teapot said:
I met with the owners of the company recently and wondered if anyone has actually tested the equipment.
Only asking as I have some customers who would like an easy to read unit now their eyesight is failing a bit.
I have no experience with the eXact Micro 7 / 8 test meters or kits but after studying the manual I'm ready to buy! Just the thought of being able to use a single $300 (US) device to obtain test results for 28+ different chemicals in my pool results in a loss of appetite, rapid breathing and a strong impulse to reach for my checkbook - before the last of them are sold out!
That said, I found the procedural end of things a bit tricky with all of that counting and stirring and having to remember to press the right button at certain times. I’m not sure anyone’s eyesight will be saved by using one – some of the tests require the user to read a code from the meter and perform table look-ups in the manual in order to learn the outcome. To obtain the level of salt in the pool, the user is instructed to dilute the sample 40:1 (no joke) and once the test is complete use the display code to retrieve the amount of sodium chloride from the chart: TR=76.3 turns out to be 3300 ppm. I suspected as much.
(Source: http://www.filterwater.com/asp/docs/its ... Manual.pdf)
Even without the complicated setups, it is, after all, a test strip reader. It’s my understanding that this technology has been limited, not only by the initial expense but by problems associated with ensuring reliability of test results. Perhaps this has changed. The Testing Made Easy
website claims that
The future of test strips has arrived now! and Taylor is following the market with an expansion into this business.
I’d like to see an evaluation by a 3rd party testing organization (Consumers Union in the US or equivalent), a comparison of the eXact Micro tests with other widely distributed systems, including strips & strip readers from other companies, test pillows and tablets by Hach and LaMotte, titration and similar wet chemistry methods (Taylor, et al.)
It seems inevitable that at some point we’ll all be using meters (and possibly test strips) for precise results. As a believer in technology, I want to be a part of this.
Next year I'm thinking of buying a cell phone.
