Taylor Ph Drop Count Test?

[RuBaDuB]

Hi all..I have a Taylor 1004 test kit and pH is done by trying to compare colors, like test strips. Well, I am having just as much trouble with this as my strips...nothing seems to match and I feel like I'm guessing at my pH reading. Do any of the other "affordable" Taylor kits have a pH test that is counting drops, like the TA test? Online, it looks like the 2006, 2106, 2115, etc all have pH color blocks for reading colors.

I often see people on here saying they have pH of 7.3 or 7.5 or 7.7, etc...how do you get these results with a color block that only goes 7.2, 7.4, etc..?

THanks!

[chem geek]

Though it would be very nice to have a count-the-drops based test for pH, all of the standard tests for pools and spas use a phenol red indicator against either a color block such as this one that has comparators of 6.8, 7.2, 7.5, 7.8, 8.2 in the Taylor K-1000 or this one that has comparators of 7.0, 7.2, 7.4, 7.6, 7.8, 8.0 in the Taylor K-2006.

If you are having trouble deciding on the color, you can use the acid and base demand drops (in the Taylor K-20xx series) to shift the color up or down to help figure it out. After a while, you get used to seeing the pH. It's mostly a matter of how much red their is in the color. 6.8 is very yellow, 7.0 is still looking yellow but just starting with a hint of red, 7.2 is hinting orange, 7.4 is clearly orange, 7.5 is orange with a hint of red, 7.6 is a reddish-orange, 7.8 is much more clearly red, while 8.0 and 8.2 are clearly red at increasing intensity. When people quote intermediate values, it's either because they are using a different color block or are estimating colors between two on the color block.

[RuBaDuB]

Though it would be very nice to have a count-the-drops based test for pH, all of the standard tests for pools and spas use a phenol red indicator against either a color block such as this one that has comparators of 6.8, 7.2, 7.5, 7.8, 8.2 in the Taylor K-1000 or this one that has comparators of 7.0, 7.2, 7.4, 7.6, 7.8, 8.0 in the Taylor K-2006.

If you are having trouble deciding on the color, you can use the acid and base demand drops (in the Taylor K-20xx series) to shift the color up or down to help figure it out. After a while, you get used to seeing the pH. It's mostly a matter of how much red their is in the color. 6.8 is very yellow, 7.0 is still looking yellow but just starting with a hint of red, 7.2 is hinting orange, 7.4 is clearly orange, 7.5 is orange with a hint of red, 7.6 is a reddish-orange, 7.8 is much more clearly red, while 8.0 and 8.2 are clearly red at increasing intensity. When people quote intermediate values, it's either because they are using a different color block or are estimating colors between two on the color block.

Thanks, my problem is that my test water color is very "watery" looking compared to the color block, so it's hard to tell where it fits. Then, depending on what I hold the block up against, it effects my reading. For example, if I hold it up to the sky it might look like 7.2, but if I hold it against my hand it might look like 7.6, or against a white door it might look like 7.8!! Holding against my hand seems to "darken" my test water color the most and make it match the color block, but I'm afraid that maybe I'm scewing the results?

[PaulR]

Good light e.g. outdoors against a white background works best for me. Some people also say holding it up to a clear northern sky works, but I have trouble with that method.

--paulr

[Elbyron]

For best results, I like to hold the sample a few inches in front of a brightly-lit white piece of paper. I'll usually put the paper up against the wall next to a light fixture, and hold the sample in front of it. Sometimes I find the sample to be a less intense color than the block, but if you have a bright background behind both then it's easier to see the shade. When the pH is too high I find it harder to see exactly which shade of "pink" it's closest too, but when it's on target then the orange is easy to match.

[Pool-newb]

Another possibility is an electronic pH meter. I have one that measures pH and ORP very quickly (just dunk it into a sample of the water and the reading stabilizes in a few seconds). ORP generally gives an indication of how well the chlorine is working but there are a lot of factors that that go into ORP.

Still, just for the pH (and temperature) values alone it's great, and even reads down to ±0.01 with an accuracy of ±0.02. Google "handheld pH meter" and you'll find a pletheora of these small instruments at a range of prices.