Silly Speedstir question

[lhlsea]

Just got my speedstir recently after reading here how amazing it is and am immediately in love with it.

I usually do my tests poolside, dumping the water into the pool and rinsing the cylinder after each test.

With the speedstir there is the magnetic white pill, which I obviously don’t want to dump into the pool. So I have been putting a few fingers over the top of the cylinder as I dump the water the water so I can catch the pill. But - then the tested water gets all over my fingers, which I had previously been trying to avoid (perhaps unnecessarily?)

So my (I said it would be silly) question - is there a better way I should be doing the dump and rinse after each test?

Thanks!
Lewis

 

[Sun_Devil]

I dump out the chemicals through my fingers like you do, but I suppose you could get a small fine mesh strainer to catch the magnetic stirrer. You can pick one up for about $5.

 

[Richard320]

Do what I did: buy a few more stirbars. I can run all my tests before I have to do dishes. And when you empty the tubes, you hold them side-by-side and the stirbars grab each other and stay in place while you pour out the chemicals. Look on eBay. 8mm*25mm magnetic stirbar

 

[lhlsea]

Interesting and creative ideas - thanks!

 

[riley00dog]

I do my testing in an area of the kitchen that we don’t use for food prep. After almost tipping the magnet down the sink a few times I am in the habit now of using one of those plug hole strainer things. If I forget the good thing is that it does seem to attach itself to stainless steel sink lol. Pool side... I would give the kids a magnet or something and send them in after it if I accidentally dumped it.

 

[kellyfair]

You guys dump your tested water, with reagents, back into the pool?

 

[GOONiE]

You guys dump your tested water, with reagents, back into the pool?

such a minute amount, why not. lots worse in skin care products lol

but back to the point, get a magnet or another stir bar and hold it to the bottom of the cylinder. stir bar won't fall out.

 

[jblizzle]

I do all my testing in the kitchen by the sink. When I'm done with the test I hold the vial underneath the faucet until it overflows and turns clear and then I dumped the pill into my hand.

 

[lightmaster]

I do all my testing in the kitchen by the sink. When I'm done with the test I hold the vial underneath the faucet until it overflows and turns clear and then I dumped the pill into my hand.

Ditto to what I do, but I have multiple vials and bars like Richard, so gonna try holding them together so they don't slide out at all. If I were to drop one though, we have those stainless steel mesh food catches in our sinks drain, so it wouldn't ever go down the drain anyway.

And as careful as I am with what chemicals go into my pool, no way I'd ever be dumping the reagents back into my pool. Honestly not sure if it would have any negative side effects years down the line with those reagents building up in the pool, but I still wouldn't feel comfortable with it going in. And no one in my family uses "skin care products" besides shampoo and body wash that was lastly used the night before, so nothing like that's getting in my pool either, lol.

 

[Brentr]

Wow all great suggestions guys. I will take note but honestly once you get the hang of it you will find that it will take you less than 10 mins to perform full testing

 

[OrangeAndBlue]

I do exactly what the OP does. Still have all my fingers.

 

[pabeader]

I have a small, 1 quart, bucket I got from Home Depot and I dump the tested chemicals into that, if I'm very careful I can keep the stirrer in the test vial. Then dump the pill onto a paper towel. Once I get all the tests complete I just dump the bucket into the flower bed. They seem to like it. All testing is done outside by the pool.

 

[KerryR]

I avoid putting the tested water and reagents back into the pool- whatever we put in there tends to stay for a very long time. Consequently, longitudinal accumulation and exposure seems like a reasonable consideration.

I don't know the impact of ingestion and/or skin absorption and/or mucous membrane absorption of these reagents, especially over time, but I notice that many of the reagents' labels suggest contact avoidance, and I can't see any reason not to avoid longitudinal exposure when it's so easy to dump the tested water virtually anywhere else other than into the pool.

 

[jblizzle]

I agree. Reagents are best into the sink or into the ground

 

[phonedave]

I collect a cup of water from my pool, and then walk over to the pool shed. I do all the tests in the shed (except CYA of course) on a shelf, where I also have a clipboard hanging in case I want to record the results. It's also where I have a kitchen scale if I need to weigh out things such as CYA.

I fill the vial from my cup, run the test, fill the vial to the top with water from the cup, and pour it out through my fingers onto the grass. Then I fill the vial with fresh water, shake, and dump, then move to the next test.

Doing it in the shed keeps everything in one place, and if it is raining, keeps me dry.

Been doing it that way going on maybe 5-6 years now - still have all my fingers too.

-dave

 

[Poolzzz]

5-6 years is not a long time for longitudinal effects. And they may be more subtle than just "losing fingers". Anyway, I test in the kitchen and when emptying put the vial under the running tap until it overflows and runs clear. I then dump the magnetic bean into my hand. The strainer in the sink prevents any worry about losing it.

 

[krisiak11]

I do all my testing in the kitchen by the sink. When I'm done with the test I hold the vial underneath the faucet until it overflows and turns clear and then I dumped the pill into my hand.

This is also what I do.

 

[lightmaster]

Some tests like the salt drop based test you definitely don't want on your skin. Silver Nitrate is a highly photosensitive chemical and stains anything and everything it touches permanently. When it's dry and come in contact with sunlight, it turns pitch black. If there's any excess silver nitrate in your salt test that doesn't react, you're liable to end up with solid black fingers for several days until your skin cells natural die and are replaced little by little.

 

[MannyT]

Some tests like the salt drop based test you definitely don't want on your skin. Silver Nitrate is a highly photosensitive chemical and stains anything and everything it touches permanently. When it's dry and come in contact with sunlight, it turns pitch black. If there's any excess silver nitrate in your salt test that doesn't react, you're liable to end up with solid black fingers for several days until your skin cells natural die and are replaced little by little.

I have had this happen to me. I had freckles on my fingers for a couple of days. Lol.

 

[lightmaster]

I have had this happen to me. I had freckles on my fingers for a couple of days. Lol.

I've done it on purpose to freak out my 4 year old, who instead of freaking out thought it was awesome and tried to get me to put some on his hand.... yea, he likes to make plans like that backfire, lol. It itched a good bit after it dried for several hours, so definitely not doing that again.