Quote Originally Posted by 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.
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 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.