Is a pool refill best option in my case?

[newdude]

curious about how these might differ.

They're simply way too vague. PH is the only one that has specific values in range. The Ph then changes color as you watch it sometimes.

The rest fall between several values when we want a single digit (FC) or up to a 250 variance between values (CH and CYA). Maybe with time you can double check yourself that your X is Y, but for now they don't really tell you anything besides its blue-ish, green-ish, etc.

If the test strip ever disagrees with what you already expect, disregard it and trust what you know. For funsies, keep seeing if they agree, but it's only funsies.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

It's unlikely your CH is 450 ppm. Worst in the area is Colorado River water at around 250 ppm.

You can use test strips, as long as you follow the instructions precisely:

Accu-Chem Pool Test Kit (50 Test Strips)

1. Open sealed bottle. Dispose of seal.
2. Remove an Accu-Chem test strip from the bottle.
3. Discard in an approved receptacle.
4. Repeat 50 times.

Seriously though, they will only confuse things.

Post up some results from your K-2006 when it arrives.

 

[Sherlock]

They're simply way too vague. PH is the only one that has specific values in range. The Ph then changes color as you watch it sometimes.

The rest fall between several values when we want a single digit (FC) or up to a 250 variance between values (CH and CYA). Maybe with time you can double check yourself that your X is Y, but for now they don't really tell you anything besides its blue-ish, green-ish, etc.

If the test strip ever disagrees with what you already expect, disregard it and trust what you know. For funsies, keep seeing if they agree, but it's only funsies.

Well Taylor's own website says:

The dry chemistries used in these strips are as reliable as those in Taylor’s liquid reagents, and testing couldn’t be easier.

 

[proavia]

Well Taylor's own website says:

The dry chemistries used in these strips are as reliable as those in Taylor’s liquid reagents, and testing couldn’t be easier.

It's been proven time and again by 1000's of members here that test strips are not reliable - regardless of what Taylor may say.

Use your soon to arrive K-2006 and toss the "guess" strips.

 

[newdude]

If you dont care about your CYA value, as the industry largely doesnt, then a vague reference is ok. So what if you guessed 40 one way or the other ?

The FC/CYA Levels are a cornerstone of TFP and it doesn't work unless we have CYA to a 10.

 

[Bperry]

Well Taylor's own website says:

The dry chemistries used in these strips are as reliable as those in Taylor’s liquid reagents, and testing couldn’t be easier.

I have first hand experience that isnt the case (at least with the borate strips). They were close to accurate for about a week based on my initial addition of borates, then over time the levels kept rrading higher and higher even though borates were going down (I wasnt adding any and was backwashing with lots of rain).

Even did a fun test of two pool stores with the same water sample which resulted in 100% difference on a few items.