Do the Aquacheck test strips work and are they OK for daily testing???? Total noob here!
Test Strips
- Thread starter TRazzNJ
- Start date
TRazzNJ said:
Not in my opinion....
pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison
They are very inaccurate and difficult to interpret. Back in the day when I used strips, my CYA read at 30-50 when in reality it was well over 100. I don't trust them.
I need to accurately test for free chlorine, Cyanuric acid and PH. Why can't I find the TF100 kit for sale on the internet??JohnT said:
Add your pool specifics to your signature. It helps people in answering any questions you may have. Another person from the (uh-Humm 
) great garden state. 
) great garden state. I made the mistake of buying these test strips last night. At first glance, they seemed to be just what I wanted. When I saw that there was one test for bromine AND chlorine, I started to get suspicious that I wasted my money. When I read the insert, which stated that bromine is not suited for outdoor pool use, and that the ideal bromine levels are around 3 ppm, never going above 10... well, that pretty much put the nail in their coffin.
reebok
0
The problem with test strips is not that they can read bromine, but that the ranges they offer are often to wide to be truly useful. The CYA test, for example on my old strips can be either 0, (called "Low"), 30-50 (called "Ideal"), 100 (called "OK" even though that should be called "Drain 1/3 to 1/2 of your pool water"), 150 or 300 (both called "High" where it ought to be called "Drain and refill until you get down to 50 and stop using the pucks you idiot".
The Free Chlorine level can be 0 (called "Very Low" should be called "Add chlorine right away"), 0.5 (called "Low" should be called "Add chlorine right away"), 1 (called "OK" should be called "Add chlorine right away"), 3 (called "Ideal" should be called "Ideal if CYA is 20"), 5 (called "High" should be called "Ideal if CYA is 40"), or 10 (no comment but is beyond what they called high and should be called "Ideal if CYA is 100")
The other values are equally useful.
All that said, I still will use them when I am too lazy to get out the TF100 test kit since my CYA is now in the ideal zone and therefore the minimum FC for me is 3 which is right in the middle of the range. When it gets to 3 I know exactly how much chlorine to add and I tend to overshoot.
The Free Chlorine level can be 0 (called "Very Low" should be called "Add chlorine right away"), 0.5 (called "Low" should be called "Add chlorine right away"), 1 (called "OK" should be called "Add chlorine right away"), 3 (called "Ideal" should be called "Ideal if CYA is 20"), 5 (called "High" should be called "Ideal if CYA is 40"), or 10 (no comment but is beyond what they called high and should be called "Ideal if CYA is 100")
The other values are equally useful.
All that said, I still will use them when I am too lazy to get out the TF100 test kit since my CYA is now in the ideal zone and therefore the minimum FC for me is 3 which is right in the middle of the range. When it gets to 3 I know exactly how much chlorine to add and I tend to overshoot.
Bromine and chlorine are tested exactly the same, only the scale is different. Bromine readings are aboue 2.25 as high as chlorine readings for a given color swatch on a test, be it strip, tablet, or liquid reagent and whether it is DPD or OTO (not sure about Syringaldazine)
reebok
0
it is used in the FACTS method (free available chlorine testing with syringaldazine) and also in many test strips. If the strip changes to shades of purple for the chlorine test this is what it is using. If the chlorine test changes to shades of red it's DPD and if it changes to yellow through green it's a variation on OTO.reebok said:
