Test Strip vs. Taylor 2106 Bromine FAS-DPD Test Kit

[jmasone]

Hello,

Newbie Spa owner here. Coast Spa 320 gallons with Spa Frog Bromine inline system (though I'll be switching to a 3-Step Bromine system once I use up all the frog cartridges)

This forum has been chock full of good advice. One of the first things I did was order a Taylor 2106 Bromine FAS-DPD Test Kit. Trying to read the test strips was an exercise in futility.
With the Taylor kit, my last test showed:

Bromine: 9
Alkalinity: 80
pH: 7.7
Calcium: 200


That said, I do want to bounce an observation out there to see if anyone has an explanation. I wanted to compare the Taylor kit results with the Spa Frog test strips. With the Spa Frog test strips, for Bromine, I was getting a zero reading (test square remained white). I tried this a few times with the same results. I know the test strips can be inaccurate or hard to read, but this is quite a discrepancy. Any ideas from the resident experts as to why I'm seeing this. I checked and the strips are not expired. Is it normal for test strips to be this far off?

 

[Donldson]

Welcome to TFP!

Long story short, yes, it is far too normal to get extremely weird readings on test strips. That is why our recommendation for test strips is to toss them in the trash and never look back.

 

[jmasone]

Welcome to TFP!

Long story short, yes, it is far too normal to get extremely weird readings on test strips. That is why our recommendation for test strips is to toss them in the trash and never look back.

Thanks. Will do.

 

[Brian VT]

I compared my test strips against my Taylor kit results just to use up the strips (and out of curiosity).
The strips I was using (HTH brand, I think) were surprisingly accurate.
They are certainly handy and much easier during the long process of reducing high alkalinity using the "drop it by 1/2 then aerate to raise pH. Repeat until in range." method when accuracy isn't a big deal until you get it close to the target.

 

[jmasone]

I compared my test strips against my Taylor kit results just to use up the strips (and out of curiosity).
The strips I was using (HTH brand, I think) were surprisingly accurate.
They are certainly handy and much easier during the long process of reducing high alkalinity using the "drop it by 1/2 then aerate to raise pH. Repeat until in range." method when accuracy isn't a big deal until you get it close to the target.

That was my plan as well, but given how inaccurate they seem to be and how difficult they are to read, I don't think I can trust them to even get me a ballpark estimate.

 

[Kiss4aFrog]

Welcome to TFP

.

 

[jmasone]

Welcome to TFP

.

Thanks