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#1
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Stainless steel tanks
I have recently considered buying one of these. I have a question for those who use them. Are they ‘daylight’ tanks like Paterson, etc, in that the chemicals are filled and emptied in daylight? It was in my mind that they were not light tight when filling and emptying, which wouldn’t suit my situation. Thanks.
Alex. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro |
#2
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Yes they are daylight tanks, they are slower to fill and you can't check the temperature.
I got rid of all mine. I used to use 35mm and 120 SS reels in deep tanks but prefer Paterson reels and tanks for normal use. I still have one 35mm plastic tank that takes a SS reel and has a thermometer in the top. Must have come in a job lot around 20 years ago. SS tanks can leak, be hard to open, they do use less chemistry but I used to use Paterson II tanks for E3/4 and ecomy with the chmistry and still have them including Multi tanks. Ian |
#3
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Thanks, Ian. That answers my question. I was thinking of using one for E6, but from what you say, I am probably better just dedicating one of my Paterson tanks and reels for that. I had thought steel may be easier to clean, but I’m not sure that would be such a great problem if the plastic equipment is only used for colour chemistry.
Alex. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro |
#4
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As Ian says, yes they are daylight tanks, I have tried one a few years ago, I found then a pain to load, mine leaked, hard to keep temperture up to 20, and could'nt check it, I now always use Patterson tanks,the plastic smms to hold temperture better, much faster to pour in/out, and I find the plastic Paterson reels much easier to load,
Richard
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#5
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Definitely no good for E6, I used to process E6 and C41 (XP2) on a very regular basis almost weekly someimes a few batches.
I just used a bowl of warm to keep the temperature of the first developer stable, that's the only critical step, never had a single problem and that's with many hundreds of rolls of film. Ian |
#6
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I've used stainless spirals since the 1960s in both deep and small cylindrical tanks. No problems, even at 38°. You need a knack to fill a stainless tank quickly through the lid - try it with water at first, getting the tank angle right.
The small tanks do drip a bit - I keep a bucket of water handy, at the process temperature. To tell you the truth I've had all the problems listed on this site with plastic tanks and spirals. |
#7
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I have to second Joe's comment. The learning curve is steeper than with patterson tanks so you may be frustrated at first but once you get the hang of loading them, filling, dumping, handling etc they are a joy to use. They don't gum up like the patterson one do, if you buy the kinderman tanks or some Japanese ones they fill and dump very quickly! Almost as quick as patterson.
I would stay away from nikkor tanks those can be a real pain. Since your most likely buying used it is also important you get hewes/pro co reels with the two pins that lock into the perfs especially for 35mm. the alternative 35mm reels with the spring loaded locking tab can be almost impossible to load unless in mint condition I have around 20-30 of them and couldn't find one that loaded smooth enough, any 120 reel will work well though, as long as its not rusty or bent. I have had success with temperature monitoring by drilling a hole in the top and fitting a rtd probe. It would have to be dedicated but as long as you know your water bath temp and you pre warm the tank all should be well. |
#8
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I have a plastic tank with a stainless steel spiral, this has a thermometer in the top which can be read by removing the filler cap. It came with a job lot of darkroom equipment 20 years ago.
Ian |
#9
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S/S Tanks
I have never had a problem with S/S tanks except the loading. I have always found the spring that grips the film is too stiff to open easily in the dark.
Apart from that I can say I have never had one leak, or give any other sort of problem. Once the film is clipped in they are an absolute doddle to load. As for the temperature variation. I always use the S/S tank for B&W and to gauge the temperature drop, many years ago I tested this using an empty tank filled with at 20c went through the motions of developing a film and then before pouring the water away removed the top and checked with my digital thermometer (quicker response time) even for a 10 min development the drop was only 3 degrees. Nowadays because film dev times vary when a new formula for the emulsion is produced I cannot keep up. (More like cannot be bothered!) With the tank loaded with film and pre heated (by floating it in water at 20c for 5 mins then carry out the development (plus 5% time increase) I usually get the negs that are easy to print. Obviously this may vary depending on the room temperature at the time but my darkroom is always roughly 16-18c winter or summer. If you have an old durst film developing spiral they are centre loading too and the same diameter as a normal 35mm S/S tank. The film is clipped in the same way as a metal spiral but much easier to use. I have 3, used only for B&W in the S/S tank body. Last edited by John King; 6th December 2019 at 12:46 PM. |
#10
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I have two 120 size stainless steel tanks and I use them as it is easier, for me, to load 120mm film onto the Hewes-type reel. Also, I prefer the size for when I only have one film to develop.
They can leak during inversions, but not significantly, and it is sometimes difficult to get the reel out of the tank, but this is probably a result of using different reels from that which the tank was designed for. (I do use the Paterson tank for when developing two films). I do pre-heat them and if it is particularly cold I will place them in a small water bath of warm water between inversions. I have used them for developing colour film and have had good results, maintaining temperature is an issue especially when the development time needs to be increased. The stainless steel tanks are my preferred method of development for when I have only one film-type to develop.
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