Smart stir

[MA5177]

Are these worth having? I ordered the TF-100 test kit and didn’t order the smart stir, is this Taylor from Amazon the exact same thing?
Taylor 9265 Magnetic Stirrer Speedstir Start-Up Pack w/ Stir Bar + Batteries Taylor 9265 Magnetic Stirrer Speedstir Start-Up Pack w/ Stir Bar + Batteries: Swimming Pool Liquid Test Kits: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

 

[mguzzy]

Yup, its the same thing. I highly recommend them. They really do make testing easier by doing the stirring for you. Plus you get more consistent results.. when i worked in a lab i used a stirrer for the same reason. Why not do it with your pool testing as well

 

[MA5177]

Yup, its the same thing. I highly recommend them. They really do make testing easier by doing the stirring for you. Plus you get more consistent results.. when i worked in a lab i used a stirrer for the same reason. Why not do it with your pool testing as well

When you test your pool do you grab a large sample then bring it is to the kitchen and do all the tests ? How often should I be testing my pool once I get it all balanced?

 

[Newdude]

How often should I be testing my pool once I get it all balanced?

Test and add per the FC/CYA Levels everyday. At some point you will get a feel for your pool and it’s demands and will be able to just know by looking at it and won’t have to test until 2-3 days.

You we’re going to salt, right ? If so, same thing, except once you get used to that you will be testing once a week *hoping* to get to need something and walking away dejected when you weren’t needed. Again.

The speedstir is worth its weight in gold. I can pat my head and rub my belly while counting to 100. I would much rather press a button and watch you do it while all I do is count.

 

[Jimrahbe]

MA,

The Speed Stir and Smart Stir do the same basic task, but they are different units..

I like the Smart Stir better as it has a X shaped magnet that does the stirring. It also lights the test tube better.

I "assume" it is TF-Test kits replacement for the original speed stir.

Either way, I just can't envision not having one or the other.. It makes testing almost fun, and in my mind, much more accurate and repeatable. Of course that may be because I can't swirl the test tube, and count drops at the same time..

Jim R.

 

[mguzzy]

When you test your pool do you grab a large sample then bring it is to the kitchen and do all the tests ? How often should I be testing my pool once I get it all balanced?

The nice thing about the battery powered stirrers is that you can test at the pool side if you want. That is what I do. I prefer to do all the pool stuff at the pool, test, add chems, clean baskets.. etc. Then I just put all my testing stuff away in the house. Everyone develops there own procedure. As to how often, it depends on how you chlorinate, what the conditions are, etc. @Newdude pretty much covered that. I have a SWG, so I test once a week at least if the conditions remain stable. But if there was a big pool party I may test more frequently. And after you get your pool balanced you will find that you don't need to run every single test every time. Some parameters don't change that much.

 

[MA5177]

Test and add per the FC/CYA Levels everyday. At some point you will get a feel for your pool and it’s demands and will be able to just know by looking at it and won’t have to test until 2-3 days.

You we’re going to salt, right ? If so, same thing, except once you get used to that you will be testing once a week *hoping* to get to need something and walking away dejected when you weren’t needed. Again.

The speedstir is worth its weight in gold. I can pat my head and rub my belly while counting to 100. I would much rather press a button and watch you do it while all I do is count.

Haven’t decided on going salt or not yet, I’m sure once the pool gets going and I get sick of buying liquid I will break down and buy one. I have been using tabs for years and now I see why I had so many problems

 

[Newdude]

Haven’t decided on going salt or not yet

So if we are starting with liquid chlorine (bleach) dosing, You will need everyday testing until you ‘become one’ with your pool. It doesn’t take long and you’ll start to see a pattern. Most days that week you’ll need XX of bleach. You can double up one day to make it 2 days, or blindly dump XX in for the next 3 days.

As the weather slowly gets hotter (UV from the sun increases) you’ll need a little more chlorine every other week to maintain your levels. As the season winds down, you’ll decrease the same way.

As a newb to the method, we can cut it too close for comfort sometimes because once you know exactly what is going on in your pool, you can ride the fine line. But I always recommend overshooting the target FC by a couple PPM. Personally I ‘target’ the higher of the range at the end of the day. I start a tad high and drift back down into range. @Jimrahbe says the low range # is a cliff that he does not want to fall off and I couldn’t agree more. Give yourself some buffer FC.

Once you know the methods backwards and forwards you can cut the line as close as you wish, but I never saw the need to stop what I was doing because it worked so well. The only thing I ‘wasted’ was the initial gallon or two to go higher. After that, maintaining 3-4 PPM daily is the same whether it is a FC of 3 or 9.

 

[MA5177]

So if we are starting with liquid chlorine (bleach) dosing, You will need everyday testing until you ‘become one’ with your pool. It doesn’t take long and you’ll start to see a pattern. Most days that week you’ll need XX of bleach. You can double up one day to make it 2 days, or blindly dump XX in for the next 3 days.

As the weather slowly gets hotter (UV from the sun increases) you’ll need a little more chlorine every other week to maintain your levels. As the season winds down, you’ll decrease the same way.

As a newb to the method, we can cut it too close for comfort sometimes because once you know exactly what is going on in your pool, you can ride the fine line. But I always recommend overshooting the target FC by a couple PPM. Personally I ‘target’ the higher of the range at the end of the day. I start a tad high and drift back down into range. @Jimrahbe says the low range # is a cliff that he does not want to fall off and I couldn’t agree more. Give yourself some buffer FC.

Once you know the methods backwards and forwards you can cut the line as close as you wish, but I never saw the need to stop what I was doing because it worked so well. The only thing I ‘wasted’ was the initial gallon or two to go higher. After that, maintaining 3-4 PPM daily is the same whether it is a FC of 3 or 9.

We go away a lot ( I know one more plus for salt). What do you recommend for when we go away for a few days? Bump up the FC a little extra?

 

[Newdude]

Yes. You can bump to SLAM level (totally safe) and it will fall 3-4 ppm daily and buy you a long weekend. If you happen to have your CYA a bit low you can also temporarily use your tabs now that you know what you’re doing. We preach knowledge. If you know what you are adding, and what it will do, it’s allowed if it helps you.

 

[MA5177]

Yes. You can bump to SLAM level (totally safe) and it will fall 3-4 ppm daily and buy you a long weekend. If you happen to have your CYA a bit low you can also temporarily use your tabs now that you know what you’re doing. We preach knowledge. If you know what you are adding, and what it will do, it’s allowed if it helps you.

Good to know, thanks. I still have some tabs so I guess I should hang on to them.

 

[StagsCliff]

Haven’t decided on going salt or not yet, I’m sure once the pool gets going and I get sick of buying liquid I will break down and buy one. I have been using tabs for years and now I see why I had so many problems

Like so many expensive choices, I put off going to salt for the first 10 years of my pool. I've now had salt for 10 years and you couldn't pay me to go back and not have salt. Sanitizer remains constant, no worries about waking up one day to a cloudy pool because it ran out. I bought the largest Intellichlor they make, and 10 years on the only thing I've had to do is replace the temp/flow sensor twice (and add salt once in a while). The part is pretty cheap after market and just as good as the OEM.

 

[gingrbredman]

Are these worth having?

IMHO, that little contraption is the key to repeatable, easy, and kinda fun testing. I bought mine right away when I got the test kit and haven't ever had to swirl a vial. I guess a lot of people do swirl, but for a tool that costs less than a floatie that wont make it a season, totally worth it to me.

I even bought a couple extra magnets so I can do all my tests and use one magnet per test.
Speed Stir Extra Magnets

When you test your pool do you grab a large sample then bring it is to the kitchen and do all the tests ?

That's how I do it. I have two large plastic "syringes" that I grab water with, then a small cup for my PH tester. Sometimes I do the testing right by the pool, but most of the time I take the water to the patio table, sit down, and run through all the tests. I can drop the PH tester in the cup and do the chlorine test at the same time. Multitasking isn't my specialty, but with the speed stir, it sure makes it easy.

I don't test everything everyday any more like I used to in the beginning. I had to re-order a bunch of reagents that didn't last me a whole season, but that was more because my son loved doing the tests and I was learning the tests and the TFP method. Small price to pay IMHO to master all this.

For some reason, I have been dealing high TA (which isn't the worst problem to have for chemistry) so I had been testing a few times a day for PH, TA, and then FC every few days to get everything in balance.

I have everything in one big ole box so it really is a simple job with the right tools.

 

[Kellyp]

+1 for a speed stir smart stir, any stirrer besides me. I just ordered a second in case something happens to my o.g. cause I would be lost without it.