TF-100 Test Kit Chemicals Still Good?

[AJC9725]

Hey all,

I bought a TF-100 full kit in the middle of pool season last year (mid-July). I have plenty of each chemical left over, and was wondering if there is any reason to believe that any of the chemicals have lost their effectiveness over the past 8 months? Are any of the chemicals more likely to degrade than others? Pool season is still a couple months away, but I am trying to determine if I should buy a fresh refill kit. Thanks!

 

[Texas Splash]

If you kept them in a cool, dry place (i.e. indoors), they should be fine.

 

[AJC9725]

Yes, they were stored in a cabinet in my basement. Thanks.

 

[Richard320]

If any of the bottles are discolored, the reagent inside is bad and you need to replace it. Otherwise, they should still be good.

 

[kris77]

I will say this. My first year with a TF-100 everything was fine. The next year my FC test seemed off. I dont really have a good reason to believe this, but it seemed low. So i bought a refil of the powder and liquid. Tested with the old powder and liquid....Got a FC of 4. Tested with the new stuff.....Got an FC of 6. I repeated this test 4 or 5 times just to make sure. each time i got 4 with old and 6 with new.

The test chemicals didnt go bad, but they degraded????? I have some left over this year. I'm going to try the same test again this year....I have some powder and liquid left over again. Maybe it was just bad test reagents to begin with.....

 

[jblizzle]

All the TF-100 reagents are about as fresh as you can get when you buy since they are made from bulk containers directly from Taylor. Certainly fresher than many kits that sits is stores for who know how long.

I have never seen any of the reagents degrade, although maybe I use up the FAS-DPD stuff more quickly. I was still using some 3 year reagents for some of the tests and the results were as expected and comparable to my newer reagents.

I store my kit in a closet in the house.

 

[jbriggs1219]

Unfortunately I had same issue testing chlorine as Kris...love my tf100 but was definitely a significant difference...and I always store my kit in basement...cool and dry all the time...no worries though..happy to order a refill each year...this site and proper test kit saves me mega $$$

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

 

[pinguy]

My chlorine test powder gets a bit clumpy over time, which makes it a little harder to dissolve. I might just order a refill kit this year just to be sure everything is good. $38 isn't a lot of money when you consider how much a lot of people drop at the pool store.

 

[jblizzle]

You can smash the clumps up if they get to bad.

 

[Pauls234]

My calcium and TA test regents are still originals which I bought in maybe August of 2012. They seemed to work fine last year... not sure if I will push it at almost 4 years old, but they have always lived in a cabinet and I rarely need to test those.

The others I go through more quickly, but as other note, if stored in a reasonably temperate and dark place I would expect them to be good for at least 12-18 months.