Took Water to Pool Company: Results are diffrent than mine why?

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Simmer

Simmer

0
Aug 25, 2016
42
FLORIDA KEYS
So... I bought the taylor kit and was chasing FC. It never appeared I had any, so I ended up buying the TFT FC test and it showed an FC of 6.

I immediately went to my local Pool supplies store who entered some data and used a machine and my numbers were way off compared to theirs, why?

Am I rushing the kit and not swirling enough? Of course my wife now only wants to use the Pool supplies place for testing.

My results: I only tested a few things as a comparable.

FC: 6
TC: 2
CC:
PH: 7.4
CH: 150
AK:
CYA: 80 two days ago

Pool Supplies place:

FC: 0.45
TC: 2.56
PH: 7.7
CH: 89
AK: 84
CYA: 66
Coper: 0
Iron: .2

I assume I am rushing the test? I might just the numbers inline with their testing, so I can practice testing correctly myself.
 
The answer is simple. The pool place is wrong. If you are using the powder and drop test, you are using the best test out there.

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If you wouldn't mind, please list the steps that you are using to test the FC.
 
Welcome to the Forum! Smile at your wife and let her pay for the pool store stuff....just don't put it in your pool! (You can take it back later) CYA takes a little practice to get perfect, but perfection isn't really necessary and your results will get better. Use this: Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart as a guide. Your Total Chlorine shows lower than your Free Chlorine - perhaps you have labeled them backwards? Or you mean Combined Chlorine is 2 and Free Chlorine is 6. Which suggests that you go here: Pool School - Recommended Levels. Then spend a few minutes (I read it 8-10 times at first) reading this:Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry. After a few days you'll get the hang of it and the pool $tore will be just an expensive memory.
 
Time and time again we see a lot of people who compare the taylor tests to pool store testing and get very different results. Most pool stores use test strips and then put the test strip in a machine... prospective clients thing a big machine is much more accurate. This is a hook to get you to spend lots of money on their overpriced and unnecessary products. They give you the disease and sell you products to treat the disease.

The taylor reagents are the gold standard when performing the tests. Going to the pool store will only cause confusion and frustration. Trust your results. The speed stir will help when testing high FC levels and makes the testing faster and more fun. Otherwise you can read the extended test kit directions to make sure you are doing the tests correctly: Pool School - Extended Test Kit Directions
 
Simmer,

Normally I'd say the Pool Store is wrong also, but the FC is so far off.. something is just not right. Here is what I suggest as a test:

1. Use the K-1000 color comparison test and see what it says. If your FC is truly .45 ppm it will be barely yellow, if on the other hand your FC is actually 6 ppm then it will be bright yellow.

2. If bright yellow, you can be pretty confident that the Pool Store tests are wrong

3. If faint yellow, you can be pretty sure that you are doing something wrong in how you are testing.

I'd run another full FC test as a starting reference point.

Should take you about 10 minutes to see who is right...

Jim R.
 
thanks for the input everyone. lets address everyones questions and concerns.

My steps:
1) I fill the water to the 10ml line.
2) I put a heaping amount of powder on spoon (2x-3x) the size of spoon. My solution this morning turned really red. ( I think a bright dark red, but I did leave a little powder at bottom, did not use spoon to stir, I swirled alot)
3) I used the R-0871 drops to turn the liquid clear. ( i put the drops in pretty fast and swirled, I think 12) Question: can it switch back to pink if swirling stops?
4)I put 5 drops of R-0003 in it and it turned a slight pink. (i think 4)

I just looked at the sheet again and it is definitely FC: 0.45 ppm (rec: 2-4) TC: 2.56 (rec: 2-4) ppm CC:2.11 ppm (rec: 0.-0.22)
Waterlink Datamate 10 La Matter

He said I needed to shock my pool, and I told him I have a bottle of clorox shock the owner left. I put it in today and the pool does look good, but it didn't look bad beforehand.

I told him I would stop n tomorrow. I should, so I can ask him how they test it.

I will test again tomorrow and go to the pool store. I will post my numbers again. Stay tuned everyone, I truly appreciate the support and help.

P.S. my PH was spot on in the Taylor kit, and it read 7.4. I used the sky as my backdrop
 
You are doing it correctly. He is wrong. The strength of the red, when you put in the powder, is all you need, to know that. If your FC was really as low as he said, you would have been barely pink.

Note: If you wait too lobg to do the second part of the test, the sample can turn back to pink.

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No need to ever go there again. Everything you might need, can be found at Walmart, Home Depot or Lowes.

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One final suggestion: Put the 871 drops in slowly and evenly. Let each drop form and fall naturally. That way you are assured of even drop size.

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Here is a helpful link Pool School - FAS-DPD Chlorine Test
 
Do an OTO test. Bright yellow or barely yellow? There isn't a lot of practice required to use it. You are well within the parameters of that test. If it is bright yellow, leave the store alone.
 
I may be wrong but I think in your results, you did mix TC and CC. Also, when testing for CC, after you add the five drops of R-003, as long as the solution turns any shade of pink, you need to add drops of R-0871 counting the drops and then multiply that number by .5. You do not count the drops of R-003 till it turns pink then multiply that by.5, you just add 5 drops if it does not turn pink by then your CC are zero.
 

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The machine testing is not accurate. I will tell you why.
With them testing so many different pools, the machine becomes cross contaminated. You will get other peoples pool water mixed with yours. Its small, but it makes a difference.

Next, the machines have problems with their probes holding calibration. Most pool stores with machine testing rarely, if ever, have the probes calibrated.

The drop based test is the most accurate test there is outside of a controlled laboratory. Even hospitals use mostly drop based testing, and those test kits are produced by Taylor.

I think you mis-stated your TC. I belive that is CC, and if you have 2 CC, your pool is starting to grow something and you need to SLAM the pool.
 
You are in south florida so I suspect it is hard to throw a stick and not hit a pool store.

If you want to prove to yourself just how bad typical pool store testing is, get a sample of water from your pool, divide it into 3 or 4 parts and take them to different pool stores. I will bet no two will be the same, and would be surprised if more than one test item is even close between them other than maybe pH which is fairly hard to screw up.
 
Another big discrepancy between pool store advice and the TFP method used here is the buffering effect of CYA on chlorine. The target level of FC for a saltwater pool with a CYA = 80 is FC = 6. I know when I first landed here I could not believe that a big industry of the pool stores could be so wrong and blind, that this site had to be wrong but after reading the science here and the problems I was having and the results I get with this method, I am convinced this site is correct and pool store is wrong. If you keep your FC at 2 or 3 with a CYA = 80, you soon will probably get algae again, 4 is the minimal level for FC. Worse yet your pool will not be sufficiently sanitized. Please read the links others have posted above.
 
OK, I put the Clorox pool shock in yesterday and ran the pump for around 5 hours I believe. The pool looked great. Today, the PH is at 7.0 and the FC test barely turned the solution pink. It only took one drop to revert back. What gives???

I did notice the water is high and its tough for things to go into the skimmer.
 
Simmer said:
OK, I put the Clorox pool shock in yesterday and ran the pump for around 5 hours I believe. The pool looked great. Today, the PH is at 7.0 and the FC test barely turned the solution pink. It only took one drop to revert back. What gives???

I did notice the water is high and its tough for things to go into the skimmer.
Click to expand...
Are you using Clorox liquid bleach or the Clorox branded pool product? Also did you get a lot of rain from Hermine?
 
I think there is some confusion here. From what I read you have a Taylor test kit and a TFTestkit's FAS-DPD chlorine test. What is the model # of your Taylor test kit?
I think if we back up and see what you have it will help us get things clear. Plus there may be some confusion on how the test is being done. For me especially the CC test.
 
correct, I have both kits you stated. taylor 2005 complete high test kit link below. This time around I used Clorox shock product, but normally I am using bleach.

https://jet.com/product/detail/0b20...l_gW60qlAw4YSKtkTcfQsaAhvv8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds


Tomorrow is the pool party. I am testing now.

The TFT DSD FC test did not change colors, per the Pool calculator it said to add 60 oz of bleach to do 0 to 6 FC. I added around 90 oz to see what happens in the dark.

Update:

Tested water 20 minutes after the bleach dump in the dark, minus outdoor lighting of course.

DSD test:

1. heaping spoonful turns bright red and it takes 10 drops of R-0871 to go clear. ( FC 5?)
2. liquid is clear now.. I added 5 drops of R-0003 and it goes bright red again.
3. takes 8 drops of R-0871 to return to clear ( CC 4?)
4. adding them together FC and CC = 9 TC ?

note:
I put some PH up earlier in the day and it did work, went from a 7.0 to 7.4 right now.
Checked TA and CYA earlier today. TA = 80-90 CYA = 80

Other note: Pump is running right now and i put BOOST on this morning. So.... the original FC test was zero even with boost on, odd :confused:
boost showed 15V @ 5.3A with 13 hours remaining.

I will be up for another hour, if anyone wants to chime in.
 
Sounds like you are using a 10ml water sample. If it took 8 drops of 0871 on the CC test, you need to slam your pool after the party.

For now, I would boost your FC before, and after, the party to 8-10 depending on the size of the crowd. Use liquid chlorine/bleach.
 

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