IO salt problems?

[Skeptic9962]

just recently got a new bucket of IO salt and tested nitrates with freshly mixed water and for some reason is reading 10ppm or so...the 5 stage rodi unit that i have tds meter reads 0 when coming out so its not that only other thing could be the salt....is this something that anyone else has ever had a problem with?

 

[returnofsid]

I'd test the nitrates of your RO/DI water. I'm not sure, but I believe you can have nitrates and still have 0 TDS. Otherwise, I'd also suggest testing the fresh IO made saltwater with a different nitrate test kit.

 

[roscoe]

Even the the TDS meter reads zero did you test the water before you mixed it? Some times the TDS meter needs to be recalibrated to give the corect reading.

 

[Skeptic9962]

Even the the TDS meter reads zero did you test the water before you mixed it? Some times the TDS meter needs to be recalibrated to give the corect reading.

called thefilterguys and they said that normal nitrate kits dont give an acurate reading with RODI freshwater since it doesnt have ions in it....so if thats true no way of testing that...but fresh made water with 0tds and IO salt comes to 10-20ppm of nitrates that doesnt seem right at all....he also told me that unless the tds meter has been droped then they are very acurate.

 

[roscoe]

I believe there are fresh water nitrate test kits also.

 

[oldsaint]

Guessing something in the container that housed your RO/DI water before mixing. Clean out the container and add more RO/DI water and test TDS before adding salt.

I used two 55g drums and cleaned them after each batch.

 

[Skeptic9962]

I believe there are fresh water nitrate test kits also.

ya there are but he was saying those wont work on RODI water only freshwater that hasnt gone through the DI process....

 

[Skeptic9962]

Guessing something in the container that housed your RO/DI water before mixing. Clean out the container and add more RO/DI water and test TDS before adding salt.

I used two 55g drums and cleaned them after each batch.

just cleaned the container out right before this batch that i did.....

 

[Skeptic9962]

my only guess would be my nitrate kit isnt good anymore....but just a month ago it was acurate to barriers kits...

 

[Skeptic9962]

retested and retested to see if acidentally did something wrong still got the same results 10-20ppm nitrates....so decided to mix a new batch in a clean brand new bucket just 5 gal to test it.... tested out with same kit to be none or very very little nitrate.....so what do you use to clean out the container? thought that just rinsing it out with water would be fine...but didnt seem to be...heh just now decided to use my bros test kit for nitrate brand new saltwater master test kits, but tested 0ppm on the large batch and to make sure it was working tested the tank and got 10ppm on the tank which is what i expected....mine is about 8-10months old and is elos...just confusing lol

 

[returnofsid]

Could be that your container is leaching nitrates.

 

[Skeptic9962]

Could be that your container is leaching nitrates.

i have a feeling my elos nitrate kit is bad for sure....tested it with 4 kits total

elos (year old or so) 10-20ppm
API (year old or so) 0
API (brand new) 0
API (5 months old) 0

tested it with my bros, mine, and my sisters kits and for sure there all 0 other then my elos so has to be a bad one...

 

[returnofsid]

Sure sounds like the Elos is bad. Has it expired? Elos is supposed to be one of the most reliable on the market. Interesting.

 

[DonW]

IO has had issues with nitrates and it may just be a bad bucket. If you got it from petsmart or petco both of them locally (lakewood / tacoma) have had bad IO.

Don

 

[Skeptic9962]

Sure sounds like the Elos is bad. Has it expired? Elos is supposed to be one of the most reliable on the market. Interesting.

its an older kit im guessing atleast a year or so....so that would be my best guess is its bad, api isnt a very good kit but 3 different kits giving same results would make me think there more acurate.

 

[Skeptic9962]

IO has had issues with nitrates and it may just be a bad bucket. If you got it from petsmart or petco both of them locally (lakewood / tacoma) have had bad IO.

Don

my bucket is brand new from barrier so not sure talked with barrier and they did say that IO seems to be having some issues lately that they have noticed but not sure exactly what the issue is

 

[jezzeaepi]

I have been getting some strange readings with my elos test kits and IO as well. The last few times I have mixxed it up the calcium has read 400(on two separate elos kits) where as normally its 350-360. I am mixing up a batch today and have two nitrate elos kits myself so Ill test it tomorrow and see what I come up with.

 

[gotfish]

Skeptic, I wouldn't say API tests aren't very good. I use elos/API/salifert and they all show the same results just like you said you are getting with yours. If it's showing the same results for you, it can't be that bad.

 

[Boomer]

I agree with Don. Thye have also changed the formula on IO and RC. Io is not hgiher in at least Mg ++ andf RC has been inmcresed in both Mg++and Ca++.

RC
490 ppm calcium
13 dkh alkalinity
1440 ppm magnesium


IO
350 ppm calcium (no change from the previous)
1300 ppm magnesium ( improved )
6 dkh alkalinity (must have been a bad batch)


called thefilterguys and they said that normal nitrate kits dont give an acurate reading with RODI freshwater since it doesnt have ions in it....sd then they are very acurate.

I'l have to fix Jim on that It is pH you can not measure, not Nitrate.

 

[Skeptic9962]

I agree with Don. Thye have also changed the formula on IO and RC. Io is not hgiher in at least Mg ++ andf RC has been inmcresed in both Mg++and Ca++.

RC
490 ppm calcium
13 dkh alkalinity
1440 ppm magnesium


IO
350 ppm calcium (no change from the previous)
1300 ppm magnesium ( improved )
6 dkh alkalinity (must have been a bad batch)


called thefilterguys and they said that normal nitrate kits dont give an acurate reading with RODI freshwater since it doesnt have ions in it....sd then they are very acurate.

I'l have to fix Jim on that It is pH you can not measure, not Nitrate.

ah ok so they did change things a bit along with the new labeling? i ordered a salifert nitrate test kit so ill be testing it again once more just to make sure it was my elos kit for the nitrate but another thing is my kh on both of my IO buckets was 12...tested with brand new elos kit. on that note though ill be picking up a bucket of tunze salt after this one is gone....heard nothing but good about it