spanky Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Hi Everyone, I've been doing my own 120 processing in my kitchen for some time. None of my sinks or the bathtub faucet will flow any cooler then about 72 degrees F. So what I've been doing in keeping my three chemicals at the ready in a try of ice water with a thermometer in the developer. Once the developer hits 68 I start processing while taking the ice out of the try. Is it ok for my stop bath and fix to slowly warm up while the development is taking place? I just cannot see an easy way to keep all three chemicals at 68 for the whole process. Any tips?Thanks,Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silent1 Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 It'd probably be perfectly fine to just process at the 72 F you get from your faucet, and adjust your developing time for the temperature. With most developers, you'll need to cut your time by about 15% to 20% for that much temp difference; if that puts you under five minutes, you might also find it advantageous to dilute your developer more to lengthen your process time, though many workers have reported fine results with dev times as short as 3.5 minutes (I did it myself once, about 30 years ago, at around 90 F, but I don't think I'd enjoy trying it again now). Letting the temp creep up as the process goes probably won't hurt anything as long as its only a couple degrees -- your water bath ought to keep it from being any worse than that -- but if you don't mind some extra prep, you can probably get everything, including the bath stabilized and the temp won't creep up noticeably in twenty minutes from pouring the dev to finishing the fix. Include a gallon jug of distilled water in the bath, and use the Ilford wash method, and you should be able to get from dry to hanging the washed film within a couple degrees. Creeping up more than five degrees or so risks reticulation... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowell_huff1 Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 I can send you a chart that will allow for different developing times by temperature. Contact me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 What developer/dilution and other chemicals are you using? As mentioned, if it is feasible with your materials, a simple change to an easier temperature might solve your issues. I have the opposite problem with a basement darkroom in my northern climate being <68 for most of the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronald_moravec1 Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Make a water bath from a processing tray. Fill with water and ice and remove the ice at 68 deg. Recheck temp after five min. Place the tray on another upsidedown tray to minimise heat transfer from the coumter warming the bath. Place the chemicals in the freezer for 5 min. They will go down in a short time. If you go a little too low, warm water will bring them right up. Keep the chemicals in the water while processing. Use the same size bottles filled to the same level and take your temp from the developer. The others will be close enough. Keep a thermometer in the process tray and add a small ice cube to tweek the temp if you have to do so. A little ice water will help too. Higher temp processing will give slightly coarser grain. You can also keep some photo water in the frig at all times and use the cool water to dilute the developer to achieve the proper temp. I the developer is at 74 and you are are usin 1:1, mix the developer with 62 deg water and you end up at 68. Prechill the mixing vessel and the film tank to keep from warming the developer when transfering liquids. Another trick is to drop an ice cube into the developer and pull it out at 68. Use a dial thermometer to do this. Don`t use cool water as it dilutes the developer too much. Most of the cooling takes place when the ice changes phase to water at 32. There is little dilution. Fix can be mixed slightly strong and cooled with ice directly. Liquid developers can be coolEd the same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titrisol Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 yes, you can let them warm up a bit without ill consequences. Reticulation won't be noticeable unless the difference between bath temperatures is large Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_gittins Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 >Is it ok for my stop bath and fix to slowly warm up while the development is taking place? Yes. That might not be true if they were warming up to, for example, 90 deg F, but 72 F shouldn't be any problem. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
__jon__ Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Hi Marc, I process either at 68 or 75 depending on the time of the year. I keep a couple ice packs in the freezer to cool things down. I use a digital thermometer to quickly read what my temps are. Get the Ilford temp. conversion chart (mentioned by another poster). If you want more control than that, look on epay and get a PhotoTherm temperature control bath. I got mine for about $30.<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raczoliver Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 I read a thread somewhere on photo.net about developing on room temperature in tropical countries. All of them said it worked fine for them, and it works fine for me on 27 degrees C (should be around 78-79 F). The thing is, if you establish a correct time with a higher temperature, just in case the chemicals get colder than that in the winter, it is always easier to heat them than to cool them down to 20C (68F) and keep them constantly on that temperature in the summer, especially if your tap water just doesn't get that cold. I think everyone can easily get 27C water from the tap, in which they can put the tank for the entire process to keep the temperature constant, and only take it out for agitation. There are also some developers that work better on higher temperatures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillip_p._dimor Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Unless the difference in temp. between developer and stop/fix is greater than 10F, I wouldn't worry about keeping all three exactly the same. Use the chart (Ilford has a good one, the one from digitaltruth might be easier to read) and save the ice cubes for your drinks. My developer, stop and fix are all at room temp, which varies from 75F to 60F depending on the season. I develop lots of film at and around 72F, as long as you compensate for the time (and your fix/stop is close to the temp of your developer) you'll be golden. And you'll have more ice cubes for your drinks too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig_Cooper11664875449 Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 All I ever do is run a control bath of tap water, check the temperature for that day then adjust times accordngly. Depending on the time of year, its ranges from 21 C up to 27 C and its never been a problem and any temperature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillip_p._dimor Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Oliver; For a while I was shooting a lot of 120 Ilford Delta 400 and souping it in PMK. My old thermometer was off by 10 degrees Fahrenheit (didn't know it at the time). About 14 rolls of film were processed with that thermometer and I loved the results. It made me rethink my development strategy :) Used Kodak thermometer for $2.. No wonder... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanky Posted October 5, 2004 Author Share Posted October 5, 2004 Thanks for the advice guys. That Photo Therm bath appeals to me. I'll have to keep an eye open for one. I've always known that a couple degrees in either direction is ok, but with some of my developing times stretching beyond 10 minutes, I really have no idea what the temp inside the tank is after a couple minutes. I keep it in the tray between agitations, but still, I can see myself getting bogged down trying to keep the water at 68 that I neglect to agitate correctly. The Ilford chart a couple of you mentioned also would help. I didn't see such a thing last time I visited their site so if someone would kindly send it or a link to I'd appreciate it. Send to daliscrutch@yahoo.com Thanks again, Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillip_p._dimor Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 ...still way easier than trying to find anything from the Kodak website, aside from using Google.<br><br> Here it is for anyone else who wants/needs it. I'll email it to Marc too.<br><br> <a href="http://www.ilford.com/html/us_english/pdf/tempconv.pdf">Ilford Temp Conv. Chart</a><br><br> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick_ingram Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 It's also a good idea to keep these variations in temperature in perspective. My temperature control method, now that I'm away from the temperature controlled taps in the darkroom I use back home, is this: I fill up a bunch of 1.5 litre bottles with tap water, and let them sit in the bathroom overnight. They're going to be pretty close to room temperature, and when I dev. the tank will heat up, but it should be more-or-less the same each time. I'm not using a spot meter for many of my shots, so subtle variations in temperature are inconsequential. I'm also printing on multigrade paper. If you ARE using a spot meter, zone system (with sheet film), and printing on graded paper, of course, the developer temperature makes a much larger differnce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_kaplan1 Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Here in Miami, Florida I've been developing at whatever the tap water temperature happens to be for years with no problems. In the summer this ocasionally gets up to 78 or 80 degrees. I stand my bottles and tank in in a tub of slowly running tap water to stabilize temperature. Sometimes when it's really hot and I start at the end of the day I'll dilute my D-76 with water chilled with ice and put a few ice chips in the fixer bottle to speed things up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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