Best Water Test Kits (taylor K2005)?

[Venissa]

What is the BEST test kit for spas? Would most of you agree its the Taylor K2005 test kit? If so, any suggestions on best prices to order the kit online?

I need a better testing kit than the one I have now!

Thanks!

[waterbear]

What is the BEST test kit for spas? Would most of you agree its the Taylor K2005 test kit? If so, any suggestions on best prices to order the kit online?

I need a better testing kit than the one I have now!

Thanks!

IMHO, if you are using chlorine then the Taylor K-2006, if you are using bromine then the Taylor K-2106. Both these kits use the FAS-DPD test instead of the DPD test. It is more accurate and since it is a titration test (similar to the Total Alkalinity and Calcium Hardness tests) with a distinct color change from pink to colorless there is no problem determining the exact sanitizer level as there is with the colormetric (color matching) DPD test in the K-2005. Also, FAS-DPD test does not have the bleachout at high sanitizer levels problem that the DPD test suffers from! All other tests in the K-2006 are identical to the ones in the K-2005. The K-2106 is made for bromine so it does not include the Cyanuric Acid test, which is not needed nor used in a bromine system but contains the other water tests included in the K-2006 and K-2005. The K-2005 is an excellent test kit but the two kits that Taylor makes that used FSD-DPD are FAR superior!

[pool]

IMHO, if you are using chlorine then the Taylor K-2006, if you are using bromine then the Taylor K-2106. Both these kits use the FAS-DPD test instead of the DPD test. It is more accurate and since it is a titration test (similar to the Total Alkalinity and Calcium Hardness tests) with a distinct color change from pink to colorless there is no problem determining the exact sanitizer level as there is with the colormetric (color matching) DPD test in the K-2005. Also, FAS-DPD test does not have the bleachout at high sanitizer levels problem that the DPD test suffers from! All other tests in the K-2006 are identical to the ones in the K-2005. The K-2106 is made for bromine so it does not include the Cyanuric Acid test, which is not needed nor used in a bromine system but contains the other water tests included in the K-2006 and K-2005. The K-2005 is an excellent test kit but the two kits that Taylor makes that used FSD-DPD are FAR superior!

I have a k-2006 service kit for my pool. What extra do I need for my hot tub which uses bromine?

[waterbear]

I have a k-2006 service kit for my pool. What extra do I need for my hot tub which uses bromine?

Purchase a Taylor K-1517A (or K-1517C if you want the 2 oz bottle of titrant) which is the FAS-DPD test for bromine. The difference between the chlorine test and the bromine test is that the bromine test uses R-872 reagent for the titrant and the chlorine test uses R-871 and also uses R-0003 reagent. Both use exactly the same DPD powder. When testing bromine only total bromine is tested so there is only one titration necessary.

The tests for pH, acid and base demand, total alkalinity, and calcium hardness are identical for both chlorine and bromine and are exactly the same in the K-2006 kit for chlorine and the K-2106 kit for bromine. The bromine kit does not include the test for cyanuric acid since this is not needed in bromine systems. Since you already have the K-2006 adding the FAS-DPD bromine test will give you everything you need to test your bromine spa.

[robin4747]

do you think that test strips are really not acurate?

[waterbear]

do you think that test strips are really not acurate?

It's not that the strips are not accurate (they are if used properly), they are not precise. Accurate means that they prodoce the same results for the same test conditions. Precision is how small a measurement they can make. For example, let's look at a drop based kit for Total Alkalinit. I will use the Taylor K-2000 series as an example. They use a titration test with a color change from green to red so the endpoint is easy to read. Each drop used represents 10 ppm of total alkalinity so if you get a reading of 100 ppm total alkalinity it is accurate to +/- 10 ppm. On the LaMotte InstaTEST 6, LaMotte InstatTEST 6 and Aquachek Select the graduations on the color scale are 40 ppm apart. In reality this is +/- 40 ppm and the colors can change (get lighter) if you let water fall off the strips and do not hold them horizontally (a particular problem with the LaMotte strips I have used) so that decreases both your precision and accuracy. pH is even worse.Both the LaMotte 6 and the Aquacheck jump from a pH of 7.2 to 7.8 on their scale and the colors are very close and very difficult to determin. The compartor used in the Taylor kit goes from 7.0 to 8.0 in .2 increments and the color changes are much easier to read and compare, making it easy to get precise pH measurements! The chlorine test on the strips can bleach out and give a lower reading if not read in the correct time span or continue to darken and give a higher reading, depending on the reagent chemistry used (this is not brand specific, LaMotte uses different chlorine test reagents on the InstaTEST 5 and InstaTEST 6 and Aquacheck uses different reagents than LaMotte 6 for the chlorine tests.) None of these strips will read above 10 ppm and the color scale is graduated in large increments. The FAS-DPD chlorine (or bromine) test in the Taylor K-2006 (K-2106 for bromine) is a titration test. You count the number of drops that cause the test sample to change from pink to colorless. It is an easy test to read and it is accurate to .2 ppm (.5 ppm for bromine) and can work with sanitizer levels up to around 50 ppm (important if you are shocking the water or trying to kill algae!).

Strip do have a place. They are fine for a quick daily water check to see if your water is within range but they are not sufficient for making changes to your water balance! If you use strips for this purpose ( I do) but haul out the big test kit if the strips show anything is not OK and use the big kit once a week for full water testing the strips can be a real timesaver! Also, if you do this you will soon learn which of the tests on the strips are giving yoo valuable info (the chlorine/bromine tests are pretty close, usually, and let you know if you sanitizer is in the ballpark or not) and which are just not really worthwhile (pH is a prime example of this. Unless the pH is REALLY out of range the colors are just too close together so you only have a gestimate that your pH is ok or out of whack!)

Hope this explains the difference and is helpful to you.

[104 Degrees]

It's not that the strips are not accurate (they are if used properly), they are not precise. Accurate means that they prodoce the same results for the same test conditions. Precision is how small a measurement they can make. For example, let's look at a drop based kit for Total Alkalinit. I will use the Taylor K-2000 series as an example. They use a titration test with a color change from green to red so the endpoint is easy to read. Each drop used represents 10 ppm of total alkalinity so if you get a reading of 100 ppm total alkalinity it is accurate to +/- 10 ppm. On the LaMotte InstaTEST 6, LaMotte InstatTEST 6 and Aquachek Select the graduations on the color scale are 40 ppm apart. In reality this is +/- 40 ppm and the colors can change (get lighter) if you let water fall off the strips and do not hold them horizontally (a particular problem with the LaMotte strips I have used) so that decreases both your precision and accuracy. pH is even worse.Both the LaMotte 6 and the Aquacheck jump from a pH of 7.2 to 7.8 on their scale and the colors are very close and very difficult to determin. The compartor used in the Taylor kit goes from 7.0 to 8.0 in .2 increments and the color changes are much easier to read and compare, making it easy to get precise pH measurements! The chlorine test on the strips can bleach out and give a lower reading if not read in the correct time span or continue to darken and give a higher reading, depending on the reagent chemistry used (this is not brand specific, LaMotte uses different chlorine test reagents on the InstaTEST 5 and InstaTEST 6 and Aquacheck uses different reagents than LaMotte 6 for the chlorine tests.) None of these strips will read above 10 ppm and the color scale is graduated in large increments. The FAS-DPD chlorine (or bromine) test in the Taylor K-2006 (K-2106 for bromine) is a titration test. You count the number of drops that cause the test sample to change from pink to colorless. It is an easy test to read and it is accurate to .2 ppm (.5 ppm for bromine) and can work with sanitizer levels up to around 50 ppm (important if you are shocking the water or trying to kill algae!).

Strip do have a place. They are fine for a quick daily water check to see if your water is within range but they are not sufficient for making changes to your water balance! If you use strips for this purpose ( I do) but haul out the big test kit if the strips show anything is not OK and use the big kit once a week for full water testing the strips can be a real timesaver! Also, if you do this you will soon learn which of the tests on the strips are giving yoo valuable info (the chlorine/bromine tests are pretty close, usually, and let you know if you sanitizer is in the ballpark or not) and which are just not really worthwhile (pH is a prime example of this. Unless the pH is REALLY out of range the colors are just too close together so you only have a gestimate that your pH is ok or out of whack!)

Hope this explains the difference and is helpful to you.

Theres a digital tester coming out soon. its called the Color Q

[waterbear]

Theres a digital tester coming out soon. its called the Color Q

Nothing new. It't just a colorimeter for reading the colors of the test. LaMotte (and Palintest and Hach) have had colorimeters for pool water testing for a long time now. The expensive ones work well. Teh inexpensive ones I have seen have been dreadful! I will wait and see how this one is and how much it costs. With test equipment like this it really is a case of "You get what you pay for". I am not very impressed with LaMotte's Tracer and Pocket tester line. They do not keep calibaration very long. The Lamotte Waterlab and Waterlink testers are excellent but very expensive. I will wait and see but I am not holding my breath! I use the Waterlink at work for water testing, btw, but use Taylor kits at home (can't afford the waterlink!) and I have compared my test results on my own pool ans spa. The waterlink and the Taylor give me practially identical results!

[104 Degrees]

Nothing new. It't just a colorimeter for reading the colors of the test. LaMotte (and Palintest and Hach) have had colorimeters for pool water testing for a long time now. The expensive ones work well. Teh inexpensive ones I have seen have been dreadful! I will wait and see how this one is and how much it costs. With test equipment like this it really is a case of "You get what you pay for". I am not very impressed with LaMotte's Tracer and Pocket tester line. They do not keep calibaration very long. The Lamotte Waterlab and Waterlink testers are excellent but very expensive. I will wait and see but I am not holding my breath! I use the Waterlink at work for water testing, btw, but use Taylor kits at home (can't afford the waterlink!) and I have compared my test results on my own pool ans spa. The waterlink and the Taylor give me practially identical results!

I have heard 120 bucks and it will be out the spring of 07. it would be nice to have a Digital read out on ph,chlorine,alk,calcium hardness.

Thanks waterbear.

[David-UK]

I have heard 120 bucks and it will be out the spring of 07. it would be nice to have a Digital read out on ph,chlorine,alk,calcium hardness.

Thanks waterbear.

Hi I have read your posts with interest.

Here is a Digimeter tester I am thinking of ordering in the UK - any comments would be appreciated.

http://www.poolstore.co.uk/ishop/691/shopscr414.html

ALSO

anyone heard of this plastic basket metsals dispenser 'POOL WIZARD'- any good for residential chlorine pools?

http://www.poolwizard.net/

Dave

[waterbear]

Hi I have read your posts with interest.

Here is a Digimeter tester I am thinking of ordering in the UK - any comments would be appreciated.

http://www.poolstore.co.uk/ishop/691/shopscr414.html

The is the PoolCheck Exact meter. It is not EPA compliant in the US. LaMotte has similar handheld meters as does Palintest. Bottom line is you get what you pay for. Personally I would stick with a drop based test kit.

ALSO

anyone heard of this plastic basket metsals dispenser 'POOL WIZARD'- any good for residential chlorine pools?

http://www.poolwizard.net/

IMHO, ionizers of all types are USELESS in all pools! For proper sanitation you stil need a 2 ppm residual free chlorine. Silver has very slow kill times and copper is merely an algaecide. Both metals can cause staining of both pools and people.

Dave