pooln00b said:
I looked at the pool school and the test kits that are recommended are out of my price range at the moment. Are there somewhat cheaper kits that are still kind of good? I want to get one of the more expensive kits at some point, but right now, things are REALLY tight - or I probably would have had someone come look at the filter for me! I'm glad I didn't though, learning this is great!
Just bite the bullet and go get a good one now.
I bought a kit at Leslie's before I found this board. pH and Cl only. Then I did a little more reading, went back, told the guy I needed one that reads CYA. He sold me a K-2005. Which is useless for measuring the Chlorine levels I have to maintain to accomodate the astronomical CYA that came with the pool that came with the house.
So now I have three- count'em, three - pH test vials, lots of extra reagents, and a couple extra blowmolded cases. Which are good for storing the excess reagents. The K-2005 kit doesn't come with much CYA reagent, it ran out quick.
Seriously - just order the good kit. It's cheaper in the long run. The TF-100 comes with realistically-sized reagents. And the CYA tube is much larger and easier to use than the one i got with my Leslie's kit.