Pool Store manual Taylor testing ALWAYS off

[Suz.E.Q]

Ugh. I've been a hardcore Taylor K-2006 user for years after finding this forum. We sold the home that had a vinyl liner pool and just had a new fiberglass pool installed at our new home. The Latham warranty says we are supposed to get "official" pool store testing weekly and keep in records in case we ever need to prove how we cared for the pool in case of a future claim. Really? I go to 2 different local stores - one has an automated test system, the other has late teen/early 20's people (usually) testing using Taylor products. The results never quite match what I get. So frustrating! The one that amazes me most is the chlorine testing with the Taylor-use store (the automated store results are generally closer to my numbers with the exception of alkalinity). They don't use the DPD powder, but instead they have a comparator with the skinny and fat sides (like the K-2006), but the skinny side has a color guide. They use this skinny side to test the chlorine level. ALWAYS HIGH. Today, I had the girl use a dip strip to compare - I was getting around 4 with my DPD test, she was getting 10. Sure enough, lavender color on test strip. I asked for an older guy to retest. 1st time he got the same 10 result, then I had him do the dip strip. He was puzzled. He retested and then said 7.5 (still wrong per my DPD AND the dip strip). Does anyone know what they are doing wrong with this particular Taylor (all liquid) testing method? How can I school them??? Hahaha. It would be nice to have real results I can file away that are accurate. I might just end up using the automated store, but their recommended ranges are not the same as the manual store (whose ranges are more in line with TFP ideals). Grrrrr

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I have the #9056 comparator block with the DPD color blocks on the “skinny” side. The markings are 1, 2, 3, 5, 7.5, & 10. Depending on the lighting and the person’s eyes, you can easily get higher results than the titration test. I find the difference between the two (and I’ve used both extensively) is that the block reads about 1ppm higher than the titration. They may just have lousy eyesight and are being lazy with the test. Also, the R-0002 reagent is the one that contains the DPD (pink indicator for chlorine) and if it’s not fresh or left open a lot, it can easily become compromised and read falsely high.

Have you asked them to do the titration test? Is that available in their store?

Honestly speaking, warranties are not worth the paper they’re printed on. The only situation I could see a warranty being enforced is when some gross defect occurs like a giant crack in the shell forms or there’s some catastrophic failure. Getting an FG pool maker to own up to color fading / gel-coat problems is a fool’s errand. They will stymie you at every turn on that one. So my suggestion is to keep your records and a store’s record and simply supply both if the need arises. But I wouldn’t put too much effort into “warranty maintenance” … they will weasel their way out it 99.9% of the time.

 

[Suz.E.Q]

I have the #9056 comparator block with the DPD color blocks on the “skinny” side. The markings are 1, 2, 3, 5, 7.5, & 10. Depending on the lighting and the person’s eyes, you can easily get higher results than the titration test. I find the difference between the two (and I’ve used both extensively) is that the block reads about 1ppm higher than the titration. They may just have lousy eyesight and are being lazy with the test. Also, the R-0002 reagent is the one that contains the DPD (pink indicator for chlorine) and if it’s not fresh or left open a lot, it can easily become compromised and read falsely high.

Have you asked them to do the titration test? Is that available in their store?

Honestly speaking, warranties are not worth the paper they’re printed on. The only situation I could see a warranty being enforced is when some gross defect occurs like a giant crack in the shell forms or there’s some catastrophic failure. Getting an FG pool maker to own up to color fading / gel-coat problems is a fool’s errand. They will stymie you at every turn on that one. So my suggestion is to keep your records and a store’s record and simply supply both if the need arises. But I wouldn’t put too much effort into “warranty maintenance” … they will weasel their way out it 99.9% of the time.

Yeah - I wasn't really planning to go to the pool stores weekly for records, but I thought I'd make a marginal effort "just in case". I am glad someone responded with the "other" taylor chlorine test process. I now understand how they retested from 10 down to 7.5, and if the lighting was better in their little test room, I bet it would have been 5 instead of 7.5. And no, I only told them what test *I* use, but I didn't directly ask them to do the same. I suppose I could, but now that I have these details from you, I at least better understand what probably happened. Thank you for the info!!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

If Latham Pools requires weekly store testing for their warranty to be in effect then that’s a clear sign as any that they do not intend to warranty their product against chemical issues. Pool store testing is notoriously wrong even with the most diligent pool owners and there’s enough variation in the results for Latham’s lawyers to drive a Mack truck through it. You will ALWAYS be blamed first for improper management so they can avoid any warranty claims of any kind that relate to chemistry (fading, chalking, etc). I suppose if the pool builder were paid to take care of the pool and keep test results (which they hardly ever do), there’s probably a better position there since the builder works directly with them and they like keeping their sales channel happy. However, in that case, your paying ridiculous amounts of money for “professional pool care” that you might as well have bought a new FG shell by the time any issues show up.

It really is a game in the pool industry and one not worth playing for the pool owner.