Hi from Australia

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AUSpool said:
Hi John,

How's that NQ kit working for you? It's LaMotte ColourQ for me - no guessing and perfect if your a little colour blind, just read the numbers.

I have been playing with test kits for over 20 years and really dislike colourmetric kits for the obvious reason. Back when I did chem at uni we got to use their photometers but they were to expensive for domestic use until products like the ColourQ and Hanna Checkers etc. A lot of the better shops have some decent photo meter equipment but any test will only ever be as good as the last calibration and reliant on the age of the reagents and the test kit. Having said that my pool always seams to look best when I've been away and haven't played with it for a while.

I got my colourQ from eseasongear but LaMotte Australia will ship them locally and my local Clark Rubber uses them to.
$136 LaMotte 2056 ColorQ PRO 7, Free 2-Day Shipping!

Cheers, Steve.
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Hi Steve,

Yes I was seriously looking at the LaMotte system but then I got hung up on which version to buy and me being the type of person I am could not make a decision? I then did some further reading around the forum here and found that people were not huge fans of LaMotte due to inaccuracy in test results, how accurate do you find it? I know I really struggle with the colour comparison test and still use the wife for my colour comparisons, but then again she is not always around when I want to test. Can't say I have ever heard of Hanna Checkers, but I'm about to do some research on them and thanks for the heads up. :)

As for my NQ kit, I can't say that I'm overly fond of it due to reagents being labelled incorrectly and colour changes not happening the way they are supposed to, but low and behold out of the blue the other day I got a complete refund including postage, so hats off to the guy for that at least because I certainly was not expecting it after the hoo haa to start with.

Cheers,
John
 
The primary problem with the LaMotte ColorQ that comes up time & again here on TFP is their longevity. They initially work quite well and match Taylor reagent tests within reason; although the reported accuracy of the tests to the 100'ths decimal place is completely unnecessary and not really believable. Then, over time, even with calibration, the test results start to go all over the place. The quality of photometric measurements are entirely dependent on the quality of the light source used, the optics in the system and the photodetector quality (bandwidth and sensitivity). Unfortunately, in a retail measuring tool that costs a few hundred bucks at most, you are not going to find high quality optical elements or a very robust light source and photodetector. There's a reason why laboratory scale spectrophotometers cost tens of thousand of dollars - they are built with very expensive internal components. Even if you bought yourself a slightly more expensive unit, you still have to keep it calibrated properly with known chemical standards due to drift in the electronic components and you have to regularly replace both the light source and the optical elements as they get fouled over time. This is really not something one can expect a residential pool owner to do.

So, in the end, the Taylor titration tests really are the most practical, economical and accurate means of testing water. One can find ways around the difficulties in seeing color changes and make the tests work. Now, with that said, I also realize you folks in Australia (as well as in Canada and many oversees places) are really hamstrung by the lack of availability of the Taylor test chemicals. So, all I can say is to try to find what works best but don't be surprised if the folks on here question test result accuracy. Much of what TFP teaches is built on consistent and accurate testing and the LaMotte ColorQ tends to fail the consistency test.
 
johnmw1 said:
I got a complete refund including postage, so hats off to the guy for that at least because I certainly was not expecting it after the hoo haa to start with.

Cheers,
John
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Lucky you on the refund! Mine sits in the back of the cupboard under the K2006C. I think I got some strange results too but I haven't enough evidence to blame the test kit yet. Same reagents as the K2006 but different bottles so I wonder if its a drop size issue??
 
johnmw1 said:
Hi Steve,

Yes I was seriously looking at the LaMotte system but then I got hung up on which version to buy and me being the type of person I am could not make a decision? I then did some further reading around the forum here and found that people were not huge fans of LaMotte due to inaccuracy in test results, how accurate do you find it? I know I really struggle with the colour comparison test and still use the wife for my colour comparisons, but then again she is not always around when I want to test. Can't say I have ever heard of Hanna Checkers, but I'm about to do some research on them and thanks for the heads up. :)

As for my NQ kit, I can't say that I'm overly fond of it due to reagents being labelled incorrectly and colour changes not happening the way they are supposed to, but low and behold out of the blue the other day I got a complete refund including postage, so hats off to the guy for that at least because I certainly was not expecting it after the hoo haa to start with.

Cheers,
John
Click to expand...

Geday John,

I've found the ColourQ to be ok. I have more confidence in the ColourQ's pH than a half decent Milwaukee pH meter I have. The Milwaukee needs to be re calibrated every time it's used and I've lost interest in doing that. Matt's summation of the ColourQ is not that surprising, you get what you pay for and these are nowhere near the lab grade photometers and that's to be expected. There are lots of possibilities for error in any tests from sampling to reading. After years of colourmetric guessing I'm willing to trade off a potential loss of accuracy and I still well within range.

I got my ColourQ for a good price a few years back now, my reagents are out of date but I'm still getting results that are close to what I expect. I don't think I will replace it though and will use one of the local shops instead.

Hanna make a good product but the checkers are for aquarium use and first appeared in the market about 7-10 years ago.

Cheers,
Steve.
 
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