rollermonkey Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 So, I got the ones for Alkalinity and Phosphates today. I sort of like them, and I sort of don't. They are fast, and pretty easy to use, but... The alkalinity unit gives results in ppm. Not the most common response for that test, but not a big deal. I hate the reagent for the phosphate test. It's a very fine grain powder that comes in little plastic-lined foil packs. When you tear it open, it's kind of messy, I can get around that by using scissors next time. It's hard to pour the powder into the tiny opening in the top of the test vial. It's really hard to get all the powder into the vial, almost impossible, really. I don't know if you get accurate results if some of it misses the bottle. And worst, the powder is highly caustic. Either some of the dust or a grain or two of the powder got under my fingernail when I was trying to crease the packet to get the stuff into the vial. I didn't notice right away, but within a couple minutes, I started to get a chemical burn UNDER my fingernail. I figured it out right away and rinsed it for several minutes, but it still hurts, 12 hours later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beardedsmurf Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Thanks for the review. I'd been thinking of getting some of these (or asking for them as a B-Day or Xmas present!). You might consider going to Hannah's main website and sending them your feedback - you can't be the only person who is experiencing these issues with those packets and reagents. They may be open to your suggestions (or at least your difficulties) and maybe find a way to improve their process. -Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smann Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 When I started with the Phos test I was a little frustrated also, I found a video showing how to use the test. Tap the packet down to one corner, cut two sides with scissors, pull apart and crease one side to pour, seems to work. I found a conversion chart for the reading, printed it and taped it inside the lid of the box also found I need to shake and spin the max amount of time (1.5 min) to get a accurate reading. Wait until you buy the Calcium test! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold B Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 From my experience, w/ALK checkers, you have to be verry specific down to placing the vial in the checker in the same direction every time verry clean and they wil read 1 dkh higher than a reg. test kit. Never compared to Lamotte. As far as the phosphates one seemes to be verry accurate, again you have to make each testing procedure as close to the same as every other one, like vial placement (as far as which way it faces) and make sure there's no fingerprints ect. I dont have the ULR phosphates one though (ppb) just the ppm one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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