Aussie test kits and hello

Jump to latest Follow Reply
The following discussion concerns a test kit sold in Australia. While it has many, many similarities, it has no relationship to the TF-100 sold by TFTestkits.

Crunchy,
If you can get some potassium iodide (KI) from your local pharmacy then you can measure Total chlorine TC. One tiny crystal added after the FC test, and shaken, will give a TC reading. TC=FC+CC. Total chlorine = Free chlorine + Combined chlorine.
 
Thought I would add an update here. I ordered a test kit from nqpooltestkits.com.au last year and like many was disappointed by the time it took to arrive (about 8 weeks) and the lack of response via email in that time (3 sent, no replies I recall). There was a letter included in my delivery saying sorry but their web guy had messed up and the order process did not work properly.

So this spring I decided to order some refill reagents. Same deal, no goods after 4 weeks, no communication. I'm calling leopard (has not changed it's spots). I see now they haven't renewed their web security certificate, maybe they have finally been wound up which was inevitable the way they operated.

Anyway after the time and money wasting with NQ Pool Test Kit I moved on.

I tried the Clear Choice Labs Kit. Ordered on a Saturday, received tracking advice Sunday and had it at the door Wednesday (cross continent). I feel the kit is better in a number of ways, the test instructions cover possible variations and causes of variations and it also includes standards for some of the tests so you can check/confirm your own techniques and reagents. The downside of the kit I feel is all the components are in zip lock bags to separate them by test which just adds a bit of time to the process. It would also be handy to have the target ranges for each chemical shown. I had emailed a tech query to them one day, helpful response within 2 hrs, can't complain about the service.
 
I've never used NQ but have used and will continue to use CCL, there customer service is second to none.
 
I too have got my kit from clear choice labs and have been really impressed
Its the most cost effective option to get a kit to NZ, only took 6 days:)

The only downside so far is the packaging.
I got a plastic container that I had lying around the house, made up some cardboard dividers and it has worked well for the past 2 months
I think I read somewhere on their website that they package it this way to save on shipping costs
 
Just thought i'd add to this conversation with my rant. Ordered refills for my kit from USA, seriously wish I'd heard about clear choice labs earlier as it cost me $66aud in postage. Ordered on 6th December, finally shipped out on 13th December but has now been stuck in customs at Melbourne for 8 days now, they want signed documents from the manufacturer stating that it's synthetic chemicals or something like that, however I've been told it won't happen so the supplier is doing everything they can and are sending the MSDS to customs here and hopefully that will do. So now if I'm luck I may get my refills after New Year, otherwise it'll get sent back and I'll be down $66 postage, and an additional amount if I get charged a restocking fee.

In a nutshell, find someone locally and hope they don't close down or stop selling.
 
Caco said:
The only downside so far is the packaging.
I got a plastic container that I had lying around the house, made up some cardboard dividers and it has worked well for the past 2 months
I think I read somewhere on their website that they package it this way to save on shipping costs
Click to expand...
Yep, packaging is partially to make it easier and therefore cheaper to ship (quicker too) and also we want to discourage people storing their kits near their pool in outdoor spaces or near the pumps. The reagents like to live in a cool spot like the laundry or under the stairs ;-) We've been looking into dividers and precut packaging to keep the bottles and tubes in an orderly upright fashion but it makes the boxes too tall.

Your cardboard dividers trick sounds pretty smart though, I have been considering using an old fishing tackle box for my kit because I sometimes test friends pools with it and that might travel better.
 
needsajet said:
Test and................ No. of tests...... No. of tests
indicator/reagent.... K-2006C.......... CCL............... Remarks
FC DPD powder...... 160................. 80................. 80 out of my first 10g; used 2 scoops for a while - 100 tests per 10g powder expected
FC FAS reagent...... 144................. 67................. assuming 5 ppm FC average
CC DPD reagent..... 288................. 48
pH indicator........... 288................ 120
TA........................ 206................ 150................ assuming 70 ppm; Taylor limited by sulphuric acid solution; CCL limited by alkalinity indicator
CYA...................... 25.................. 14
CH....................... 111................. 55................. assuming 325 ppm
Click to expand...

Curious...would the reagents and powder supplied by CCL not be sufficient for approx 1 years worth of testing? My pool usage here in NZ would be 5 months max and assume the reagents would have some sort of expiry (approx a year from information read on this forum) and therefore stocking up is a waste of money as they would need to be replaced anyway.
Or am I just not testing my pool enough?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
My experience has been that the CCL kit is well-designed for a full season of TFPC.

How much testing you do can depend a bit on your level of interest and what sort of challenges you face. If you're chlorinating with liquid, you might run short, but if you have a saltwater chlorinator, you should be entirely fine. Or, for example, if you got a lot of rainfall, you might check CYA and CH more often. If you need to SLAM to get rid of algae, you'll go through the FC test supplies quite quickly.

Replacing yearly is best. I keep my supplies indoors out of the heat and so far two season's use has worked for me.

Welcome to TFP! Good to have you here :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply