Pool automation

[gonzapa]

This is Awesome information. I will stick to the strips for everyother day use and once a week I will take it to the pool store which is only 3 blocks away for a real test.

I ended up getting a dolphin deluxe 4. I tried a polaris p93 which looked way cooler but it got stuck and shut down every 15 min so it was useless. The dolphin does a great job at cleaning but the bag cleanup part is just awful.

I switched from shock to bleach this week and probably will start the full BBB method once Im more familiar with it.

The other thing that has made a huge difference is the solar blanket. I gotten a 16 mil one. Over here is still in the low 60's at night and it hasnt been a day over 72 this week. Pool Water is at a nice 80 degrees so the blanket is already saving me money

[PoolDoc]

This is Awesome information. I will stick to the strips for everyother day use and once a week I will take it to the pool store which is only 3 blocks away for a real test.

Most pool stores do NOT provide a 'real' test. 'Real' tests are done with liquids, using either droppers or glass lab burets. Most likely they use 'guess-strips' just like yours, but read them electronically. This takes test results that are 'terribly inaccurate', and improves them to the point of only being 'badly inaccurate'!

There are a few stores around the country that still do 'real' testing: if you are fortunate to be hooked up with one of those, I take it all back.

I switched from shock to bleach this week and probably will start the full BBB method once I'm more familiar with it.

A *fundamental* component of the BBB method is periodic accurate testing, with reliable testing in between. Strips are neither accurate nor reliable.

You'd be MUCH better off tossing the strips, and using a cheap OTO/phenol red drops kit for daily testing, and getting a K2006 for periodic testing.
http://pool9.net/oto-kit/
http://pool9.net/tk/

[gonzapa]

Not sure what kind of test it is but they inject the water into a little plastic disk and put it into a machine that comes up with the results. This weekend when I go there I will see what the label in the machine says.

I have a real difficult time distingushing between the different shades of colors in most tests.
I have asked other people to look at the same test and most of the time im one ot 2 shades appart, so for a real test It is difficult for me.

for the quick strips I have to go as far as taking a picture of the test and then going to the computer to compare what the camera sees which makes the process quite anoying.

[PoolDoc]

The test that strips -- and dealers -- most often mess up badly is the CYA test.

See if you can find an HTH 6-way: http://pool9.net/tk-hth6/

If you can, use it to do the CYA test, and compare results. The videos for the K2006 apply to the CYA test in the HTH6: http://pool9.net/tk-guide/

[gonzapa]

To overcome what i descibed above I was thinking on getting a colorimeter for at least the PH and the free clorine.
Have been looking at the hanna ones but they seem not to be the most reliable either

[Watermom]

The Taylor K2006 does not use color matching for the chlorine test. You add a powder to a water sample which turns it pink. Then, you add drops until it turns clear. Your reading comes from counting drops, not matching a color.

[PoolDoc]

The only color match in the Taylor kit is the pH reading. Check this page: http://pool9.net/ph-meter/ to see if you need a pH meter.

The Taylor K2006 does require you to notice a color CHANGE; these videos show you what you're looking for:
http://pool9.net/tk-guide/
http://pool9.net/tk-interfere/