Leslies Accublue vs my TF100 at home testing

[Advancetec]

Been trying to perfect my water chemistry after having a low cya level and having a hard time getting my chlorine numbers up.

So when I do my Cya test now after fixing the issue I get about 70, Leslies accublue test says it's 108

I know this test is a little subjective but I can still see the black dot at the bottoms of the tube until I get to about 80 could even call it 70

Also Alkalinity I get a 90 and Leslies says it's at 56 and need to be raised..

Who's is more accurate? Me or the Accublue Leslies machine?

 

[mknauss]

You. Do not get your water tested at pool stores. They will just confuse you.

The TA they report is 'adjusted' for the CYA level they test. If you add baking soda, you will be fighting rising pH until you consume the alkalinity you added.

When you do the CYA test, try this next time.

Once you have your solution ready, back to the sun, etc. Fill the vial to a line, say 80, lower the vial to your waist level and glance for the dot, you see it, add solution to the 70 line, glance, see it, repeat until you no longer see it with a glance. Then use the CYA value one step above the line you read. So if you stopped at 50, use 60 ppm CYA.

The vial is in logarithmic scale. So it is not viable to interpolate between the lines. Just use the whole numbers, such as 50, 40, 30, ....

 

[duraleigh]

+1 what mknauss said. Trust your own testing.....never trust pool store testing.

 

[Donldson]

They should be sued for adding "accu" to anything they do. That's just flagrant false advertising right there.

 

[Advancetec]

They should be sued for adding "accu" to anything they do. That's just flagrant false advertising right there.

Its a machine they just recently had put in so I does the whole water analysis in 60 seconds and prints out. So I was up in the air if it was accurate or not

 

[Donldson]

Your extremely reliable melamine-based CYA test closed that case pretty effectively. The jury is not out on this one, Leslie's failed.

You're thinking exactly what they want you to think. Cool new wiz-bang computer testing system, gotta be accurate! Sixty seconds and a nice little print out of everything you need to buy. It's great at what it does and absolutely succeeds at what it is there for. "But wait," I hear you say, "you said it failed". No, I said it failed to provide accurate results. It was placed there to get people to have their water tested, trust the results, and sell product. And at that, it is a resounding success.

That little box makes sales happen. It's the only thing it was designed and installed for.

 

[tim5055]

Also Alkalinity I get a 90 and Leslies says it's at 56 and need to be raised..

Who's is more accurate? Me or the Accublue Leslies machine?

Hmm. let me think about this. They tell you the TA is 56 and needs to be fixed. I'm going to guess they wanted to sell you 15 pounds of the "Leslie's Alkalinity Up "

Let's look at this product, what do they say about it?

A low level of Total Alkalinity can be dangerous for your pool and for swimmers. Leslie's Alkalinity Up, which is made of 100% sodium bicarbonate, is the easiest way to keep pH and Total Alkalinity balanced, and makes your pool a safe and clean environment for everyone!

I really need someone to explain how low TA is "dangerous".

Now, 15 pounds of this stuff will set you back $50. Yup, $50 - I just looked on their web site.

Now, a 12lb bag of Arm & Hammer Pure Baking Soda will set you back $8.47 at Walmart, I looked that up too.

I've had pool store managers tell me I can't use "Baking Soda" because it's too harsh. What does that mean??? It's the same 100% sodium bicarbonate!

If you spend the $50, the salesman makes his commission and the store manager is well on his way to his monthly sales goal.

First, pool store employees primary goal is to sell stuff, not necessarily get your pool in perfect condition. As to whether that is because of improper training, lack of knowledge or just to sell stuff I will leave up to you. While you would think that a "professional" would be the best, unfortunately in most cases it is quite the opposite. Between employees who blindly trust the word of chemical sales representatives and high school kids working in the pool store for the summer you end up with poor results from their advice and testing.

The pool store want's you to have "a shed filled with white bottles of pool chemicals that had mysterious names and purposes". Unfortunately the pool industry has evolved into sales by scare tactics, misdirection, misinformation and marketing hype. As in your case, they are going to sell you baking soda in a fancy package at four times the cost of WalMart. Do they have a right to make a profit, yes - but lets be reasonable. Heck, even their definition of "low" can many times put you on a pH roller coaster that's hard to get off of. Is that lack of knowledge or a sales technique to sell you more chemicals to control your pH????

I guess this is a long way of saying, stay out of pool stores.

 

[Advancetec]

Hmm. let me think about this. They tell you the TA is 56 and needs to be fixed. I'm going to guess they wanted to sell you 15 pounds of the "Leslie's Alkalinity Up "

Let's look at this product, what do they say about it?



I really need someone to explain how low TA is "dangerous".

Now, 15 pounds of this stuff will set you back $50. Yup, $50 - I just looked on their web site.

Now, a 12lb bag of Arm & Hammer Pure Baking Soda will set you back $8.47 at Walmart, I looked that up too.

I've had pool store managers tell me I can't use "Baking Soda" because it's too harsh. What does that mean??? It's the same 100% sodium bicarbonate!

If you spend the $50, the salesman makes his commission and the store manager is well on his way to his monthly sales goal.

First, pool store employees primary goal is to sell stuff, not necessarily get your pool in perfect condition. As to whether that is because of improper training, lack of knowledge or just to sell stuff I will leave up to you. While you would think that a "professional" would be the best, unfortunately in most cases it is quite the opposite. Between employees who blindly trust the word of chemical sales representatives and high school kids working in the pool store for the summer you end up with poor results from their advice and testing.

The pool store want's you to have "a shed filled with white bottles of pool chemicals that had mysterious names and purposes". Unfortunately the pool industry has evolved into sales by scare tactics, misdirection, misinformation and marketing hype. As in your case, they are going to sell you baking soda in a fancy package at four times the cost of WalMart. Do they have a right to make a profit, yes - but lets be reasonable. Heck, even their definition of "low" can many times put you on a pH roller coaster that's hard to get off of. Is that lack of knowledge or a sales technique to sell you more chemicals to control your pH????

I guess this is a long way of saying, stay out of pool stores.

Yes, they did try to sell alkalinity Up, I told them I already had it and just picked up muratic acid which I was low on. I do have the HTH brand from Walmart for akalinity up. Didn't know it was just baking soda!

 

[mknauss]

Recommended Pool Chemicals

Which should I buy? TFP's recommended pool chemicals are cheap, easy, and won't unbalance your pool water.

www.troublefreepool.com

Review the above. It cross references the fancy pool store names to normal household products.

 

[tim5055]

Yes, they did try to sell alkalinity Up, I told them I already had it and just picked up muratic acid which I was low on. I do have the HTH brand from Walmart for akalinity up. Didn't know it was just baking soda!

Stick around TFP. We can teach you all the "generic" things to buy.

 

[andyelders]

Been trying to perfect my water chemistry after having a low cya level and having a hard time getting my chlorine numbers up.

So when I do my Cya test now after fixing the issue I get about 70, Leslies accublue test says it's 108

I know this test is a little subjective but I can still see the black dot at the bottoms of the tube until I get to about 80 could even call it 70

Also Alkalinity I get a 90 and Leslies says it's at 56 and need to be raised..

Who's is more accurate? Me or the Accublue Leslies machine?

as a former employee i would definitely trust your machine more. i remember our manager decided to start teaching us about water chemistry herself because companies like leslie’s want you to test water so they can tell you how many pounds of whatever you’re gonna “need” and she hated that.

 

[newdude]

Pool store machines be all ‘Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain’


When truth be told, you had a brain all along. Trust yourself.

 

[Ft.LauderdaleuPool]

Yes, they did try to sell alkalinity Up, I told them I already had it and just picked up muratic acid which I was low on. I do have the HTH brand from Walmart for akalinity up. Didn't know it was just baking soda!

I'm much prefer the 1 lb store brand boxes of baking soda say at Save-a-Lot, Aldi, Winn-Dixie etc. It's cheaper per pound than the per pound price of the large bag of Arm & Hammer and conveniently pre-measured in 1 lb amounts. Just add one box per day until you achieve the desired TA reading. I stir it into 1 gallon of pool water in a bucket to break up the lumps and pour the slurry into the pool. It's just simpler and lower cost this way.