OP
OP
Joel A
Started over.
Actually, salifert was the most popular brand for yrs (and for good reason), but in the past yr or two they have had some serious quality control issues. I personally have a salifert ca kit that consistently reads at least 100ppm high. I have also heard of bad alk kits from them. I don't know all the details, but I have heard that they are getting back on track, but my confidence in salifert is blown for now.
What's the date/batch on your ca kit (yellow sticker on top of the box)? My bad kit says 12-2011
Elos kits are more $ but they seem to be the most reliable right now.
API kits have been earning a pretty good reputation considering their cost (very inexpensive compared to others), but I also have one of their Ca kits that reads about 100 ppm high like the salifert
Whatever the case, IME and from what I have heard, most of the "bad" kits out there will be off pretty consistently. That's annoying, but you can also use those kits to get a good idea of the real numbers once you've got a good idea of how much they are off. (in other words I know my API kit reads about 100 high so when I tested a minute ago I got a reading of 520 Ca, I can take that to mean it's really about 420. And yes, I did also just confirm that with the elos kit that read 425)
The stickers on all of my boxes are 2012's. Maybe at the next meeting i'll get my water tested and see how my kits compare.
I really like the way the salifert kits are set up though... they at least seem efficient and it pretty much eliminates the color matching component of other kits which i hate.
