My new house with a pool

[SBR_GUY]

OK. You need to go get a cheap OTO kit.

The Taylor DPD drops only read to about 5 ppm Cl. But, at levels around 10 - 15 ppm Cl, the reading will begin to drop, and by 25 ppm, will read 0 ppm. In this same range, the phenol red will be converted to chlorophenol red -- a different indicator -- and will read high. Unlike DPD drops, OTO will NOT bleach out. If you get an OTO orange result (not shown on the test block) you need to disregard your pH reading, until your chlorine drops below 10 ppm.

There is another alternative. Diluting pool water with distilled (not: "bottled", "spring", "artesian well", etc) water will not change the pH enough to notice. Go to Walmart, get BOTH an OTO / phenol red kit (yellow/red drops) AND a gallon of distilled water. Mix pool water 50:50 with distilled water, and retest. Your DPD reading should drop by 1/2: if it goes UP, your chlorine is very high. Your pH reading should be unchanged: if it changes, trust the diluted reading more than the original reading.

The DPD-FAS test does not suffer these problems.

You need an OTO kit for quick and dirty readings, and a DPD-FAS kit for accurate ones.

OK so if I get the DPD-FAS kit (Taylor K-2006c) I should be ok?? or should I still get the OTO? Sorry for all the questions, but I want to have a trouble free pool. OH also my TA is about 160ppm.

[PoolDoc]

Get the OTO, so you can have some reliable, if not super accurate, testing now. Later, the OTO will allow you to do very quick and easy testing (almost strip-like) in between K2006 full testing.

Oh. And don't over-test CYA: the K2006 is sort of short on CYA tests. This isn't a problem for experienced users, since they know CYA doesn't change rapidly or need to be tested every time. But new users sometimes blow through all the CYA tests in their first month, and have to buy refills.

[SBR_GUY]

Get the OTO, so you can have some reliable, if not super accurate, testing now. Later, the OTO will allow you to do very quick and easy testing (almost strip-like) in between K2006 full testing.

Oh. And don't over-test CYA: the K2006 is sort of short on CYA tests. This isn't a problem for experienced users, since they know CYA doesn't change rapidly or need to be tested every time. But new users sometimes blow through all the CYA tests in their first month, and have to buy refills.

I have not tested CYA yet, but i will this weekend or tonight. The privious owner was using chlorine tabs so im sure it has some CYA in it.

So which kit the K-1000 or the K-1003

[SBR_GUY]

Now I have acsess to a HACH DR/2400 spectrophotometer. I am going to borrow it tonight to test my Cl and use the HACH handheld meter to test my PH.

[PoolDoc]

That's fine.

But make sure you do a double buffer calibration on the pH meter. Regardless of their cost, pH meters are USELESS without calibration OR if they have old or plugged electrodes.

And keep in mind that if you use the HACH DPD method . . . it is subject to the EXACT same problems as the Taylor 1004.

If you have a spec, you probably can do accurate dilutions. Test with OTO drops first: a DARK yellow OTO result is probably out of range for the HACH; orange certainly is. If you get a dark yellow or orange result, do a 1:3 dilution with distilled water, and multiply the HACH result x4 .

[SBR_GUY]

That's fine.

But make sure you do a double buffer calibration on the pH meter. Regardless of their cost, pH meters are USELESS without calibration OR if they have old or plugged electrodes.

And keep in mind that if you use the HACH DPD method . . . it is subject to the EXACT same problems as the Taylor 1004.

If you have a spec, you probably can do accurate dilutions. Test with OTO drops first: a DARK yellow OTO result is probably out of range for the HACH; orange certainly is. If you get a dark yellow or orange result, do a 1:3 dilution with distilled water, and multiply the HACH result x4 .

I calibrated it this morning using a 4PH, 7PH & 10PH buffer. It cal'ed to with in .02 of each other. This HACH will test to 10 Cl anything above that will be off scale high.
This is the HACH we have. http://www.equipcoservices.com/renta...otometers.html

I work as an Operator at a Power Plant and we make our own Demineralized water and Potable water plus we have to do our own Boiler water testing. We have lots of cool testing equipment. LOL

[BigDave]

Don't let that gizmo stop you from ordering a K-2006. The FAS-DPD titration test will give you accurate, repeatable (useful) readings. Maybe you could do a comparison and let us know how well it works.

[SBR_GUY]

Don't let that gizmo stop you from ordering a K-2006. The FAS-DPD titration test will give you accurate, repeatable (useful) readings. Maybe you could do a comparison and let us know how well it works.

LOL. I was going to get the K-2006 anyway and then do the comparison test.

[PoolDoc]

Dave, given that somebody probably paid upwards of $2,000 for that thing . . . they might object to referring to it as a "gizmo".

But your point is correct. I fought that battle many times, with pool operators who struggled to accept the idea that they were going to calibrate an $8,000 pool controller with a $25 test kit. Spectrophotometer don't suffer the same sort of inherent 'drift' troubles controls or instruments using pH, ORP, or thin film electrodes -- but they are subject to a variety of other systemic errors. All too often, equipment operators fail to validate them, and then use them to generate useless or even dangerous results.

But, properly calibrated, such systems are capable of producing results almost as good as old-style buret titrations!

[BigDave]

... they might object to referring to it as a "gizmo".

Fine. Sorry. Doohickey then.

... lots of cool testing equipment.

And a Station Chemist as well I'd guess - convienient.

I owe you an apology SBR_GUY, I read your post too quickly and presumed that your poolRX friend had loaned you a strip reader (Hach makes 'em). My bad. We good?

Glad to hear you're ordering the K-2006, I'm sure you'll be happy with it.