CYA Testing Methods

[Quant]

Anyone have an opinion between these two testing methods/tools for CYA? On the left is the familiar tube sold by TF Test kits and the right is the Gucci version I purchased in attempt to deal with my CYA testing anxiety.

The small tube uses less chemicals/water but it uses a LOT less reagent as a ratio to water than the large the tube. With the large tube, you fill to A with pool water and then B with CYA test reagent so you end up with the same, or possibly more reagent than water.

With the large tube I feel like I can be consistently and confidently read when the dot disappears, but it consistently tests 10 ppm less CYA than my test with the small tube approach. Sometimes the small tube test confuses me and I have uncertainty about the result, possible due to water condition and variance in ambient lighting. I think the large tube might mitigate that some. Right now I get 40ppm with the small tube and 30ppm with the large, but I do not seem to be burning off chlorine faster than expected and I am still in SLAM, but almost done. I might do my first overnight test tomorrow. 40 would be ideal for me as the sun is not so intense and I want to ride tablets out to 50 after my SLAM is finished.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Q,

The "Sliding Dot" tester on the right is sold under a lot of different names..

I have one from Pentair, but they are identical..

I personally like it better than the fixed dot, but no matter what, it is still a very subjective test.

I suggest that you use the one you are most comfortable with. The real key is to just to do the test the same way every time.. It is not all that important to be accurate as it is to be consistent. If you measure and it reads 60 ppm and you test again in a month and it is 80 ppm or 40 ppm, you know for sure you have had a 20 ppm change..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Scoop]

Jimrahbe nailed it. Consistency is key. As an example, I used to test CYA outside on a sunny day near Solar Noon, waist-high testing, etc.

I found after comparing outside vs inside CYA testing, there was little to no difference in the results so I now test CYA in my kitchen under fluorescent lights, shading the Test Tube for indirect light, waist-high. I wanted to eliminate the outdoors sunlight inconsistency & weather parameters (cloud cover, Solar Noon angle with the changing seasons, etc).

I also use the sliding-dot Test tube (Taylor # 4088) which as Jimrahbe mentioned, is the same Tube as in the Pentair CYA Test Kit R151226 79 .

I also ran comparison tests with the Blue Devil CYA Test Kit B7525 which also includes a sliding-dot Tube but that tube isn't compatible with the Taylor Tube as it's calibrated (graduated scaling) with their CYA Testing solution.

As expected, the results differed between the Pentair Kit & the Blue Devil Kit. I compared readings using the Taylor R-0013 Reagent vs the Pentair Reagent & the Blue Devil Reagent using both Tubes. I posted those results a few years ago but I didn't locate that thread in this forum.

 

[Newdude]

I posted those results a few years ago but I didn't locate that thread in this forum.

I got you.

Pentair CYA reagent.

Does anyone know if you can use this stuff with the Taylor kit? Pretty good price for Canada. https://www.amazon.ca/Pentair-R161596-Cyanuric-Reagent-8-Ounce/dp/B008HYOAFC/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=r-0013&qid=1621522655&sr=8-7

www.troublefreepool.com

And you revisited it last February

CYA Testing Indoors vs Outdoors - Water Temps

Location : Dallas area, Tx It's been a few years since I tested CYA in/outdoors, water temps, etc so I decided to repeat the tests to see my results. I switched to Indoor Testing July '20 after numerous testing showed that the differences between Outdoor Testing, on a clear day around Solar...

www.troublefreepool.com