Getting weird testing results

[JoyfulNoise]

Oh yeah. SmartChlor. That stuff causes false high CC readings. If there was any left in the lines it would mix with the fresh fill and cause high CCs.

 

[sacredcow]

How are you measuring? Are you using the DPD-FAS titration test or just the yellow OTO tester?

Many municipal water suppliers use chloramines to sanitize water. A typical municipal water supply will have less than 0.5ppm free chlorine and 0.8-1.4ppm combined chlorine (monochloramine is used in municipal water treatment). It can sometimes be a lot higher but the total chlorine (FC+CC) should never exceed 4ppm otherwise the municipal supplier is required by law to notify customers.

The water company that serviced the area where our labs used to be located frequently slugged the lines with massive amounts of bleach/chloramines. To the point that it destroyed all of my mixed bed deionizing tanks instantly. Then they denied they did it.

 

[Sjde]

She's on smartchlor, and reading 30ppm cc before she drained. Might that play a part?
Susan, in your other thread I linked a couple of threads about smartchlor. You might want to have your maintenance person read them as well.

Has anyone used the Smartchlor system?

I'm looking to get feedback on the new-ish Smartchlor system. Apparently it knows how much chlorine to add. TIA.

www.troublefreepool.com

Jumping back in: Bullfrog A5L with SmartChlor

Our new tub arrived, a Bullfrog A5L. Previous tub was a used 2001 Hot Springs Jetsetter, with which I learned TFP chlorine technique and eventually added a Controlomatic inline SWG. It's been a couple years of warm water deprivation, so glad to have a new tub! The upgrade in technology and...

www.troublefreepool.com

Also, @JoyfulNoise , she owns a vacation rental and this is the tub there, if I am not mistaken.

Yes, it is in a vacation rental.

The spa was showing that CC level before I added the Smartchlor cartridge.

I am using the DPD-FAS titration test.

 

[Sjde]

So I never got a owners manual with the Frog chlorine cartridge and just found one online .

Use only FROG test strips. The SmartChlor cartridge forms a chlorine reserve that will be inaccurately measured as total chlorine on other test strips.

It’s called SmartChlor because it supposedly knows when and how much free chlorine is needed .

Shock just once a month with MPS , or whenever you replace the chlorine cartridge.

Smart Chlor will maintain the proper chlorine level as long as the pH stays within 7.2 and 7.8.

Even though the company told me it was Dichlor in there when I called , someone online said the chemical composition was different. So maybe that’s because dichlor would add too much CYA?

 

[cranbiz]

Use the Taylor kit. The Frog strips are not even close to accurate.
I have both, I'm always seeing a great discrepancy between the chlorine and pH on the strips vs the Taylor kit. Titration will always be more accurate than the strips.
The TC test will be off or generally accepted values because of the chlorine King uses but TA, hardness, pH and the daily chlorine tests are fine.

 

[Sjde]

Use the Taylor kit. The Frog strips are not even close to accurate.
I have both, I'm always seeing a great discrepancy between the chlorine and pH on the strips vs the Taylor kit. Titration will always be more accurate than the strips.
The TC test will be off or generally accepted values because of the chlorine King uses but TA, hardness, pH and the daily chlorine tests are fine.

Thank you! Will the CC be off too?

 

[Sjde]

I received some answers from the source- the Frog manufacturer, King Technology. Perhaps this can help others.-


The Frog @ease test strips only test the pH, total alkalinity, and calcium hardness, and will only show the chlorine level when the SmartChlor cartridge needs replacing. The SmartChlor indicator on the @ease Test Strips just shows when SmartChlor Cartridge is empty.

Other test strips may tell you that your free chlorine level is low and that your spa has a high total chlorine level which normally means it’s time to shock. This can be confusing because the @ease system uses a reserve to pull chlorine from when it needs to, so a high total chlorine is completely normal. You can use other test strips but just remember that the free chlorine should be between .5-1 ppm and a high total chlorine is normal.

Regarding the shock question, with the @ease system a non-chlorine shock (like FROG Maintain) should be used every 3-4 weeks or whenever you replace the SmartChlor cartridge. We don’t tend to recommend using a chlorine shock after every use because it may increase the free chlorine level (above 1 ppm). However, a non-chlorine like MPS can be used more often if the spa is cloudy or if the spa is getting abnormally high use and a high bather load.

The @ease system does not have CYA in it. So, an increasing CYA level in a spa would come from when CYA has been added and a chlorine shock is used frequently.