Salifert Ca Profi test

[picclock]

I'm just getting into water treatment foe an all grain beer. So I thought I'd try the methods recommended in the treatment post. Having purchased both the Kh and Ca Profi test kits I find that the Ca kit does not work.
I wrote to the supplier :
I have tried this kit with my local tapwater and Tesco Ashbeck mineral water and it does not work.
When the crystals are first added they produce a blue colour with a pink tinge. Adding 0.4 mils Ca-2 solution just turns it more blue. Dripping further solution, shaking and waiting makes no difference. It remains stubbornly blue.

I believe the kit is faulty or very old Stock.

Can you either refund or replace the goods I have purchased, or if you have a fix let me know it.

They Replied :

Hi Martin,

Thank you for your email.

I don’t quite understand your email? We are Marine Aquatic specialists and we only sell products that are for salt water testing they are not made to test anything other although some may work others won’t as they are not made for that purpose solely to get accurate readings with salt water therefor not sure why you are testing tap water and mineral water with this test?

I can also assure that you also do not have old stock as we sell many of those tests kits on a daily basis with no issues whatsoever and stock is rotated daily when new stock arrives and will have very good expiry date on the top of the box most likely with 07/2027 or something similar. I do hope this clears things up for you.

*******

So at present I am a bit confused. I tried to find the Salifert website to confirm it should work with fresh water but have been unsuccessful.
If I can verify its freshwater compatible I will have a much better case for a refund of faulty goods.

Best Regards

picclock

 

[RichardM]

Is it the kit described here How To Use Salifert Alkalinity and Calcium Test Kits ?
Have you followed these instructions?

 

[picclock]

Is it the kit described here How To Use Salifert Alkalinity and Calcium Test Kits ?
Have you followed these instructions?

Hi Richard
Yes, its the same kit, same box. The instructions are different though. It has New on the sheet, says to add 0.6ml of reagent before dripping(step 4). The table values are the same. Any values below 300ppm are in brown, presumably not measurable ?

I wonder if I would have better luck following the original instructions, as in the link.
My problem is after the first few drops of Ca-2 the sample turns dark blue, and even if I drip the rest of the syringe into it it stays that way.

The retailer implied this was not for testing freshwater - how can I verify if this is true ?

Thanks for your assistance

Best Regards

picclock

 

[An Ankoù]

I've used the Salifert tests, which I thought were originally designed for aquariums- salt or fresh. The results were surprising, I got 120 ppm of carbonate using the alkalinity test, but I sent the Ca test back thinking it was faulty. The second pack gave the same results and is extremely sensitive. I recall the instructions ask you to run in half the quantity of one of the reagents and then add it drop-by-drop until there's a colour change. I found I had to add drop-by-drop from the beginning and found that I only 4 ppm of calcium. I now correct my water for these results and everything seems as it should be: I brew better beer.

 

[Stu's Brews]

Hi Richard
Yes, its the same kit, same box. The instructions are different though. It has New on the sheet, says to add 0.6ml of reagent before dripping(step 4). The table values are the same. Any values below 300ppm are in brown, presumably not measurable ?

I wonder if I would have better luck following the original instructions, as in the link.
My problem is after the first few drops of Ca-2 the sample turns dark blue, and even if I drip the rest of the syringe into it it stays that way.

The retailer implied this was not for testing freshwater - how can I verify if this is true ?

Thanks for your assistance

Best Regards

picclock

View attachment 83225

I think adding the 0.6ml of reagent before adding drop by drop is causing your problem. I guess they've added that to the instructions as it's intended for salt water usage which has a higher calcium content.

When I use the kit I measure about 60-80ppm of Calcium so only need a few drops (~0.1ml) of the reagent to get the colour change from pink to blue.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I'm just getting into water treatment foe an all grain beer. So I thought I'd try the methods recommended in the treatment post. Having purchased both the Kh and Ca Profi test kits I find that the Ca kit does not work.
I wrote to the supplier :
I have tried this kit with my local tapwater and Tesco Ashbeck mineral water and it does not work.
When the crystals are first added they produce a blue colour with a pink tinge. Adding 0.4 mils Ca-2 solution just turns it more blue. Dripping further solution, shaking and waiting makes no difference. It remains stubbornly blue.

I believe the kit is faulty or very old Stock.

Can you either refund or replace the goods I have purchased, or if you have a fix let me know it.

They Replied :

Hi Martin,

Thank you for your email.

I don’t quite understand your email? We are Marine Aquatic specialists and we only sell products that are for salt water testing they are not made to test anything other although some may work others won’t as they are not made for that purpose solely to get accurate readings with salt water therefor not sure why you are testing tap water and mineral water with this test?

I can also assure that you also do not have old stock as we sell many of those tests kits on a daily basis with no issues whatsoever and stock is rotated daily when new stock arrives and will have very good expiry date on the top of the box most likely with 07/2027 or something similar. I do hope this clears things up for you.

*******

So at present I am a bit confused. I tried to find the Salifert website to confirm it should work with fresh water but have been unsuccessful.
If I can verify its freshwater compatible I will have a much better case for a refund of faulty goods.

Best Regards

picclock

Try using the instructions in @strange-steve picture guide here:

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/...inity-and-calcium-test-kits.68369/post-647089

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I'm just getting into water treatment foe an all grain beer. So I thought I'd try the methods recommended in the treatment post. Having purchased both the Kh and Ca Profi test kits I find that the Ca kit does not work.
I wrote to the supplier :
I have tried this kit with my local tapwater and Tesco Ashbeck mineral water and it does not work.

Ashbeck's a really bad test as it has very low mineral levels in general, so the test is probably working as it should in that case - it's not showing any calcium because there's just not much calcium in Ashbeck. A better test would be something like Evian, which is about 80ppm Ca.

I'm surprised at your tapwater though, I'd expect Dorset water to be pretty hard - Bournemouth water is about 90ppm Ca and 16 Clarke. But maybe your house has a water softener or something? Does your kettle fur up quickly?

 

[picclock]

Thanks for your information and assistance. I redid the tests using 1 drop at a time with no initial 0.6mL or initial drips.
Tapwater , 0.82 on syringe, kit says 90ppm, water report says avg value 90.5 ppm. Very nice correlation. Tested Ashbeck water, and it was in the right area, but really too low to measure accurately.

So in summary, the kit instructions are incorrect for our use, but the kit works fine.

@ Northern_Brewer
That's some impressive local knowledge of the Dorset area. The water report you linked to is the one I referred to above.

Cheers

picclock

 

[MashBag]

Good shout picclock. Thanks for closing this off.

I have some stuff from Murphy's about water & beers styles if you want.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

@ Northern_Brewer
That's some impressive local knowledge of the Dorset area. The water report you linked to is the one I referred to above.

Too kind, but really just a guess given that you must be somewhere between the Jurassic Coast - which I know is limestone - and all the chalk downlands.

And it's easy to get a water report - think of a suitable town - Bournemouth is the most likely, and find a postcode in it to punch into the relevant water company website. The main post office is always a convenient one because the Post Office unlike some other businesses always make it easy to find the postcode of their offices!

 

[YeastFace]

Wish I'd read this before attempting as per the instructions 3 times

Have done it drop by drop and comes out at 70ppm. Water report was 60ppm so won't have much impact on my treatment, but useful to know and will check every so often.