I notice there is a liquid salt test and a strip based test on the tftestkits site...I acknowledge that most people here shy away from the strip based tests for FC,TA,pH,etc , but are the salt test strips equally unreliable?
Testing salt using strips---ok?
- Thread starter gilbee
- Start date
From my travels here around the TFP forums, it seems that the only strips that pass muster or are the only way of testing for certain levels. This would include salt and borates. Everything else should be drop based testing, but even the drop based salt test is better.
The salt strips are usually fine, but now and then they are way totally wrong. We have never been able to figure out what it is that causes the rare incorrect results.
When they go wrong, is there some consistency in how they're wrong? Way wrong low, or way wrong high?
- Jun 12, 2011
- 3,761
- Pool Size
- 19500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pureline Crystal Pure 60,000
Most SWG systems have a display showing salt level. The display is no more accurate than test strips, but if you keep your system happy and generating, all's good. So most here just go by the system's readout.
They have been reported wrong both too low and too high. We have been looking for common elements that might explain it, but haven't found much so far. Remember, this is rather rare to begin with, so there aren't that many confirmed cases to look at.
It just seems there are bad batches sometimes. We use them for quick checks sometimes, and we have always chalked it up to flawed batches. We always use the ones from HACH, but sometimes they are just screwy. We toss the whole bottle and try...or order another.
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