Difference between K-2006 and TF100

[deleod99]

Since finding this site in April, and listening to all your great advice in getting my pool squared away, i have had nothing but pristine water to swim in for the last 2 months. As a matter of fact, I have turned four people onto this site and the test kits after they swam in my pool. Originally, I bought the Taylor K-2006 test kit, and have been using that since April. However, I was running out of reagents, and went with the TF-100 with the XL option (next paycheck I am getting the Speedstir!). When the TF-100 came, I ran tests on my pool with amazingly different results from the K-2006. I noticed that the drops on the TA, FC, and CH tests were a lot bigger coming out of the K-2006 droppers than the TF-100. I ran the tests 3 times with each test kit to ensure I wasn't screwing something up, wiped the tip off after each drop, and this is what I got.

K-2006:
PH: 7.5
FC: 4
CC: 0
TA: 70
CH: 180
CYA: 40

TF100:
PH: 7.4
FC: 8
CC: 0
TA: 150
CH: 320
CYA: 30

I then tried the OTO chlorine test (K1000) and it checked out with what the TF100 was reading. All I had to test TA, CH, and CYA were test strips (6-way HTH ones, which I know we all despise, but I had no other way) The strips matched up more to the K-2006 readings. My PH is perfectly happy at about 7.4-7.5 and only climbs when I use a fountain to cool the water. Since this is the case I figured my TA had to be closer to what the K2006 tester said.

Sorry for the long winded post, but I am curious if anyone else had noticed this, and which one I should believe more. If the TF100 is accurate, I have been over-shooting my target FC, because the K2006 was coming back at half of what I actually had.
All of my test supplies (yes including those horrible test-strips) are kept in a cabinet in my laundry room, which is air-conditioned.

Again, I really appreciate all the help and knowledge I have received since finding your site. My pool store actually called me last week to ask why I haven't been in in two months...I told them I found much better pool professionals to listen to!

thanks,
Don

 

[Bama Rambler]

It seems odd to me that the TF-100 results are almost exactly double the K-2006 results.

Were you using the 10 ml or the 25 ml sample?

 

[deleod99]

I was using the 10 ml sample, as i always do. And in my estimation, it looked like the drop size was almost double.

 

[deleod99]

Bama,

thanks for taking the time to reply. I am really not concerned with any of the differences but the FC. My PH is happy and doesn't move around that much, so i am not too worried about TA. I have an AGP with a vinyl liner so CH isn't too concerning. I am mostly concerned about falling below the acceptable minumum. I am tempted to go with the TF-100 and see if my pool water changes a little. I just don't want a full grown algae bloom on my hands!

-don

 

[Bama Rambler]

If you want to test the drops 24 drops should equal about 1 ml.

You can clean and dry a vial that has 1 ml markings and drop 24 drops in it and see if it's where it should be. You can take the top off the bottles and pour the reagent back into it so you don't waste the drops.

 

[deleod99]

Copy that Bama, will give it a try tonight. I will report what I come up with.


As always, thanks for the help.

-don

 

[deleod99]

Bama,

you, Sir, are a genius. I measured the drops, and sure enough the K-2006 was consistently just under 2 ml for 24 drops on the FC, CH, and TA reagents. The TF-100 was pretty much dead on 1 ml at 24 drops for all reagents. I will be using ONLY the TF-100 from now on.


And to anyone else who has been reading this thread, I ordered the K-2006 from Amazon, not tftestkits.net.

once again, I really appreciate your time and advice.

-don

 

[thehowheels]

I measured the drops, and sure enough the K-2006 was consistently just under 2 ml for 24 drops on the FC, CH, and TA reagents.

Yikes, I think I'm going to have to calibrate my reagents now

 

[jblizzle]

That is rather disturbing being that all the reagents are from Taylor. I would not think there would be such a difference in the drop size since I would have thought the bottle tops were the same.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Glad that you figured it out but bummer that the tests have been wrong all this time. At least it was wrong the right direction. :-D

 

[FamilyGuy]

Hmmmm makes you wonder........

 

[deleod99]

All,

I tried to move the caps over from one test kit to the other, but not all of them were the same size where they fit into the bottle. I may have just gotten a bad lot from whoever supplies Amazon.

I have said it before and I will say it many times over, you cannot get better advice or a better understanding of your pool than you can from this site.

Happy swimming!!!!

-don

 

[toofast]

I almost want you to send me a water sample and I can test with my Kit - dang hope mine is not off as bad as yours. Guess when mine dies, time to replace with a TF-100.

 

[deleod99]

toofast,

In all honesty, the TF-100 is the way to go. Especially if you add the XL option, as you really can't beat the price. I had a major issue when I opened my pool in April. The experts here got me taken care of quickly, but I burnt through a lot of reagent during the shock process. That is what made me buy the TF-100. More of the reagents you will actually use on a daily basis. The CYA reagent (0013) in the 2006 was done within 4-5 tests.

With my K-2006 compared to the TF-100 the drop size looked huge. And the drop sizes changed by reagent in my 2006 kit, sometimes drastically. If yours all look the same, I wouldn't worry about it too much. As I stated before, I might have just gotten a bad lot.

have a great day!

-don

 

[JohnN]

Now I think I too may have to calibrate my test kit. You would think Taylor would have better quality control.