TFTestkits: curious about the Taylor K-1000 and more

[iadams]

I've been a Lifetime Supporter here and started keep up my pool using the methods recommended here 8 years ago. I started with the K-2006C and bought replacement reagents through TFTeskkits since.

My test kit was pretty beat up and the vials needed replaced etc. so I bought a new TF-100 kit for this year. A few things strike me as odd, and I hope you can shed some light - I feel like I'm missing some things (or forgot over the years).

1. Why would the kit include the K-1000 and suggest using it as a daily test for Total Chlorine (TC)? The kit only reads up to 5ppm, which in the ideal range for CYA leaves this kit right at the edge. It doesn't seem like an ideal way to read FC with the TFP methods. (I've only ever done the drop test, but feel like I've now paid for a test to be included in this kit that isn't terribly useful?)
2. The instructions for the total alkalinity test say that good readings for a manually chlorinated pool should be 100-120. The Pool Math app says 50-90, recommended levels at TFP pool school say 60-80 (for plaster chlorine pool). The app and TFP are basically the same but the instructions from TFTest seem very different. Who is right?

 

[mknauss]

Thank you for your support over the years.

The K1000 is primarily for pH measurements. The OTO side is good to tell you there is chlorine in the water. I use it if I get a strange reading from the FAS-DPD test.

The levels in TFP have been updated this winter. TFTestkits has not updated the information in the kit.
TFPC recommends you follow the updated levels as shown on the website/app.

 

[splashpad]

A1) It's cheap & quick to check *if* chlorine is present with the OTO drops
A2) TA is "safe" at that level, neither high or low if the pool owner doesn't wish (or need) to micro manage... It could also be updated experiences on the app/website not transferred to instructions as well

 

[iadams]

Thanks to you both! Much appreciated.

 

[duraleigh]

Depending on your testing regimen, the OTO (chlorine test) in the K-1000 Blue Box can be EXTREMELY useful.

As an example, suppose you would like to make sure you have SOME chlorine in your pool each day. Get your comparator block filled with pool water, drop in the 5 drops of R-0600, and, if it's the same yellow intensity as it was yesterday, you are DONE!

That takes less than 30 seconds and is all the FC testing you need as long as you are just trying to maintain a level. If the intensity is darker or lighter than previously, then that should suggest to you to run the FAS/DPD test to see exactly how much FC you have.

Secondly, the K-1000's other half is the pH test. The k-2006C requires an acid demand test that, in my opinion is slower and more cumbersome than the 5 drops of phenol red.

Your choice, but the K-1000 is still the most used test in my kit