Jobo Prima Slot Processor

Acquired one of these last week - I've been looking for a slot processor for my tiny bathroom/darkroom for a while now.

 

The Jobo is bigger than I expected, I think it's based on a 16x12 tray, for some reason I was thinking it was 10x8. Anyway, it just fits!

 

Has anyone used one of these? Mine came without any instructions, so I only have the picture on the box to go by. It looks pretty straightforward, but any tips would be appreciated, particularly with regard to the paper clip/holder.

 

I'll add some photos when I set it up for use.

"Has anyone used one of these? "

 

Is it a Jobo or a NOVA ?

I found this while looking for the Manual for my DVD .

"Has anyone used one of these? "

 

Is it a Jobo or a NOVA ?

It is most definitely a JOBO.

 

Thanks for the above though, it's useful.

 

 

The Prima is a rather more basic bit of kit that the NOVA processors, though it's not a bad design - the tray catches most of the drips and, filled with water, makes a handy 'holding pond' for prints when your bathroom/darkroom is as small as mine and the prints are washed elsewhere. In theory, I suppose I could add a tray siphon draining into the sink below the board.

 

JOBO kindly replied to my email, they no longer have the manual, but could tell me that the prints are placed on the stick (there is a little pin at the end, like the NOVA clips) face down, once in the tank, they float away from the stick.

 

I used it for the first time last night. On the whole, it works as intended/imagined, with minimal mess and the advantages of a slot processor - less chemical smell and longer chemistry life. Pouring the chemistry back into the bottles after was a bit tricky, but I suspect there's a knack to it. (The slots take 1 litre) I was getting streaking on prints, always vertically (parallel to the stick) - I think (well, be honest, I know) that I need to clean and dry the stick between prints, just dunking it in the water bath was lazy and led to either fixer contamination or simply localised dilution of the developer. Will do better next time.

 

So, my technique needs work... The Prima allows me to process bigger prints than I could with trays (I can't quite fit 3 8x10 trays side by side, one has to be raised above the others), the Jobo will do much bigger, 12x16 I think - BUT, this means nothing if the prints are streaked.

 

Will be more through in cleaning between prints and let you know how I get on.

Can add, that there is a benefit to the Prima design with inclined slots in a low reflectivity black plastic - it's fairly light resistant, at least when processing smaller paper sizes down the bottom of the slot.

 

As I found out when I elbowed the light switch on the right of that photo, turning on the large and very bright LED panel directly above, for a good few seconds.

 

Paper was in the developer slot, no apparent effect.

I have several JOBO brochures/manuals, but I never saw that model, so it must be relatively new ? JOBO actually includes the Nova processors in one of its brochures, the one I got the information from. From what I can tell, it doesn't seem like those Prima slots can hold one liter of liquid, do they expand ?

I have several JOBO brochures/manuals, but I never saw that model, so it must be relatively new ? JOBO actually includes the Nova processors in one of its brochures, the one I got the information from. From what I can tell, it doesn't seem like those Prima slots can hold one liter of liquid, do they expand ?

It's bigger than it looks, the slots will take a 10x12 print, the base tray is 12x16 (30x40cm) - that's the 'print size', physical dimensions are larger.

 

The date on the label on the box is 09/91, so early 90s. I don't think they made them for very long, it has a bit of a 'prototype' feel to it, the slots are made from two pieces of vacuum molded plastic glued together with the pivots glued on afterwards, not injection molded single pieces like the rest of JOBO's products. The stick consists of several pieces glued together. I get the feeling that these may have been molded and assembled 'in house' but never put into mass production?

 

I had a brochure with the Prima, but can't find it at the moment.

 

Thinking, I'm going to try a different configuration next time, if it will fit, with the processor sitting in it's tray and an 8x10 tray next to it for the wash.