have little or no CYA. The more CYA that is dissolved in your water, the cloudier the mixture will be....... preventing you from seeing the dot way before you fill the tube to the top.

[aylad]

The acid that you add to lower your pH isn't the same as CYA--the CYA is going to come in a package labeled "conditioner" or "stabilizer" or "balancer", but the active ingredient is cyanuric (or isocyanuric) acid. Once you add it via the skimmer, make sure you don't backwash or retest for a week or so because it takes a VERY long time to dissolve.

Janet

[Dooms_day]

i did notice the solution was somewhat cloudy so i thhought i would get some reading. and if you have more than one skimmer, would it be faser to disolve if you divided the chemicals you put into them, or when your putting different chemicals? i knew CYA stands for cyranic acid but in another post it made me think any chemical would raise it.

so what would happen when the dot dissapears, does it cloud up untilll you cant see it, or is it an optical illusion that it gets smaller untill theres nothing left?

thanks for the info,
-DoOoms

[aylad]

The CYA test clouds up until you can't see the dot when you're holding the tube at waist level. I find it helpful to mix the reagent and the water very well, then let it sit on the counter for a couple of minutes while I do my other testing, THEN test for CYA.

Janet