Ph or Alkalinity...which should i fix first

[aylad]

While high chlorine DOES affect pH, it usually makes it look high, not low.

True, unless they are using strips or cheaper OTO test to test the water, AND the chlorine is exceptionally high...I have seen it happen in my own pool where the chlorine can get high enough to bleach out even the OTO test.

Janet

[JKashJ]

I am using Walmart strips, they're AquaChem 6way strips. I did dump in a 4lb box of Borax last night and i wasn't here at all today, but my wife said that it cleared up considerably. Hopefully the ph came up to a more workable level. I'm going down to test in just a bit.

[aylad]

Do yourself a favor and invest in a good, drop-based kit. The strips may be okay for ball-parking, but are not reliable enough to balance water with. I still think you need to let the chlorine come down first before retesting your pH, ESPECIALLY now that we know you're using strips.

Janet

[JKashJ]

I noticed that there are some who sell those on here...any recommendations?

[aylad]

Ben's kit is no longer available--that's the one we've recommended in the past. Taylor's K-2006 is very similar, and is available online or at many pool stores. Duraleigh, one of the posters at the troublefreepools site also sells a kit similar to Ben's.

Janet

[CarlD]

Leslie's on-line sells their FAS-DPD Service Test Kit--it's the same as the Taylor 2006

[chem geek]

The least expensive Taylor K-2006 kit I've seen online is here. A kit in a similar spirit of Ben's kit in that it has more logical quantities of reagents and has 36% more volume of tests (so is comparably priced to the K-2006 kit above) is the TF100 from tftestkits.com here. The TF100 has somewhat different contents as described here. They are both excellent kits.

Richard

[steveinaz]

I noticed that there are some who sell those on here...any recommendations?

Leslie Pool, get the Taylor:

http://www.lesliespool.com/browse/Ho...400000/I/81329

Best 64 bucks you'll ever spend.

[vanduse1]

Shelf life of kits? I am approaching the second year with the kit I bought from Ben. I would assume that the chemicals do go bad (Especially the dpd powder). Should I dump the whole kit and look at Trouble Free or Leslies? Thanks!

[aylad]

If you've kept the reagents in a cool, dry area, then you can use them for several seasons. If your dpd powder isn't black and in clumps, it's usually still good, too. I have a bottle of the calcium reagents that is from my original PS233 kit, and they are still measuring accurately, when compared with new reagents.

Janet