Let's Talk About Spending a Lot of Money on Lab Equipment with the Aim of Retiring in 25 Years.

[arespencer]

How much money are the 22 inch Colenta machines new??

Just got a quote from the US supplier. A bit more than what I had thought. But all in shipping tax etc looks like it’ll be a little above $18,000

Somehow I must have read that the lower end machine were somewhere around $11k-$15k. I’m still exploring the possibility of opening a rental darkroom in my area but would be nice if I had 1 or 2 other business partners to go in with for all the initial opening cost. Since there’s probably another $10,000 in other darkroom equipment as well as cost to build out the darkroom space with multiple bays etc.

 

[mshchem]

Just got a quote from the US supplier. A bit more than what I had thought. But all in shipping tax etc looks like it’ll be a little above $18,000

Somehow I must have read that the lower end machine were somewhere around $11k-$15k. I’m still exploring the possibility of opening a rental darkroom in my area but would be nice if I had 1 or 2 other business partners to go in with for all the initial opening cost. Since there’s probably another $10,000 in other darkroom equipment as well as cost to build out the darkroom space with multiple bays etc.

That's not as bad as I figured. Does that include the replenishment system?
Plumbing wouldn't be bad if you had water and sewer. Would need to feed it in the dark, check results in the light, that would be tricky to do with more than one person.

 

[arespencer]

That's not as bad as I figured. Does that include the replenishment system?
Plumbing wouldn't be bad if you had water and sewer. Would need to feed it in the dark, check results in the light, that would be tricky to do with more than one person.

Yeah it’s not wildly out of reach. That does include 2 30L replenishing tanks. This is the description in the quote

Colenta RA4 Eco Line Paper Processor
RA50 22" Wash 4 Tank

50cm/min. @ 45 sec. dev time
Tank sequence: DEV / BF / WASH 1 / WASH 2
and Warm Air dryer
-incl. loading table
-incl. rinsed cross over
-incl. micro processor controller
-incl. automatic replenishment system DEV/BF
-incl. auto heating / cold water cooling for DEV/BF
-incl. anti-crystallization / anti-oxidation cycles
-incl. 2x30l external replenisher tanks
-incl. small user spare part kit
-incl. CE Confirmation
-power supply: 220V+N/230V 50/60Hz 3,5 KW

Basically all you would need is the water supply/regular panel which they sell one of their own or you can go with another brand/setup and then you’re pretty much setup to go.

If you were setting this up as a multi person studio you’d do a through the wall install. So feeding tray goes through a wall into a darkroom and pops out on the other side from the dryer.

 

[mshchem]

Yeah it’s not wildly out of reach. That does include 2 30L replenishing tanks. This is the description in the quote

Colenta RA4 Eco Line Paper Processor
RA50 22" Wash 4 Tank

50cm/min. @ 45 sec. dev time
Tank sequence: DEV / BF / WASH 1 / WASH 2
and Warm Air dryer
-incl. loading table
-incl. rinsed cross over
-incl. micro processor controller
-incl. automatic replenishment system DEV/BF
-incl. auto heating / cold water cooling for DEV/BF
-incl. anti-crystallization / anti-oxidation cycles
-incl. 2x30l external replenisher tanks
-incl. small user spare part kit
-incl. CE Confirmation
-power supply: 220V+N/230V 50/60Hz 3,5 KW

Basically all you would need is the water supply/regular panel which they sell one of their own or you can go with another brand/setup and then you’re pretty much setup to go.

If you were setting this up as a multi person studio you’d do a through the wall install. So feeding tray goes through a wall into a darkroom and pops out on the other side from the dryer.

View attachment 426079

Yep, through the wall is the right thing to do, except for then you need a carpenter, fancy revolving door, more electric. You're going to need way more AC if you are really drying a lot of big prints. I use my Ilfospeed dryers for color and rc black and white, it warms the place up, I've got a reasonably large darkroom. The pass-through would help keep the darkroom cool.
Still these machines are amazing if they are used and are cared for. I would want to be in a situation where it's a write off after 36 months.