Testing salt levels with the Taylor K-1766 kit

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steveg_nh

steveg_nh

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Oct 7, 2013
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Hi All,

I pretty much have my pool water under control, except for high TA, but I'm now questioning my salt levels. My SWG says I'm at 3100ppm.

With the Taylor K1766 salt you have to be really careful to not go too far, from "milky red" to "brown." Brown is bad. Really, the difference would be one drop, or 200ppm so it won't totally mess you up, but just inflate your value. But what I found tonight, was that I think I was going one drop too far before, and now, calibrated to look for the right color (I was rushing the drops I think and not letting them mix throughly befoer adding the next one), I'm finding results that tell me I'm low in salt. Around 2600ppm.

My question is the precision of this test. Does anyone have any other experience with it? Is it pretty accurate? I can't compare with test strips, as I found the salt test strips to be junk. Since my SWG says 3100ppm, is being 500ppm high, considered normal in terms of a SWG reading? Are they not as accurate?

Thanks
 
Both the SWG and the Taylor test are +-400 at best.

What the SWG thinks the salt level is much more important than "reality". The only time you need to worry about it is when the Taylor test reads much higher than the SWG, which suggests that the cell is wearing out.
 
Thanks. So if the SWG think it's 3100, but I think I may be closer to 2600-2800, would you add a bag or leave it alone?

And is salt a test that should be done quickly after taking the sample? I would think it wouldn't matter for salt. I think ph is the only one where you want to do it quickly, and not let the water sit too long right?
 
Salt tests do not need to be done quickly. Only FC/CC and PH are important to do quickly after taking the sample.

I would raise the salt level a little, as even 3100 is a little low for the start of the swim season, but only a little. Salt will tend to drift down over the season, and it is simplest to allow for that right at the start of the season.
 
Thanks. I'll drop a bag in tomorrow. I bought the Morton water softener 99.8% pure, no additives salt. So the crystals are a bit bigger. I want to make sure I have the time to push it around enough to help it dissolve. Water temp is 62, so it's getting better than the 43 when we opened it! That should help it mix too.
 
steveg_nh said:
Hi All,

I pretty much have my pool water under control, except for high TA, but I'm now questioning my salt levels. My SWG says I'm at 3100ppm.

With the Taylor K1766 salt you have to be really careful to not go too far, from "milky red" to "brown." Brown is bad. Really, the difference would be one drop, or 200ppm so it won't totally mess you up, but just inflate your value. But what I found tonight, was that I think I was going one drop too far before, and now, calibrated to look for the right color (I was rushing the drops I think and not letting them mix throughly befoer adding the next one), I'm finding results that tell me I'm low in salt. Around 2600ppm.

My question is the precision of this test. Does anyone have any other experience with it? Is it pretty accurate? I can't compare with test strips, as I found the salt test strips to be junk. Since my SWG says 3100ppm, is being 500ppm high, considered normal in terms of a SWG reading? Are they not as accurate?

Thanks
Click to expand...
If you haven't got one yet, get a speed stir-- best thing since sliced bread. Worth every penny!!!! What is your units recommended level for salinity? Mine is 3500 but the tech support has told me 4000 is a better number. Unfortunately, my taylor says mine is 4000 while my box says it's over 5000. It's still generating chlorine. So, not much I can do until it stops.
 

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Just to add to the discussion. In the past few months, my SWG was reading around 3500ppm. Now that the water is warmer it is reading 2900ppm. My Taylor has consistently tested to be 3800ppm all winter.

So what does this mean? IDK, either the temp compensation in the SWG for salt reading is off or maybe the cell has some scale on it lowering the salt reading (which I should check).

Bottom line, the drop test seems to be unchanged, so something is causing the SWG number to read differently.
 
I still wonder if I'm having a hard time determining the end point. I suppose if I hit it, and keep adding drops, and nothing changes, I've hit it right? This milky red salmon color, is it subtle? The "brown" to me still seems reddish brown, but just very deep and solid looking, vs milky.
 
I usually see it mostly yellow and then boom one drop and it changes to brick red which I believe is the end point. If you are manually swirling, it may not be as pronounced.

Wonder if Taylor has a video of it?
 

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