Taylor CYA test - please define 'quick glance'

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A

abfab

Gold Supporter
Nov 12, 2012
199
Ontario, Canada
I love my Taylor K2006 test kit but I always struggle with the CYA test. What is the definition of 'quick glance'? I am always wondering if I am looking too long or not long enough. I fill to each line and work my way up but am never sure if I saw the dot because I looked too long. I look straight down at waist height. Also if it is overcast my results will be different than standing in the shade with back to the sun.
Any advice would be appreciated.
 
I agree with you - I HATE this test. The margin of error has to be huge and highly user/environmentally dependent. It would be nice if someone could come up with a better test.
 
Here is my method:

The easiest way for myself is I mix the sample then grab my skinny tube with the dot. I go into my yard & find the sun then whichever way it is I move to that spot in the yard & turn my back. I then hold up my dot tube and fill to first line (100 I believe) then I lower it to my waist & look across the yard at something for a sec then glance down to my tube quick and look away again. If I saw a dot, then I raise my tube and fill to next line and so on. There is no guessing this way it is either visible or not "trust me" lol.
 
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Two other factors that I wrestle with on the CYA test:
  1. Where to hold the tube - top rim, middle, bottom? (so that your fingers don't obstruct light or influence the test)
  2. Confusion seeing the "black dot" when it is actually light reflecting from the meniscus of the solution surface
Any tips, suggestion or recommendations for either of these?
 
02slowride said:
Two other factors that I wrestle with on the CYA test:
  1. Where to hold the tube - top rim, middle, bottom? (so that your fingers don't obstruct light or influence the test)
  2. Confusion seeing the "black dot" when it is actually light reflecting from the meniscus of the solution surface
Any tips, suggestion or recommendations for either of these?
Click to expand...
I hold very top & when dot is visible it is really really visible lol
 

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The standard solution is very helpful to show you what Taylor wants you to see to mark the end of test. I learned that, for me, the standard solution looks like 40 when following the TFP recommendation of 'outdoors, back to the sun look at waist level' but it looks like 50 in my kitchen, where I usually test anyway. (I'm in the minority here)

So I test in my kitchen and then occasionally do the outside test (while trying to avoid confirmation bias!) just to see that it does indeed look like 10 lower than inside.

I also do as Christina describes and fill to specific lines (40, 50, etc) and just glance, if I see it then next line, and so on. You can do this as many times as you'd like pouring back and forth.

Not sure a more accurate but still reasonably affordable test can/will be developed. When I found TFP in 2012 I recall that I posted a thread about how subjective and difficult the CYA test is, but here we all are with sparkly clear trouble free pools 10 years later!

In sum, get the standard solution to remove some doubt and keep in mind precision is not super important as long as you don't flirt with the min FC recommendations for your CYA level.
 
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DrewLG said:
instead of slowly filling the tube until the dot at the bottom disappears, you always fill the tube completely and then move the dot up and down to find the point at which it disappears.
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This would likely make me sick LOL!

I think people struggle with this test because it's subjective and our eyes will play tricks on us. There's no nice color change to mark exactly when you're done. It's also not critical to be exactly right.

Pauls234 said:
I test in my kitchen and then occasionally do the outside test
Click to expand...
I do this as well. CONSISTENCY is the key. I like doing it in the kitchen because lighting is the same every time.

I also do the test pretty much the same way Christina does. Fill to the line, waist level. Close my eyes for a couple seconds. Open my eyes, look in the tube count one Mississippi. Look away. If I'm not sure, do it again. Still not sure, fill to the next line. If I think I see the dot at 50, I'll fill the tube up to 40. If the dot is clearly not visible with a glance, I'm done and I'll call it 50.

I run my FC a little hot. If I'm calling it 50 , keeping FC at 8 and my CYA is actually at 70, I'm still well within that target range (5-10). I'm also not so "hot" that I'm anywhere near SLAM level for <50 CYA.
 
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I think the real deal is that it really doesn't matter THAT much whether its 40 or 50. What really matters is if its 40 or 140.
I think once you get the hang of it, it does get easier, and once you get it to a certain level, it doesn't swing daily like FC does. If you test today and it's 40, and tomorrow its 50..well that's within the margin of error. If you test tomorrow and it's 0...well then Houston, we have a problem.

Like some other suggest, I fill to a line, and then LOOK. fill to the next, and then LOOK. I don't look at the dot while filling.

If you have to look for it, like, its not OBVIOUSLY there, then its NOT there and take that as your number. The shadows and looking down a tube all conspire to make you THINK you see a dot that you KNOW is there !
Don't try to extrapolate between lines either. If it's almost gone at 40, and completely gone at 30, assume 40 and move on.

Always err on the side of Lower Higher CYA - a couple extra PPM of FC isn't going to hurt anything, other than algae ;)
 
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02slowride said:
Two other factors that I wrestle with on the CYA test:
  1. Where to hold the tube - top rim, middle, bottom? (so that your fingers don't obstruct light or influence the test)
  2. Confusion seeing the "black dot" when it is actually light reflecting from the meniscus of the solution surface
Any tips, suggestion or recommendations for either of these?
Click to expand...
I have experimented with where to hold it because the reflection is part of what confuses me.
When I look straight down I don't know if I should be looking for 0.5 seconds, 1 second....?
 
DrewLG said:
Another suggestion: Some folks may find Taylor's 4088 CYA tube easier to use. Test method is the same, except that instead of slowly filling the tube until the dot at the bottom disappears, you always fill the tube completely and then move the dot up and down to find the point at which it disappears.
View attachment 498045
Click to expand...
This is what my pool store uses. I read that this requires more reagent. I live in Canada and buy the big bottle from TF Test Kits but try to use the minimum I have to because of the hassle to buy it from the US.
 
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