Calcium Hardness Test not turning red

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Flbeachluvr said:
Still a newbie here so excuse my ignorance.
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Not ignorance, let's call it "consumer awareness." ;)

Unfortunately, when you bought them can have little to do with when they will expire. I just read a post here a day or two ago where someone busted a pool store for trying to sell them expired reagents. Off the shelf. Right after the store clerk flat out answered when asked about 'em: "Oh, those are all fresh!"

So you not only have to check the dates before you use them, but before you buy them as well.

Online is an even bigger gamble. Stories here of Amazon vendors selling old reagents, etc.

Anywho, that's easy enough to check. Start there.

Or use the rule of thumb: new season, new reagents!
 
Well darn, I just checked the expiration dates on the "new" reagents I literally just bought from Pinch A Penny and 2 of the 3 are expired (Feb. and March). I'm still going to try testing with those when I get home though. I'll bring them back tomorrow with the CH increaser if not needed. Just ordered the entire K-2006 refill kit from TFTestkits so I'll have all new reagents now.
 
Flbeachluvr said:
Well darn, I just checked the expiration dates on the "new" reagents I literally just bought from Pinch A Penny and 2 of the 3 are expired (Feb. and March). I'm still going to try testing with those when I get home though. I'll bring them back tomorrow with the CH increaser if not needed. Just ordered the entire K-2006 refill kit from TFTestkits so I'll have all new reagents now.
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Which ones are "expired"?
 
JoyfulNoise said:
Which ones are "expired"?
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Ha, I almost mentioned that there's a guy here who knows, chemically speaking, which reagents can be fudged past their expiration dates, and which shouldn't be. I can never remember which is which. But JoyfulNoise is the guy!
 
The dye (R-0011L) is the most susceptible to degradation but that one is only 3 months old. I have an old bottle of R-0011L that’s 4 years old and it works fine. I’m not saying you should use okd reagents or shouldn’t bring them back fir a refund but I think it’s a slim chance that “expired” reagents are causing your problems.
 
Another test you can do is to make a sample of 1/2 pool water and 1/2 distilled water, mix well, then test the mixed sample for calcium hardness then double the result.

Try the regular test and then do the modified test procedure if the regular test procedure does not work.
 
JoyfulNoise said:
The dye (R-0011L) is the most susceptible to degradation but that one is only 3 months old. I have an old bottle of R-0011L that’s 4 years old and it works fine. I’m not saying you should use okd reagents or shouldn’t bring them back fir a refund but I think it’s a slim chance that “expired” reagents are causing your problems.
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I'll test with the new reagents when I get home and see if I get a different result today. I did notice that the R-0011L I used last night seemed a little "thick". Hoping it's just old reagents but if not I do have the CH increaser.
 
I wouldn't add increaser until you get a good test. I think that you're thinking that you don't have any calcium. The calcium that you had isn't going to just disappear. You're getting interference with the test.
 

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Must have been a bad reagent. The date on the R-0011L was 3/2018 but the R-0012 was 4/2017. Two tests have both given me results of 660. Now I’ll know if I get an out of whack result that it could be the reagents. Whew!
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Crisis averted. Good.
 
Flbeachluvr said:
While the R-0012 was the most out of date I think the problem was with the R-0011L. It was kind of gloppy and didn't mix well even with my speed stir. It never turned the water red at all, just a very faint hint of pink.
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Ok, thanks for the info. The R-0011L is the most susceptible to going bad. I have a bottle of it that is 4 years old and it works fine. The R-0012 and R-0010 are very stable reagents as long as they are kept tightly closed and stored in a cool/dry space. The “expiration” dates on the bottle are more for guarantee purposes - Taylor guarantees they will work as intended within 12 month’s of that date. That does not mean they will NOT work after that date. So, even if reagents are past their guarantee date, they can still function properly. Proper storage is the key to reagent lifetime.
 
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