Am I doing my TA test wrong?

[bobnamy]

I have a new pool and am doing my initial testing. I am not sure I am doing the TA test correctly. I have the test kit from Duraleigh on this site. I am using the 1" diameter clear vial and filling it to the 25 ml mark as instructed. I put in two drops of the 007 reagent and shook it. I then put in 5 drops of the green 008 reagent, as instructed. When I shake this mix it turns a very light green, but still transparent. I have then added up to 30 drops of the 009 reagent, and nothing happens. The test water remains a very light green. It is supposed to turn red at some time. Am I doing something wrong that it is never changing colors, or do I need to keep adding more than 30 drops?

When the instructions say the test water should turn green and then red, do they mean dark green and dark red, or just a slight shade of either, with the water still essentially transparent?

my ph is 7.2 and chlorine is around 5 -7 ppm. I havent tested anythingelse yet.

 

[JasonLion]

The specific shades of green and red don't matter. In fact there are some situations where you will get blue and yellow instead of green and red. What you are looking for is for the color to start to change, and then continue adding drops as long as the color continues to change.

The implication of your test results so far is that the TA level is above 300. That is uncommon, but not unheard of. Keep adding drops to at least 50 drops and see if the color will change. Also, check out this note about defective R-0009 dropper tips, which can result in bad TA readings with very high numbers of drops.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

My test water turns a sort of teal green and then a dark magenta pink, not really red. If it's not the dropper tip problem it is possible your TA is super high.

Try testing your tap water, if your pool was filled with your tap water?

 

[jjdurrant]

I had to same experience... I thought I was doing something wrong and stopped at about 20 drops.. The water finally changed at drop 26! Time to get some MA!

 

[Guest]

Re:am I doing my TA test wrong?

Also, do not shake the vial.....swirl it in a circular motion after adding each reagent and be sure to swirl between each drop of titrant for at least 10 seconds.

 

[jjdurrant]

Re: Re:am I doing my TA test wrong?

Also, do not shake the vial.....swirl it in a circular motion after adding each reagent and be sure to swirl between each drop of titrant for at least 10 seconds.

Thanks.. good tip! I was shaking the vial and not waiting long between drops!