Salt readings all over the place....

[AlbertSteg]

The Salt test in my Taylor kit has always been my favorite because it seems so easy to read. But for the past 3 weeks my results have been all over the place.

Around August 10th I was getting 2600, so I added I think 40 lbs and got 3200, which may pool store agreed with around that time.

Then I did a quick SLAM about a week later and coming out the other side around Aug,. 16th I had 2800 but was skeptical so did nothing and on the 19th got 3400 and then a day later 2600.

The water has been cold, around 73-76 over this period. Yesterday morning I added 20 lbs of salt after heating the pool overnight to around 80 degrees. And just now I took a reading . . . and got 2200.

I'm just figuring there must be something wrong with my testing technique or materials? We've had some rain this month, but not exactly torrents, and I've never seen such fluctuations before -- how can I possibly drop 500 ppm in 30 hours after *adding* salt?

 

[PoolStored]

Clean your vial with ammonia water.
How old are the reagents?
Do you have a speed stir?

Here are all the testing errors.

Water Testing Errors - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[AlbertSteg]

Thanks -- cleaning with ammonia seems to have done the trick -- I got a reasonable read of 3200 afterwards.

That Water testing page is extremely helpful! I wish they had included something like that with the test kit -- especially the bit about the static charge affecting the droplet size on the reagent bottles. As it is, only the TA test directions say anything about wiping the tip, and only the Salt test says anything about holding the dropper vertically, and neither say why, giving the impression that this two tests require special handling for some unknown reason.