TF-100 Free Chlorine reading off

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StayPuftMM

0
Oct 23, 2018
3
REDONDO BEACH
Hi,
I am new here and I am having some problems with my TF-100 kit. The paper instructions were wet when I opened it. I am not sure which chemical leaked. The inside of the chlorine only cylinder was slightly wet on the inside too. When I filled it with pool water it turned bright yellow, if that helps. I rinsed it out a bunch. The R-0870 powder was a big rock when I opened it. I smashed it up with the scooper to get it back to a powder. I don't know if that is normal or not. Anyway, it took 44 drops of R-0871 to get the water to turn clear on the chlorine drop test. Needless to say I was worried, called my pool guy to complain, and took a sample of the water to Leslie Pool's for testing. I tried this test 10 times and always the same result. My pool guy and Leslie pools both said the chlorine was at 5 ppm.

So I emailed TFTestkits and they sent me a new R-0870 and R-0871. When I tested the chlorine now (2 weeks since the last time I checked it) it took 20 drops (so 10 ppm) which still seems high. I have a poolmaster kit and it is showing 2 ppm. The Taylor kit that it comes with is pretty difficult to see the difference in the colors but it appears to be between 2-5 ppm. I haven't taken a sample yet to Leslie Pool Supply for their reading but I really doubt it's 10 ppm. I've been using the poolmasters kit for a long time and the color is significantly lighter than it was when it was 5ppm.

What am I doing wrong?
 
MM,

Welcome to TFP... a great place to find the answers to all of your Test Kit questions... no matter which Beach you are from... :shark:

The FAS-DPD test is the most accurate test, so something is not right.. :confused:

Just to make sure... you are using the test where you add 10 ml to the test tube and then divide the number of drops by 2. When you run the test you add one heaping little dipper of the R-0870 powder to the 10 ml of water and the result turns pink.. You then add the R-0871 one drop at a time while holding the bottle vertically so that the dropper end points down. Is this what you do?

Are you swirling by hand or do you have the Speed-Stir?

I would try the test using the cylinder not marked for chlorine only.. You don't want to do that all the time, but once or twice won't hurt as long as you do a good job of rinsing it out.

You do not want to take a long time to do this test. About one drop per second.. Not one drop, swirl a few times, check the color, then another drop, etc.. You want to be swirling and dropping at the same time. Something that is hard for me to do and why I have the Speed-Stir.. :p

Here is a list to additional directions... Pool School - FAS-DPD Chlorine Test

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
If you had a spill inside the kit, have you thoroughly cleaned and washed the cylinders? You have new R-0870 and R-0871 so the test should be easy to make VERY accurate.

Comparing Leslies results and your poolmaster results is not productive. The TF-100 FAS/DPD test is the most accurate on the market so learn to trust you own testing. The test instructions in the TF-100 are laminated plastic, not paper, so are you saying that is damaged?

Clean and wash everything you can so you are not testing with contaminated products and then call TFTestkits with any chemistry that you think needs replacing and they will take care of you.

Start fresh with your testing and please don't confuse your results by looking to Leslies for accuracy.....it's not there.

If you like, PM me and i will walk you through the testing step by step.
 
Thank you for all the rapid replies.

The laminated instructions are fine. There was also a piece of paper in there with a list of contents and some instructions like make sure it's complete and stuff like that. That piece of paper was wet. I contacted TFTest Kits and they sent me brand new R-0870 powder and R-0871.

I am only filling the graduated cylinder up to the 10ml line.

I added 1 little blue scooper of the powder and the water instantly turned pink.

I then dropped in the little cylinder for the speed stir and fired it up. I hold the solution vertical and slowly add 1 drop at a time. I may have been going slower than 1 a second, maybe 1 every 2 seconds (I don't remember but I was deliberately taking my time). It took 20 drops last night on 3 different tests.

I had only been rinsing everything out with pool water a bunch. I can hand wash the cylinder in the sink with soap if that is advisable.

I can record a video of me running the test with my phone tonight and upload it to youtube.
 
Sounds like you are doing the test correctly. So believe your test results.

Do not wash the cylinders with soap. If needed, in the future, you can use rubbing alcohol to clean them. For now, washing them out with pool water or fresh water is fine.
 
Most times just rinsing the tubes with pool water is enough to clear out any residual chemical there after testing, but when my tubes get discolored from continual FC testing the rubbing alcohol Marty mentioned works wonders. Just make sure to rinse afterwards.

Its a great test kit and absolutely the one to trust.

Maddie :flower:
 
So my pool is really at 10ppm? The poolmaster kit doesn't read anything close to that currently.

The reason I found this site was my poolmaster kit only went up to 5ppm and when I tested the water the water was red (dark yellow/orange was all the color scale went up to on my kit) so I panicked. I have been taking my 2 year old kid in the pool every single day for the past 6 months and have been paying way more attention to the pool as a result. Before I had my kid it was just me and I didn't care so much, but with him I wanted to make sure it was safe and ideal. I have a local pool service that was highly recommended but I had a few hiccups with their service. So I started researching and monitoring the pool to check up on their work. One day the poolmaster kit was reading way darker than the scale read. So I ordered the recommended kit. It took 44 drops the first time I used the kit. That would imply 22ppm. My pool guy said that was impossible and so I took a sample to Leslie Pool to verify what my pool guy was saying. Both Leslie and my pool guy said it was at 5ppm. It has been a few weeks and the chlorine has come down since. The poolmaster kit reads 2-3ppm and is back into the range I am use to seeing on a regular basis. It seems weird that this kit is showing about 5x the amount of chlorine that my pool guy, leslies, and the poolmaster kit is showing.
 
The FAS-DPD is the most accurate test for FC available. Are you doing the CC test after the FC test?

10 ppm FC is really no issue as long as you have some CYA in the water.

It is safe to swim in a pool when the FC is at shock level based on your CYA. See [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]
 

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Is the poolmaster test a pink color matching? If so, that is a DPD test and the color can be "bleached out" at high chlorine levels.
The yellow color matching in the K-1001 is an OTO test and it will not bleach out, at a 10ppm FC, I would expect that to show a deep yellow.

Trust the FAS-DPD ... sounds like your FC is 10ppm. Perhaps try to add the drops a little quicker and verify the CC portion of the test too.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, just read your last post. Sounds like the poolmaster is some form of OTO, so the darker red would be a high chlorine level. That is just a cheap test and not very trustworthy.

Likely the pool guy and Leslies were not using the FAS-DPD and their tests max out at 5ppm.
 
I used Leslies for a few months before I got the TF-100. They used a simple OTO test and they only had 4 answers for FC levels... 0,1,5,10. Anything else was just too confusing for them to figure out. Basically their kit had a 1,2,3,5,10 color scale. Anything over 5 was a 10 to them. It was never accurate.
 
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