TAYLOR TECHNOLOGIES INC K-1766 Drop Test Chloride Salt Water (3-(Pack))

I tried this salt test kit because of varying results from pool stores. Sometimes I would go to 2 different pool stores with samples taken the same time and tested only a few minutes apart and get largely different readings. Salt test strips were varying results. My Pool Pilot has a built in salt level but needs calibrated occasionally, thats what I use this test kit for a few times a year. I find the kit to be more reliable than the pool stores and I now do all my own water testing. 4 stars only because the kit has 2 bottles of solutions. The first 1 drop per test, the second you count drops to color change, 1 drop = 200 ppm. So 3000ppm would need 15 drops. You need a whole lot more of bottle 2 than bottle 1 yet they are the same size.

Very easy test with accurate results. When my salt water chlorine generator tells me the salt is low, I use this test and see that the levels are just below the minimum acceptable levels. The generator has also let me know when the levels were too high and when tested with this kit, it also read above the maximum acceptable levels. It's great for knowing how much additional salt or draining is needed to get it back to normal. Cleaning the tube after a test is more demanding that other tests where you just rinse it out. You'll have to get your finger in there to scrub the white residue off the walls. You also need to be careful when handling the silver nitrate reagent because it will leave tiny black dots on your skin that will not wash off. Don't panic though. They eventually wear off after 3-4 days.

I bought a home with a 3 year old salt water pool which was sparkling clear. The owner claimed the pool guys were great but since I work from home I wanted to learn all about pool care and take care of it myself and save the money but I never owned a pool before. My aqau nano salt water generator was reading 3200 PPM salt and when I performed a test using this kit is Taylor Chloride Salt Kit measured 2800 PPM so I re calibrated my Nano settings to reflect this new reading this kit gave me. 400 PPM difference is pretty huge.Between this salt kit and the Taylor Service Complete Pool Water Test Kit K-2006C I have full control over testing and this 2006C kits gives me enough chemicals for year round testing since I live in Southern Florida. I would not recommend buying the Taylor Service Complete Pool Water Test Kit K-2006C if you live in a northern state as you will waste money because you will have to throw your chemicals away and buy new ones the following year. I would recommend the smaller kit with smaller bottles.

So drop test kits are pretty much the gold standard in the pool industry (love the Taylor 2006 kits - probably the best you can find). Meters have to be calibrated. Pool store computer readers are way off.Over the past several months, I've been surprised that the results of this test kit were 400-800ppm OVER what my Hayward Aqua Plus system was indicating. I purchased a salt meter off Amazon here (SALT 3050) for $40 and that one is between but much closer to what the pool's salt cell indicates. This pattern has been the same for months. If I make a salt add or after a big drain, they always track with each other.So I THEN purchased a 3000ppm standard solution from Amazon. The results = my SALT 3050 meter is reading 2920ppm. This Taylor salt test kit is reading 3400ppm (I performed the test twice just to make sure). So its reading high, just like when I compare it to my pool water. So pretty disappointing - especially since EVERYONE assumes the drop test is the most accurate one.

"Add...dropwise...until color changes from yellow to a milky salmon (brick red)..."As I add drops the color quickly changes to "milky" and then slowly through pink to red to dark red to very dark red to black.Where on this scale of red to black taking 10 drops is "milky salmon" and/or brick bed" ?That is a 2000ppm range.Even if you make the assumption that the regent bottle color is milky salmon (not said in the instructions) a 4 to 5 drop range could all appear to match the different areas of color on the bottle. That is still an 800ppm to 1000ppm range.USELESS

Works great, although a bit hard to determine what exact shade of 'reddish-brown' is the desired output. Color seems to be reddish-brown over quite a range of drops added. A shading chart would be a helpful addition. But otherwise good product!

I have been using AquaChek salt test strips, but after a bottle of strips "went bad" and would no longer work properly, I wanted a way to verify their accuracy. After some research I ordered the Taylor kit and have been very pleased with the results. The results from the Taylor kit are very close to the results from fresh AquaChek strips. A wide difference indicates that it's time to throw away those old strips. To use the Taylor kit you put 10 ml of pool water in the sample tube, then add one drop of the chromate indicator. Then add drops of the silver nitrate indicator, counting each drop and swirling the mixture. When the mixture goes from a creamy white to a salmon pink, multiply the number of drops that you added by 200 to get your ppm of salt. For example if you added 18 drops to turn the mixture from white to pink, then your salinity is 3600 ppm. WARNING - keep these chemicals away from children - they should ONLY be handled by adults! Also, silver nitrate will stain your skin black. As in permanently. As in it will have to wear off naturally. So wear gloves and be careful. Also would like to mention that I called Taylor customer service with a question about the color change, and they were refreshingly pleasant and helpful.