Chlorine Drop Test - difficult

[AlbertSteg]

Getting the hang of the various tests in the TF-Pro kit, I thought I'd try out the Chlorine Drop test today for the first time. The "Comparator Block" test for Chlorine I got a reading of right around 3 (see attached image), which seems good. When I tried the Drop test, though, I found it very difficult to control the drops coming out of the R-0871. These drops look *tiny* compared to the those from the other chemical droppers, and sometimes all it takes it tilting the bottle for 2-3 drops to come slipping out rapidly, without even any squeezing. To my eye it would probably take 3-4 of these tiny droplets to make one drop from any of the other bottles.

Because of all this, it was a little hard to count the drops but I counted 16 drops (more or less) to get the liquid to turn clear -- suggesting an FC of ... 8? That's pretty far off the reading of 3 I'm getting with the simpler test.

Is it possible I got a defective dropper bottle? Or am I getting something wrong here?

 

[mknauss]

When the bottle is new and full, the drops can come out rapidly if you squeeze the bottle. I know you said you did not squeeze, so next time, before rotating the bottle over to let out the drops, squeeze out the air and release. Then turn the bottle over and see if the drops come out at a more controlled rate.

 

[AlbertSteg]

When the bottle is new and full, the drops can come out rapidly if you squeeze the bottle. I know you said you did not squeeze, so next time, before rotating the bottle over to let out the drops, squeeze out the air and release. Then turn the bottle over and see if the drops come out at a more controlled rate.

Marty, could you clarify the other part of my question -- its not just multiple drops flowing out, but that the drops are TINY compared to the drops issuing from the other chemical bottles -- I'd say it would take up 3 of these drops to make up a single drop from the other chemical droppers. It's a dramatic difference, not a marginal thing. Can you say whether that is normal, or should I perhaps try to enlarge the dropper with a pin to get a more typical drop?

 

[PoolStored]

Don't enlarge the hole. Do as Marty indicated, evacuate some air before you invert the reagent. Then squeeze VERY slowly, let the drops form and drop under their own weight.

 

[duraleigh]

The size of the hole is not particularly important. The shape of the tip determines the drop size.

very gentle squeezing forms the drop on the tip up until gravity takes over and it FALLS off.

 

[AlbertSteg]

The size of the hole is not particularly important. The shape of the tip determines the drop size.

very gentle squeezing forms the drop on the tip up until gravity takes over and it FALLS off.

I have tried Marty's suggestion about pre-squeezing the air out several times as well as other variations and still find the liquid issues unbidden in a rapid flow of tiny droplets a fraction of the size of those from the other bottles. I'd point out that I have successfully used all the other droppers in the kit. This one is radically different from all others. I'd think if that was typical and intentional then the behavior of this bottle would already be widely noted.

Could someone confirm that the *size* of the drops that issue from the R-0871 bottle are designed to be only a fraction of the size of the drops that issue from the other bottles in the test kit? I'm just doubtful given my first attempt result that even if I got these coming out 1 at a time the result would be right...

These images may help to give a sense of the difference I'm seeing.... though it's hard to capture the R-0871 because the droplet clings so fleetingly to the tip before falling.....

 

[PoolStored]

Wipe the tip with a wet coffee filter or paper towel and try it again...