HELP Taylor versus Leslies read very different

[gonejeepin]

Took a test to Leslies after opening the pool for the season and it registers as follows:PH

Free Chlorine: .29
Total Chlorine: .29
PH: 7.3
Total Alkalinity: 32
Calcium Hardness: 123
Cyanuric Acid: 68


Tested it with a Taylor kit at home AND at Leslies and it is the same as above EXCEPT

PH: 10+
Cyanuric Acid: 150

Both tests were tried multiple times and the same numbers happened.

Currently the pool is cloudy but not green, nor was it ever green.

Why would the tests be so far apart and what do i do to fix this? Very confused pool owner!

Pool is 33,000 gallon vinyl liner with a sand filter. Drained below the skimmer in the winter, from rain and snow it has filled back up to normal. Typically treated with chlorine tabs and power powder plus. Both from leslies.

Thanks for any help!

[Denniswiseman]

Trust the Taylor kit, I doubt that your FC and TC are the same after a winter and .29 is virtually nothing
If you chlorinate with tabs and powder your CYA will be high
High CYA renders your chlorine ineffective
For every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Trichlor, it also increases Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 6 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by Dichlor, it also increases CYA by 9 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by Cal-Hypo, it also increases Calcium Hardness (CH) by at least 7 ppm
You need to reduce your CYA to a more manageable level by drain and refill, forget about pH at the moment
Use these common products to balance your pool
Liquid chlorine (sodium hypochlorite or plain bleach)
Muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) to lower pH and TA
Bicarbonate of soda to raise TA
Aeration will raise pH only
Soda ash will raise pH and TA
Chlorine / CYA Chart
Recommended Pool Levels

[robroneal]

Those numbers sound like test strip results. (Although I'm not aware of any pool pH test that goes to 10..)

Test strips aren't that accurate, they can also expire and suffer more interferences. Taylors aren't any different.

If Leslie's is using the spin touch lab discs, it can be pretty good, but poor handling/user error is still possible.

A manually done test for cya, the 'disappearing dot' test is still superior imo.

[Teapot]

Test trips are bad enough when they are a fresh packet, once opened they are at best only good for 3 months.
So tired of visting people using test strips from previous years and not just the last year!
Fresh is best and strips are rubbish, spend $$$$ on a pool and $10 on a test kit, just ridiculous.

[dynamictiger]

Low TA + Low Chlorine + High pH + cloudy water = algae bloom in progress.

The TA may only be reading low as the algae are causing a chemical reaction that raises the pH and pushes the TA out of range of the test equipment.

If Cy reading is correct fix that first then the rest will come right with normal treatment.

[Teapot]

With the vinyl liner the TA being lower than the industry documents for concrete/plaster/tiled pools won't matter at all and could provide a much more stable pH.
If the water is cloudy that could affect the CYA reading depending on the equipment used as most are light obscuring tests.
pH really doesn't matter that much in a vinyl liner pool either so long as its not lower than pH7.
Its the free chlorine to CYA ratio that IS important.