I think I'll jump in too.
I understand the cult comment. There's a couple of things that happen in the threads when someone posts a question. You get seasoned members who know tons of stuff and have all the science and numbers to back it up and you also get new members who are extremely excited because they just figured all this stuff out themselves (from this site) and they can't believe how easy it was. They just know it worked and they know they needed a test kit to make it happen.
Sometimes it ends up looking like a blind following. Auto responses typed out by robots. Test kit sales. Bleach sales. Muriatic Acid sales.
Here's what it comes down to...
The test kits we recommend (they've gotten very specific to tf-100 and taylor k2006) have become a simple "get this" recommendation because we're answering the same type of questions a whole bunch of times a day. Sometimes we say "take a look at this link to see the test kits we recommend" or we say, "get a proper testing kit, make sure it can test CYA and also test FC over 10".
Sometimes people go out and ask at the pool store. "I need a proper kit." The pool store sells them a kit. It's wrong. It doesn't have the right type of test in it.
Now they didn't completely waste their money but they're still going to have to order a supplement for that kit (It's usually the taylor k2005 that the pool store swears is the same thing as the 2006)
Personally I feel bad when that happens because now I have to say, sorry but that one won't work. If it were me I'd wish I had known before I spent the money. Now when I chime in to say "yes get a good kit!". I throw in that I have the TF-100 (because I really do lol) and since I've never had a problem with it I can honestly recommend it.
So....here's the deal!
What we "need" is accurate results. Pool stores aren't accurate enough nor can they test your water every hour or so. Who wants to keep driving back and forth anyway? (Beside the point since even if someone did want to drive back and forth most of the pool stores can't test the chlorine high enough either and they are just overall terrible at getting CYA right)
We need:
Well, I was going to list them but how about this instead?
We need the test/reagents that come with the Taylor K-2006 or the TF-100.
It really doesn't matter if you buy them from amazon or tftestkits.net or if you manage to find a pool store locally that actually carries all those reagents.
The hardest ones to come by locally are the "ingredients" in the FAS/DPD chlorine test. They are R-0870 Powder (It's a tiny container of white powder) R-0871 Drops (Used with the powder to figure FC - Free Chlorine), and R-0003 drops (Used to test CC - combined chloramines)
You can buy pretty much everything separately from amazon but I'm pretty sure it will end up costing more. Some people buy the k-2006 from amazon because they have prime so they get the free 2 day shipping.
I tried this spring to get a better deal because it was time for refills on my kit. I have a small vinyl pool and I really don't think I need to care much about CH (Calcium hardness) so I figured maybe I could save by just ordering the other things separately and leaving that one out. It didn't work. It cost more. LOL Bundles are cheaper usually and test kits are just individual tests bundled together.
You want to make sure your test is reasonably "fresh". An old test kit that sat in the garage all summer last year may have some reagents that have gone bad and won't test reliably.
If you have a fairly new basic kit you might be able to just add a few things to it. Is it the HTH 6-way kit I've heard so much about but have never managed to find in a store? I've seen a bunch of people here who have that one and were lucky to have a walmart that carries it. Ours don't.
If your 6-way doesn't have a CYA test that can be bought separately. Amazon sells it. You have to get the measuring cylinder that has the black dot on the bottom, the mixing bottle and the R-0013 testing reagent. It comes in a bunch of sizes.
Most of all there's a bunch of people here. Some of us are a little obsessed (me) with our pools. I like forums. I used to hang around in chat rooms for hours. I like this forum because I feel like I can help people and I like helping people.
We just like helping people. We know what works not just because it worked for us but because it's been proven time and time again to work and it is backed up by science. We've got some pretty hard hitters when it comes to the scientific side of things. I'm not one of them. I'm just going based on my results and the fact that the results support the science if that makes sense.
Technically you don't have to have any kit. Or you can use whatever one you want. You could use test strips or the pool store. We just can't give any advice based on it because we want to trust the test results before we say "put x amount of x in your pool". No one here wants to be the one that suggests something that ruins someone else's pool *even if* it wasn't our fault because it was their messed up test results.
We can't force you to do anything (obviously, it's just the internet) We can't make you buy something or use something or follow some advice. We can only promise that if you're willing to give it a try and if you are sick of trusting someone else with your pool and your money, we are here to help you learn how to do it yourself.
It wouldn't be right for us to tell people "hey it's easy, follow our advice and you can fix the pool" if we didn't tell them up front that they need to be able to test their own water or we can't guarantee it's going to work.
So there it is. Hopefully I made some sort of sense. I'm just a random person in Virginia Beach sitting at my computer at 148am remembering I'm supposed to get up early tomorrow to do something. (Oops) I have a relatively small pool in my backyard that I bought at wal-mart close to 10 years ago.
I found TFP 2 years ago when my pool was dark green and filled with muck and I had no idea how to fix it. My husband said to me one day.."why don't we just try bleach? isn't it just chlorine?" I pretty much freaked out and said
NO! That's crazy! That would be insane! Then I decided to google it to prove him wrong and I found TFP and proved myself wrong! Oops again.
Since then I've just been addicted to the forum. I like reading about other people's pools. I love seeing the construction pages. Most of all, I like to help other people because I was in their shoes and I just still can't believe how simple it is and how complicated it seemed before I found this website. I love seeing that light come on when someone "gets it". I also love seeing someone we just helped a week or 2 ago jumping in to help someone else who's in the same place they just were.
I don't get anything for it. (Shhh don't tell but I'm not even a "supporter" so I don't even get a discount on a test kit that I have heard exists)
I just have a boring life. LOL I only work 3 days a week right now. I really don't have a social life and my mom is out of town a lot lately so I've been extra bored and on the site all the time!
Ok, there. There's no way I'm a bot. I suppose I could still be a salesman but I'm selling Trouble Free Pool Care method not test kits. I don't care where you get a test kit from. (Not in a bad way just in an "It makes no difference to me" way) I just want you to be able to "fix" your pool. I want you to be able to maintain it easily because I hate seeing people frustrated if I can help them. I don't want you to waste your money because I'm just nice? I mean, I don't think anyone should waste their money. Not by spending it on stuff I don't agree with...that's up to you. I don't want you to get ripped off.
Do your research and see what you can come up with. If you can find stuff locally maybe you can save on shipping and piece something together.
I found one place that could get me the FAS/DPD stuff. It cost more but was offset by the fact that I picked it up in person. When it came time for refills this year (second year with the kit) I just ordered the full refill set from tftestkits.net because they had a sale and it was a good price. I couldn't find anything cheaper and the shipping is especially fast for me because they're in NC and I'm in VA.
When it's the middle of the night I type too much. I'm going to bed now. I hope you'll figure something out with your pool.
I just thought of something else. I gotta +1 on the wait to drain. You got 2 very different CYA results. Why not get the CYA testing stuff and test it yourself before making any decisions about draining? At least you'll have a more solid idea of what you need to do rather than picking one of the 2 test results and making a pretty big decision based on it. That's my 2 cents on that and I hate the CYA test...but it's doable.
Now I'm subscribed to this thread so I'll be lurking about to see what happens next!
Welcome to TFP. Hope you enjoy this book I just wrote!
A major difference between us and a true cult is that you can question us. We welcome questions.
Just remember there's a lot of different people here with very different personalities. Everyone has their own way of responding. (I think you're already seeing that!)
:gone:
