Big differences

[cannelg]

Hi all,

I bought a Taylor 2006 kit and have been doing my own water testing now for about 10 months. My salt cell died so I brought it in to get tested. WHile I was there I had the water tested as well and I had just tested it before I left the house. There are large differences between my results and Pinch a Penny, but I don't understand how that could be. IS it possible my checmicals are bad? The differences aren't in their favor - if anything, they have much higher readings than I have:


FC- I have a reading of 2 - they have 5
PH - I have 7.4 and they have 7.4 (This is the only thing that was the same)
Alkalinity - I have 50 they have 90
Calcium - I have 330 they have 425
Stabilizer - I am not good with this test so it isn't fair to compare

They said I needed a bottle of stain control but I didn't buy any. Not sure if I really need that or not.

What would account for such large differences? I should note, my alkalinity test always comes back at 50 or 60 when I do it, even when I PH is high. I am following the instructions in the kit - it isn't that hard to count drops...not sure why there are such differences???

Thanks,

Greg

 

[Texas Splash]

Greg, for what it's worth, the pH is one that is usually hard to get wrong because it's so straight-forward (5 drops of red). The shade reading can be a bit tricky, but that's it. As for the others, you simply cannot trust store readings. Many tests are best done outdoors in natural lighting, so right away their numbers could be different. Your reagents should be good if they are no more than a year or so old (some last even longer) and have been stored indoors in the air-controlled environment. The K-2006 is a great kit, so it sounds like you just need to build some more confidence in your own testing. There are good YouTube videos that may help you with that, especially the CYA test. As we know, that CYA test is the most critical for sanitation so you know what your matching FC should be. Here's my CYA test tip:

Proper lighting is critical for the CYA test, so you want to test for CYA outside on a bright sunny day. Taylor recommends standing outside with your back to the sun and the view tube in the shade of your body. Use the mixing bottle to combine/gently mix the required amounts of pool water and R-0013 reagent, let sit for 30 seconds, then gently mix again. Then, while holding the skinny tube with the black dot at waist level, begin squirting the mixed solution into the skinny tube. Watch the black dot until it completely disappears. Once it disappears, record the CYA reading. After the first test, you can pour the mixed solution from the skinny view tube back to the mixing bottle, shake, and do the same test a second, third, or fourth time to instill consistency in your technique, become more comfortable with the testing, and validate the CYA reading.

Stick with us (and your own testing) and you'll do well. Good thing you didn't buy any useless products as well.