Instructions for Taylor R-0015 acid demand test ??

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Riddler0520

Riddler0520

Well-known member
Jul 26, 2020
246
Charlotte, NC
Pool Size
23000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Jandy Aquapure 1400
Use PH Taylor R-0014 with TF100 kit

ordered the Taylor R-0015a reagent for acid demand because I regularly got north of 8.0 and not quite sure how much acid is needs to lower to 7.4-7.6 range

also, what does the Taylor R-0015b base reagent do ?

any instructions ??
 
Riddler0520 said:
ordered the Taylor R-0015a reagent for acid demand because I regularly got north of 8.0 and not quite sure how much acid is needs to lower to 7.4-7.6 range
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  • Assume pH is 8.0 and add enough acid to lower pH to 7.6.
  • Retest in 45 minutes
  • Repeat as necessary until your pH is in the 7's.
 
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ajw22 said:
  • Assume pH is 8.0 and add enough acid to lower pH to 7.6.
  • Retest in 45 minutes
  • Repeat as necessary until your pH is in the 7's.
Click to expand...

I'd agree with this. I finally tossed the acid/base demand reagents from my K2006 to make room, as I have never used them. The instructions looked somewhat complicated, with charts and lookups to do. I imagine it's extremely useful if you're a pool tech who comes once a week and needs to take care of the problem in 15 minutes, but I'm on-site and can come back for free :)

I test the pH every couple days, and when it gets high (about once a week) I pour a quart of MA in (that's specific for my pool and MA concentration), which brings my pH from ~8.0 to ~7.5. If it were really higher I'd just notice and add more a couple days earlier the next cycle.

You really shouldn't let the pH get above 8.0 regularly; if you test every day starting from say 7.5 you'll quickly figure out how fast it rises and proactively know when to test/add.
 
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Plettschner said:
I always thought that was what PoolMath was for 😁

Can't say I've done an acid or base demand test in a couple of years.
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It can be useful when the pH is beyond the scale, but you don't know how much to be able to plug the starting point into PoolMath (and don't have time to add acid to the pool and test again, which most of us do). I'm pretty sure the "acid demand" reagent is literally tiny amounts of acid that you add to the mix in the tube bringing the pH down to the desired level, and then scale to the equivalent amount of actual acid to go in the actual pool.
 
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I know the question is specifically about running the Taylor acid demand test, but at the risk of digression, I’ll share my experience with it.

I used to use the acid demand test to determine my acid additions before I used PoolMath. It was very precise and I would never scare anyone away from it, it will give good results.

Over time, though, I’ve come to understand my pool quite well and have realized high precision isn’t really necessary for my pool. As others have said, keep on top of your pH with regular testing and knock it down to ~7.4 and call it good. I’ve found that PoolMath isn’t as precise as the acid demand test for my pool, but that’s probably because I don’t have my pool volume dialed in exactly. But PoolMath gets me close enough and that is now good enough for me. And, as someone else said, it allows me to remove some unused reagents from my test kit making room for others! 😀
 
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I agree that the acid demand test is not really worthwhile when you have Pool Math, which is much easier.

The base demand test is even less useful.

In either case, the TA will tell you mostly what you need to do to correct the pH.

Low pH can always be corrected by raising the TA.

The only time that the acid demand test might be useful is if the pH is way off the scale high like 9.5 or higher, which almost never happens and it should never happen in any case where the pool is being maintained.
 
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jmastron said:
It can be useful when the pH is beyond the scale, but you don't know how much to be able to plug the starting point into PoolMath (and don't have time to add acid to the pool and test again, which most of us do).
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A pH meter can do pretty much the same, because your scale is greatly extended. I like using a pH meter for this on my spa when doing acid/aeration to knock down my terribly high fill water TA on a new fill. But this isn't necessary, you can just assume 8 and retest, as has been stated.

CraigChing said:
I’ve found that PoolMath isn’t as precise as the acid demand test for my pool, but that’s probably because I don’t have my pool volume dialed in exactly.
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I believe that in theory an acid demand test will always be more accurate, even if you have the pool volume dialed in exactly, because it's adding acid to a specific sample of your water, with everything your water contains that would resist pH changes, and seeing how much acid it takes to actually lower the pH. Whereas PoolMath only has most of those factors, and is doing math to figure out the pH change. But precise calculations of pH drop aren't needed, if your pH is 8 and you want to lower it to 7.6 it doesn't matter if you lower it to 7.55 or 7.62, cause it's a pool, not a chemical production plant.
 
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jseyfert3 said:
I believe that in theory an acid demand test will always be more accurate, even if you have the pool volume dialed in exactly, because it's adding acid to a specific sample of your water, with everything your water contains that would resist pH changes, and seeing how much acid it takes to actually lower the pH. Whereas PoolMath only has most of those factors, and is doing math to figure out the pH change. But precise calculations of pH drop aren't needed, if your pH is 8 and you want to lower it to 7.6 it doesn't matter if you lower it to 7.55 or 7.62, cause it's a pool, not a chemical production plant.
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Well, if your water sample is representative of the water population of your pool, the acid demand test is about as good as you can get. When I say my pool volume isn’t dialed in to PoolMath, let’s be clear. My volume fluctuates, especially this year with how little rain we’ve received. And I don’t measure my acid additions, I eye ball it (but not too close!). So I usually target a pH of 7.2 for my acid additions. If my water level is high because I added water recently and my eye is off and I don’t dose quite as much as I should have, I land at 7.4. If my water level is low and I dose a bit more than I intended, then I hit 7.2, which I’m still ok with. 😉
That is what I mean by not being concerned about being too precise 😀
 
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JamesW said:
I agree that the acid demand test is not really worthwhile when you have Pool Math, which is much easier.

The base demand test is even less useful.

In either case, the TA will tell you mostly what you need to do to correct the pH.

Low pH can always be corrected by raising the TA.

The only time that the acid demand test might be useful is if the pH is way off the scale high like 9.5 or higher, which almost never happens and it should never happen in any case where the pool is being maintained.
Click to expand...
Thanks everyone

I test PH daily, worse case skip a day

I’ve turned down my water features where they only cycle on for about 50 min 2x a day vs running the full 12hr pump cycle

PH in a matter of 2-3 days rises up to the purple level (8.0/higher), I’ve gotten used to the amount to add, it’s literally 4 swipes back and forth moving the gallon slowly …. Guessing 1.25 quarts or a little over (1 gallon normally gets me 3 uses) I drop PH to the 7.4’ish level doing this.

does this sound about right ?
 
Riddler0520 said:
Thanks everyone

I test PH daily, worse case skip a day

I’ve turned down my water features where they only cycle on for about 50 min 2x a day vs running the full 12hr pump cycle

PH in a matter of 2-3 days rises up to the purple level (8.0/higher), I’ve gotten used to the amount to add, it’s literally 4 swipes back and forth moving the gallon slowly …. Guessing 1.25 quarts or a little over (1 gallon normally gets me 3 uses) I drop PH to the 7.4’ish level doing this.

does this sound about right ?
Click to expand...
As @JamesW said:
JamesW said:
In either case, the TA will tell you mostly what you need to do to correct the pH.
Click to expand...
If your pH is rising fast, I’d guess you have high TA. What is your TA, as tested with your Taylor test kit?
 
@Riddler0520 I have high TA fill water, so unless I get lots of rain (not this year!), I constantly battle rising pH. Not as bad as you though. My TA (see my pool logs by clicking on my name) typically sits at 100-110. I drop my pH to about 7.4 and within a few days it rises to 7.8 where it sits for a week or a bit more before moving on to 8 at which point I start the 10-14 day cycle over again.
A couple of notes:
1. As suggested, post your TA from your Taylor test kit.
2. I don’t have experience with plaster pools, but reading on the forums, I’ve read a few posts recently that indicate new plaster requires diligence in managing pH like you’re seeing for about a year. You might want to do a search or make a new post specifically about your pH issues and new plaster if that’s what you have.
 
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CraigChing said:
As @JamesW said:

If your pH is rising fast, I’d guess you have high TA. What is your TA, as tested with your Taylor test kit?
Click to expand...
TA is 80
Was 60 but I raised it a little as I cont to pull it down with all the acid then aeration for PH
It’s a new pool as I believe that’s some of it as well - curing
 
Riddler0520 said:
TA is 80
Was 60 but I raised it a little as I cont to pull it down with all the acid then aeration for PH
It’s a new pool as I believe that’s some of it as well - curing
Click to expand...

You are yo-yoing your TA and pH.

TA of 60 is ok. Once your TA is there lower your pH down to 7.6 minimum. Your TA will reach an equilibrium with your pH with TA 60 and pH 7.6-7.8. Just make smaller reductions in your pH whenever it gets around 8.
 
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