Hi Poolmother,
Happy Mothers Day!
As you know by now, pretty much everyone recommends the TF 100 test kit. I totally agree. But why this one vs. the Taylor?
Well because this forum is about keeping our pools clean and doing it economically.
Both the TF 100 and Taylor will test everything you need to test for. They are:
Free Chlorine - The live and active warrior keeping your pool clean and sparkly
Combined Chlorine - the warrior that got killed battling the enemy, germs and algae
Ph (which is the acidity of the water)
Total Alkalinity (which effects the stability of the Ph)
Calcium Hardness (especially relevent and extremely important for Gunite Pools)
Cyanuric Acid (a.k.a. CYA and / or Stabilizer, which protects loss of Free Chlorine to UV rays from the sun. And no, more does not mean better when it comes to CYA.)
Both the Taylor and TF 100 will test for each all of these things. So both or either of the kits are equal in that respect. Both are equally accurate and the Taylor 2006 is an excellent test kit.
The Taylor includes an Acid Demand test which the TF 100 does not, but its really not a testing requirement to keep your pool sparkly. So in essence, you are paying a few more dollars for something you dont really need.
So both are excellent kits. So why do we lean toward the TF 100?
Because the TF100 has bigger bottles of testing stuff (this stuff is bottles of liquids, called regents) so you can do a lot more tests before having to stock up again on them. So, even though the Taylor price is a little lower up front, you actually will spend more money over the course of the swim season replinishing the bottles of testing regents.
If you want to keep your pool clean and sparkly and troublefree, replacing regents is not an option. You WILL have to order more when you run out.
TF 100 is the best deal over a period of time. The 100 kit also offers and XL option, and includes even larger quantity of test regents, saving us even a few more dollars. Not to mention time waiting for refills to show up on the mail when we need them the most.
Hope this helps a bit in your decision.
