Questions about using the TF-100

[new-to-poolcare]

I am following your advice and buying the TF-100 but I have questions:
1. At what depth should the sample be taken?
2. Is it better to test the water after the pump has been running all day?
3. Should the individual tests be completed within a specific time frame?
4. Will the results be consistent as the water temperature changes throughout the year?
Thank you.

 

[Texas Splash]

1 - Go down to about your elbow. Some will say at least one foot below the surface, but I like to go about 18".
2 - Not all day. About 30 minutes or so should be enough. Maybe at hour at most if you really wanted.
3 - Just ensure that when you start a test, you go completely through with it and don't stop midway or the colors can change. In other words, don't let the reagent sample just sit. Add your drops, and once you get your number, you're done.
4 - Should be. CYA is the only test that can be effected by very cold water - about 60 degrees or colder. Other than that, no problem.

I personally like to be a creature of habit when testing. I take my sample from the same location, trying to be consistent with the time of day I test so I can evaluate a 24 hour usage amount, and I make sure to keep the sample container used for obtaining the water clean. If it gets contaminated, so will the water sample.

 

[ABC12]

and I make sure to keep the sample container used for obtaining the water clean. If it gets contaminated, so will the water sample.

1) how do you clean it? Simply rinse in the pool water? Tap water? Use a brush?

2) after a test, do you spill contents into pool and rinse the comparator between tests in pool water? Do you spill test contents elsewhere? (I usually do on the grass - is this bad?)

 

[jblizzle]

Test in your kitchen. Pour test results into sink, not into pool. Rinse with tap water, then rinse with pool water before next test.

 

[ABC12]

Test in your kitchen. Pour test results into sink, not into pool. Rinse with tap water, then rinse with pool water before next test.

Glad I asked. I had been doing it poolside, going 18 inches with the comparator tube for each test

 

[new-to-poolcare]

Thank you. I am anxious to get the kit tomorrow and start testing. I think testing in the kitchen will be a much more comfortable way to do the testing.

 

[Dirk]

What the? You haven't even gotten your kit and you've already figured out to ask these questions?!? You are going to be one expert pool water tester!! Good job!! You're getting some excellent advice about testing methods and consistency. Awesome.

Where's Bellflower? Had to look it up. OK, down there. If your pool water ever gets too cold to where you don't want to stick your arm in that deep (I was freezing mine off for a while until I thought to ask about it), you can use the PVC pipe trick to collect your sample down at that depth without even getting your fingers wet! (I use mine year-round.) Come back to this thread in October and check it out:

Start at around post #19, you'll get the gist. Read all the way to #25 if you want all the build and use details:

Test kit confusion - questions - Page 2

 

[new-to-poolcare]

You are going to be one expert pool water tester!!

Maybe not. I have been trying out the kit over the last few days and these particular test results puzzle me because they are so much higher than the store results.
Latest report from local chain store on 04-16-18: CH 730, CYA 99, TA 120; my results with TF-100: CH 1,925, CYA way over 100, TA 160.
I am converting from tabs to liquid chlorine and the plaster is old. I have seen no sign of algae for almost 2 years. I have gotten these comments over the last year or so: "Did you get new plaster?", "I've never seen your pool look so good", "The water is crystal clear".
Where do I go from here?

 

[jblizzle]

pool stores never report cya more than 99. Any chance there is a water sample size or multiplier error with your CH?

 

[Dirk]

Maybe not. I have been trying out the kit over the last few days and these particular test results puzzle me because they are so much higher than the store results.
Latest report from local chain store on 04-16-18: CH 730, CYA 99, TA 120; my results with TF-100: CH 1,925, CYA way over 100, TA 160.
I am converting from tabs to liquid chlorine and the plaster is old. I have seen no sign of algae for almost 2 years. I have gotten these comments over the last year or so: "Did you get new plaster?", "I've never seen your pool look so good", "The water is crystal clear".
Where do I go from here?

The fact that your numbers are so much different than a pool store's is more likely an indictment of their testing skills, not yours. No matter. A few more days of practice and your confidence in your own numbers will be the end of you fretting over theirs.

I've messed up the multipliers once or twice myself. Redo the tests. Re-read the instructions carefully. Do you have a cohort that can help you? Maybe read the directions to you as you do the tests, two eyes better than one sort-of-deal?

TFP experts will guide you, but it's possible a partial water change is in your near future, so you might be starting over with the numbers anyway.

Take aways: practice with your testing, trust your numbers, forget about the pool store, trust TFP...

 

[Rollercoastr]

I'm curious about CH at 1,925, but my limited experience with pool store testing quickly left me laughing.

If there's another store nearby that offers tests, I'd bet money that their tests won't agree with each other.

 

[new-to-poolcare]

pool stores never report cya more than 99. Any chance there is a water sample size or multiplier error with your CH?

This store claims their CYA test goes up to 300. I am pretty sure I followed the instructions for the CH test as written.

 

[Texas Splash]

n-t-p, did you also get the magnetic speedstir? That nifty little gadget sure makes mixing a lot nicer and actually more accurate in some cases. Your CYA certainly could be well over 100 since you've been using pucks for a very long time. It can go over 100 in just one season! For the CYA test, please follow the diluted testing method on the TFP Pool School - CYA page starting at step #8. That should help. After that, please report with all your tests one more time as follows:

FC
CC
CYA
PH
TA
CH

That formats helps us read better and keep us from going nut.

 

[new-to-poolcare]

n-t-p, did you also get the magnetic speedstir?. For the CYA test, please follow the diluted testing method on the TFP Pool School - CYA page starting at step #8.

I did get the Speedstir but didn't use it yet. Will I use it for the Weekly CL Drop Test & TA Test only? Do I keep it on constantly as I run each test?
I am reading the diluted CYA testing method now.
I also got the 009(l) pH Meter. Do I need to calibrate it out-of-the box? Do I rinse the electrode with distilled water before and after each use? Is it OK to use Kroger brand Coffee Filter Paper that unfolds to a flat, 9" x 9.5" sheet that I can cut it into pieces that I should throw away after each rinse & dry procedure?
Thank you.

 

[Texas Splash]

The speedstir is especially helpful with the CH test, so make sure to use it when you do the CH next time. I've never used the pH meter, so I can't speak to that one. Sorry. But the TF-100 pH test (5 red drops of R-0014) will work just fine as well.

 

[new-to-poolcare]

The speedstir is especially helpful with the CH test, so make sure to use it when you do the CH next time.

When I did the CH Test I mixed manually 2 times in Step 2. as per the instructions. Am I supposed to be mixing in Step 3. also?

 

[Texas Splash]

CH test should be like this: 10 ML water sample, turn on the speedstir and add 10 drops of #10, then 3 drops of #11, now it should be red/pink-ish indicating hard water. Now add a drop at a time of the #12 and count carefully, Once the sample turns from light red-ish to a light blue - you're done. Multiply that drop count by 25.

Example = 8 drops = CH of 200.

Pool School - Calcium Hardness

 

[jblizzle]

Depending on how many drops you have to add, you might need to restart the SpeedStir.
You should be stirring constantly while slowly adding the drops.

 

[Dirk]

Unless you're having trouble seeing the red/orange colors of the pH drop test, you should return that pH meter. The pH drop test is about the easiest, and fastest, of all the tests. You'll probably get good at that one first, and it's plenty accurate enough for pool maintenance. The meter will need regular calibrating, and is just another gizmo you'll have to break out each time, while you've got the test kit, and its pH drop test, out, right there, anyway.

I just don't see the value in a pH meter, when you have a good test kit. The only people that would need such a thing are those whose eyes can't distinguish shades of red.

IMO...

 

[bizzle]

A pH meter can read what a drop test can't--they aren't just for people experiencing difficulty differentiating shades of red.

The meter can test pH when FC renders the drop test ineffective (during a SLAM, for example) or when the pool's pH is out of range (top and bottom of the comparator have a .4 range and the middle shades have a .3 range). While not likely to be too important day to day, there will be times when knowing exactly what the pH is instead of somewhere between 7.8 and 8.x.