Test Strips

[Catrin57]

Hi, So glad I found this forum. We just bought a jacuzzi hot tub for our body aches and we are fumbling around. The test strips I bought at walmart are, or seem to be sub quality. Does any know of a good brand. Some of the colors change some don't and we finished a whole bottle of shock in a month and we've only used it once a week for a month. It's been taking an extremely long time...almost 2 days to go through the whole process. The alkaline color never changes and the shock takes about 4 or 5 doses as well. This can't be normal.

[Tman122]

Hi, So glad I found this forum. We just bought a jacuzzi hot tub for our body aches and we are fumbling around. The test strips I bought at walmart are, or seem to be sub quality. Does any know of a good brand. Some of the colors change some don't and we finished a whole bottle of shock in a month and we've only used it once a week for a month. It's been taking an extremely long time...almost 2 days to go through the whole process. The alkaline color never changes and the shock takes about 4 or 5 doses as well. This can't be normal.

Yes, all test strips are not created equal. And to top it off they have a life expectancy. Leisure Time and Aquachek are both solid brands. Avoid Walmart, sometimes their product is...........well sub par. You get what you pay for.

You should use a re-agent test kit for the best accuracy.

[CanadianSpaTech]

Take a water sample to your local store and have it analyzed then test same sample with the test strips and compare.

[Mikedee]

Hi, So glad I found this forum. We just bought a jacuzzi hot tub for our body aches and we are fumbling around. The test strips I bought at walmart are, or seem to be sub quality. Does any know of a good brand. Some of the colors change some don't and we finished a whole bottle of shock in a month and we've only used it once a week for a month. It's been taking an extremely long time...almost 2 days to go through the whole process. The alkaline color never changes and the shock takes about 4 or 5 doses as well. This can't be normal.

The suggestion of bringing it to your local pool store to test water is good, but I'd highly suggest to forget the test strips altogether  and buy a Taylor Technology DPD test kit...They are easy to use and read and I always found much more reliable than any test strip

[Red MC]

I've always used a Taylor kit to balance the water on re-fills.  I also use it periodically, albeit infrequently, like every 3 months or so.  Every time I use the Taylor kit, I also use a test strip and compare the results.  My approach is basically to "calibrate" the test strips based on the Taylor test kit results, so I know what color to look for on the test strips rather than just trusting the label.  Then I can use the test strips to check the water on a weekly basis.  I don't have the patience to use the Taylor kit every week, and if I did, some of the chemicals wouldn't last very long, especially the sulfuric acid reagent for the total alkalinity test and the calcium buffer.

FWIW, I've used both the Leisure Time and Aquachek strips.  I prefer the Leisure Time, they seem a little easier to read.