Odd salt level results

[Elgrecus]

I just finished shocking my pool which has an SWG. We are new owners, so just getting into managing the pool chemistry. After running the full battery of tests, the salt level was basically at zero. The Pool Calculator said to add around 240 pounds of salt. My goal was 4,500 ppm which is what ECO-matic recommends in the owner's manual. I then tested the salt level using Aquachek salt test strips and it showed a 5.5 which is 2,190 ppm according to the chart on the bottle. That is less than half of what I expected to get, and the water tastes pretty salty. Can the salt test strips be that far off? Is there a better way to test the salt level? I did raise my CYA from 20 to 30 ppm after adding the salt. Here are my results. Any thoughts? I am obviously hesitant to add more salt. By the way, is it ok to pull samples of water from the skimmer when the pump is running? Sometimes I am too lazy to pull out the key to open the retractable pool cover. Thanks in advance for your help.

FC = 4.0 ppm
pH = 7.6
TA = 150
CH = 350 ppm
CYA = 30 ppm

 

[jblizzle]

How long did you circulate the water before testing for salt? I use a drop test for the salt, so no experience with the strips.

What does the SWG think the salt level is? Assuming you have now circulated for 24 hours.

 

[Elgrecus]

Thanks for the reply. It was about 5 days that I let the water circulate before testing the salt level. I haven't turned on the SWG yet. My FC levels were high after shocking so I was going to wait until they fell a little before turning it back on. The SWG may be faulty anyway. It is eight years old. Before I shocked the pool both red warning lights were on. That could be because there was no salt or because it is dying.

 

[jblizzle]

Ah. Just wanted to make sure you gave it at least a day. How old are the salt test strips?

 

[Elgrecus]

I just purchased them about two weeks ago. The bottle says they are good through 2015.

 

[jblizzle]

Well I am out of ideas. usually adding salt results in a pretty solid target because there is no question about strength. I have just added 320 pounds to my pool and the rise was right what I expected.

Wonder if the strips are a bad batch?

 

[Elgrecus]

I just retested it twice. Both times came out showing approximately 4,500 ppm. Exactly the target I was going for. I am not sure why the result was so far off a couple of days ago. Either because I had just increased my CYA slightly, or more likely, some kind of user error. Thanks for the help though.