Water chemistry and test kits (which one to get)?

[Scoobmaster]

Hi all.

The Beachcomber 350 has been up and running for a few days now and we LOVE it!  Like all newbie spa owners, I am now trying to wrap my brain around getting my water balanced and the chemistry correct.  I have searched and read through NUMEROUS posts here on water chemistry and as usual on some things opinions vary.  My village water supply is very HARD with extremely high calcium and iron (among other things).  I had a choice of filling with that or water from my softener (the posts here ranged from NEVER do this to it'll be fine, just bring the calcium hardness back up).  In the end I followed my dealers recommendation and used the soft water and have been adding calcium hardener (not quite there yet, but am getting close).  Things have been going fine, but last night for the first time (our 4th day of use) we had foam.  I am still a bit low on calcium and have also heard that soft water is prone to foaming so I am guessing that may be it (I also added some water clarifier - maybe the "binding" agent that makes small particles clump together helped contribute?)

Anyway - enough background - I'll get on to my tester question.   My spa came with the "dip and swirl" color test sticks that many members here loathe.  Being an over-analytical geeky engineering type I crave precise measurement, so I am considering getting a better test kit.  Searching here reveals that many of you professional technicians and dealers prefer the Taylor kits (K-2005/K-2006).  Since I am using Bromine, I assume the K-2105 and K-2106 would be the ones I should look at, right?  What are the differences in those two?  Are there other kits (either in the Taylor line or some other manufacturer) that may work as well for less money?

[chem geek]

You should get your Calcium Hardness (CH) up to around 120-150 ppm to prevent foaming.

The difference between the ..06 vs. ..05 tests is that the ..06 test kits use a FAS-DPD chlorine or bromine test.  It is a much more accurate "count the drops" test that won't bleach out at high sanitizer levels (if you see a flash of pink, you just add more powder).  See a demo of the test here.  If you use a 25 ml sample size, then you get a chlorine accuracy of 0.2 ppm (equivalent to 0.45 ppm bromine).

If you ever think you will be switching to chlorine at some point in the near future, you can get a chlorine test and just multiply your chlorine result by 2.25 and don't bother with the Combined Chlorine part of the test (i.e. you won't use R-0003 if you have bromine).  The chlorine test will include the Combined Chlorine (CC) and Cyanuric Acid (CYA) tests that are not in the bromine test kit.  You can get the Taylor K-2006 at a good price at Amato Industries or you can get the TFTestkits TF-100 which has more volume of reagents of the tests you use the most.  You can get the Taylor K-2106 bromine test kit at Amato Industries.

[watzup]

I went to a local pool/spa store about 1/2 mile from the house to buy a test kit.  She said I will sell you any kit you want but why???  Simply bring a sample to me and I will test it without any obligation.  She handed me a water test bottle.  So that is what I have been doing about every two weeks.  In between times I am using my test strips.