things a novice learns that the experts might not think to pass on….

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ernie01jt

ernie01jt

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Mar 21, 2015
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Smithton IL
Hi folks I am doing lots of testing trying to get a handle on my YO_YOING CC results. Things I've learned so far as far as testing:

A large sample bottle like an old fashioned restaurant ketchup bottle works great, you get enough water to fill rinse and fill your test vials.

Take your samples mid-way down the side of your pool. Invert your test bottle or vials and the fill them as far down as you can reach and cover them as you raise them out of the pool(thanks MarianParoo)

The vials in your test kit are good but I bought extra vials with the black lines which are much easier to see.

I bought 3 extra speedster magnetic beans (thanks Richard320) so with 4 and vials to go with you can test everything in one setting, I went as far as labeling the vials and store the magnetic stirrers in their corresponding vials. This way you do all your clean up and rinsing once.

FC, CC, and TC in the one marked Chlorine only.

TA, Salt, and CH each get their own.

Move it all inside if its windy, drops are more accurate

Salt testing takes a while and then BOOM it turns red.

I hope this helps, remembering how many drops is all on you…..
 
I'll give you another. Since I know my CYA will always be over 30, I only need 20 ml of solution. So, I use a vial with 10 ml of pool water, add 10 ml of reagent and mix on the speed stir. Then pour into the little mix bottle before reading result. It's a lot quicker and saves on reagent.
 
My pool water sampler. About 30 inches long. Put thumb over hole in the cap, lower about 2.5 feet into the water, release thumb, reapply thumb after the tube fills, then drain into a Leslies water sample bottle. My hands/arms don't get wet and the sample comes from deep.


Water%20Sampler_zpsvwlmsmij.jpg
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epro05 said:
My pool water sampler. About 30 inches long. Put thumb over hole in the cap, lower about 2.5 feet into the water, release thumb, reapply thumb after the tube fills, then drain into a Leslies water sample bottle. My hands/arms don't get wet and the sample comes from deep.


Water%20Sampler_zpsvwlmsmij.jpg
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Now I have something to make Monday morning, Thanks.
 

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It works great. Here in Texas I don't close my pool in winter, but I do continue to test it. My sampler keeps my hands and arms from touching the water, which is nice.

The main part is 1" PVC, but I found that I had to taper the bottom to 1/2" or less, or it would not hold the water when I lifted it out of the water. So if you make one, be sure and do the taper. The very bottom is a short piece of flexible tubing that I could press into the 1/2" PVC fitting. That tube makes it easy to insert into my Leslies water sample bottle.

Good Luck with your build if you decide to build one.
 
Since I'm a tinkerer, I'll show my homebrew "speedstir". It's made from a small computer fan, with two small magnets double sticky taped in the center (one North up and one South up). Runs off 4 AAA batteries, which are in the pictured battery case I got from Radio Shack. The case has it's own ON/OFF switch. I've run it for 2 seasons now and haven't needed to replace the batteries yet. Works Great.

DIY%20Speed%20Stir_zpsgt7npuir.jpg
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epro05 said:
Since I'm a tinkerer, I'll show my homebrew "speedstir". It's made from a small computer fan, with two small magnets double sticky taped in the center (one North up and one South up). Runs off 4 AAA batteries, which are in the pictured battery case I got from Radio Shack. The case has it's own ON/OFF switch. I've run it for 2 seasons now and haven't needed to replace the batteries yet. Works Great.

DIY%20Speed%20Stir_zpsgt7npuir.jpg
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Click to expand...

That's a slick speedstir. I've got over half a dozen case fans laying around. What did you use over the magnets, is that just saran wrap ?
 
Not Saran Wrap. I got a small thin sheet of polycarbonate (or maybe it was acrylic) from home depot and cut it to size. I needed to add a washer or two between the fan and the polycarbonate sheet to give clearance for the magnets.

It's a 12V fan but it runs just fine on the 4 AAA's in series (giving 6 volts). If it was 12V I think the fan would run too fast. The batteries are connected directly to the motor (no resistors needed). The clip that attaches the battery holder to the fan case is a 9V battery clip, also from Radio Shack.

Here is the Radio Shack Battery Holder.

Here is the 9V clip
 
ok, when I look closer I can see it's rigid. The upper right corner looked like plastic wrap and I wondered how it held the vials off the fan. That makes sense with 6 volts. Those fans turn too many rpms at 12v. I could see the beans flying everywhere.

Now I have a new project, thanks.

By the way, chief, how long do you stir your CYA mix before testing ?
 
Actually, I don't use my stirrer for the CYA test. I just shake it per the instructions, and shake it again after 30 seconds, then do the test. The real value of a stirrer is when you are counting drops. It makes it so much easier, not to have to swirl with one hand and do drops with the other hand.
 

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