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?