onoff Posted March 27, 2010 Report Share Posted March 27, 2010 Hi, I'm trying to find a good test kit and I keep coming across Lamotte ColorQ PRO 7-PLUS (Code 2064) Digital Water Analysis Unit Lamotte Website. Does anyone have any experience with this kit? Is it even accurate? I was looking for a Taylor k-2006, but every online store I have visited has it on backorder. Thanks Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chem geek Posted March 27, 2010 Report Share Posted March 27, 2010 Did you try and get the Taylor K-2006 from Amato Industries? How about from Swimming Pool Supply Comapny? Or from poolcenter.com? Or what about the TF-100 kit (based on Taylor reagents) from TFTestkits? Are they really all on backorder? I wonder if Taylor has a production problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hd714 Posted March 28, 2010 Report Share Posted March 28, 2010 I do own one,and have found it to be very accurate and easy to use. The results with the ColorQ always match my drop kit. I just find the ColorQ easier to use. Also, if you run back to back tests with the Colorq, the results are almost identical. Hope this helps, HD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cpuKEN Posted March 28, 2010 Report Share Posted March 28, 2010 I do own one,and have found it to be very accurate and easy to use. The results with the ColorQ always match my drop kit. I just find the ColorQ easier to use. Also, if you run back to back tests with the Colorq, the results are almost identical. Hope this helps, HD That is good to know, I'm always on the lookout for an easy and accurate test system. Doesn't the ColorQ cost 3X more then the Taylor kit? (purchase price and refills?) thanks Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onoff Posted April 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 Just about every online store I went to, had the Talor k2006 kits on Back-order. So, I went ahead and ordered a Lamotte ColorQ PRO 7-PLUS after reading some other posts about its quality. I finally got the Talor k2006 kit that was on back-order, the online company that shipped it didn't even tell me it was shipped until it showed up at my door. Cost was around $60. The ColorQ PRO 7 just arived, its cost was around $130. I'll have time to play with both of them tomorrow and I'll post my results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chem geek Posted April 7, 2010 Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 There are several threads about the LaMotte ColorQ at Trouble Free Pool. This one has the most info while there is also this one, this one, this one and this one. It seems that it's a decent testing system except for Calcium Hardness (CH) where higher CH readings above 300 ppm read too low. There were some other reports of bad reagents with the CH reading too high, but that was just one case. The CYA test also is a bit flaky, sometimes reading too low. The pH and chlorine tests are the best. LaMotte claims an accuracy on the TA of +/- 15 ppm and on the CH and CYA of +/- 20 ppm. The Taylor test is +/- 10 ppm for TA and CH while CYA is +/- 15 ppm. It will be interesting to see your results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novicepoolguy Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 I am a first time home user that bought the color pro7 kit because I was having a hard time reading the color strips. Now that I have numbers I do not know what to do with them. I have downloaded a trail of the perfect pool s/w 7.1 and found two web versions. I have not found much discussion about tools for the home user that help us understand the numbers and what to do. For example, my numbers were, BR=14.6, Tcl=4.32, ph=7.4, aly=107, ch=113 and cya=39. From what I can see the BR is high, but we did just add 1/2 cup of Spa Essentials Brominating Concentrate yesterday. My pool is about 1,300 gals. I did find the ColorQ easy to use, again, I am just confused about what to do now. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry K. Posted February 6, 2011 Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 Plug your numbers into the "pool Calculator" at http://www.thepoolcalculator.com/ and follow the suggestions. (I also have a Color Pro, and like it...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novicepoolguy Posted February 6, 2011 Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 Plug your numbers into the "pool Calculator" at http://www.thepoolcalculator.com/ and follow the suggestions. (I also have a Color Pro, and like it...) Thanks for the link. The Trouble Free Pool http://www.troublefreepool.com/ site looks like it will be a big help for me. They mention you should measure CC - Combined Chlorine. The Color Pro has test 2 FCL/br and test 3 Total Chlorine. How do you measure CC? And does my tCl number look off? I have an inside pool so I use BR instead of Chlorine. After I measure the BR, to measure tCL, I had to turn off the machine, start it up again and recalculate with another tube of clean water, then get to the tCL test. Just a bit clumsy but workable. But I wonder about the number. I wonder if I have to multiply it by a factor because I use Bromine. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chem geek Posted February 8, 2011 Report Share Posted February 8, 2011 Combined Chlorine (CC) = Total Chlorine (TC) - Free Chlorine (FC). However you are using bromine instead of chlorine means that the CC is usually zero since bromamine gets reported as FC just like bromine (hypobromous acid). At any rate, when using bromine you don't usually worry about the CC number, or in your case the difference between FC and TC. Multiply all of your numbers by 2.25 to convert to bromine units. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Hot Tub Posted February 9, 2011 Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 I use the color q frequently, it has been very accurate, except for the CYA test, always way off. You must make sure to clean the tubes well, they will discolor, and make sure to wipe them dry befor putting them into the machine, water on the lens screws things up, I had to send mine out to be fixed. Its nice not to have to match colors which many people have an issue with. You dont have to multiply to get bromine, the machine does it for you, you just skip the test for CC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novicepoolguy Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 Combined Chlorine (CC) = Total Chlorine (TC) - Free Chlorine (FC). However you are using bromine instead of chlorine means that the CC is usually zero since bromamine gets reported as FC just like bromine (hypobromous acid). At any rate, when using bromine you don't usually worry about the CC number, or in your case the difference between FC and TC. Multiply all of your numbers by 2.25 to convert to bromine units. Thanks for the response. I have two follow up questions. Since I have a Bromine it looks like I should be measuring just BR, PH, ALY and CH. This article was helpful http://www.troublefreepool.com/how-do-i-use-bromine-in-my-spa-or-pool-t102.html. My numbers are now BR=9.4. PH=7.7 Aly=135 and CH=144. The only change has been to rise the water temp from around 78 to 84. Since the ColorQ is giving me a BR number I do not have to do any multiplying, right? On the other hand, I am using the pool calculator, as recommended above, the pool calculator goal for FC is 3 to 7. Is that the same for Bromine? BTW, I like the ColorQ but I ordered a Taylor K-2106 just as a cross check. Thanks for your time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 This article was helpful http://www.troublefr...pool-t102.html. link is not working but this one does. Thanks! I wrote that back when I was a mod on that board. Seems Molson brought it back from the ashes after I left. You might want to check out this one on here that is a bit more recent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Hot Tub Posted February 11, 2011 Report Share Posted February 11, 2011 The more recent one, the poster was using the aqua check strip reader, this one is not as accurate as the color q, first you have to did the strip at the same time as pressing the "go" button and get the strip in straight before it starts to read, Alk is never right on this one, I actually asked them about it at a trade show, and they said they knew there was an issue, but have developed new strips. The color q meter is using the same reagents as a test kit for most the test, you are just having the machine read the color for you rather than your eye, which is more accurate for people who are color blind, or have difficulties telling the colors, even tayors wise lab, i sometimes find the PH hard to tell, specially 7.6-7.8. I have had no real issues with the color Q tester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted February 11, 2011 Report Share Posted February 11, 2011 The more recent one, the poster was using the aqua check strip reader, this one is not as accurate as the color q, first you have to did the strip at the same time as pressing the "go" button and get the strip in straight before it starts to read, Alk is never right on this one, I actually asked them about it at a trade show, and they said they knew there was an issue, but have developed new strips. The color q meter is using the same reagents as a test kit for most the test, you are just having the machine read the color for you rather than your eye, which is more accurate for people who are color blind, or have difficulties telling the colors, even tayors wise lab, i sometimes find the PH hard to tell, specially 7.6-7.8. I have had no real issues with the color Q tester LaMotte has two versions, one with liquid reagents and one with tablets and they are available in several configurations of tests provided. IMHO, the liquid reagent kit is more reliable. However, Lamotte uses colorimetric tests for chlorine, Alkalinity,and Calcium hardness while Taylor uses titration tests that do not require color matching. The titration tests also will have fewer problems in producing accurate results and it is the fact that these tests in the ColorQ (and also the LaMotte Waterlink systems) are colorimetric is their shortcoming. LaMotte has come out with their own "professional" FAS-DPD kit (7022) that also uses titratons for Alkalinity and Calcium Hardness, very much like the Taylor K-2006. They only test that uses color matching in either of these kits is the pH test. If you really have that much difficulty in reading this test (I can read it without a comparator since I can identify the colors on their own. With enough experience I really believe just about anyone can that is not colorblind) then perhaps an investment in a decent pH meter and calibrating solutions would be a better solution. Just my 2 cents! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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