ATL-1000 Help Needed Please

[jeriann3]

Hi all, I'm a long time photographer getting back into my darkroom finally. I really appreciate the site here and the expertise!

I recently acquired a used Jobo ATL 1000, and am trying to locate the accessories needed to use the unit hooked up to a tempered water supply for the rinses, etc. Ive heard there's a pump/heater accessory for this purpose? Anyone know how/where I could obtain these?

Ultimately I may try and plumb it to my laundry room sink. My unit came with the white hose that fixes to the back of the unit, but the fitting on the other end is not the right size to plumb to my water line... Is there an adapter that's commonly used, etc? One more question ... If the unit is plumbed to a water line, does the water heat to proper temps for the rinses, etc?

I'm a bit confused as to how to best use the unit. I've process E6 and C41 by hand tanks for years with so so results, and so was looking forward to getting more consistent results with the JOBO. I sure would appreciate anyone's help!!!

Regards,
Jeri Ann
http://www.imagearray.com

 

[MikeSeb]

there is a pump accessory that is used to draw water into the unit from a bucket of tempered water, when the unit is used away from a water source. I'm not sure about a separate heater unit. You will indeed need an adapter to attach either female end of the white water supply hose to a US male faucet thread, as the hose has incompatible European threads. Check B&H or eBay for those, or whoever's handling Jobo service now might have the parts.

Attaching it to your laundry room sink won't work well, unless you can precisely control the water temp coming from the faucet. You really need a temp-controlled water supply to work properly. There are some differences here between the -1000 and the -1500, which escape me now, so check the instructions or Jobo's website for specifics, but at least on the -1500 the machine does heat the developer solutions (it measures temps off bottle 1 in the unit) to either 24Cor 38C and then commences the development cycle. The rinse water temps are controlled by the temp of the water coming in.

Best solution is to use a water mixing unit that mixes and fliters the water. Mine is made by Jobo of Delta and other components, mounted on a board. I bought it used on eBay (as I did the ATL-1500 I use.)

I have my board attached by washing machine hoses to ordinary garden-hose male taps plumbed off my basement hot and cold water lines, valve-controlled where they branch from the mains so I can shut it all off. There is a cylindrical Delta water filter at both hot and cold inlets, leading into the temp mixing valve which maintains the now-filtered water at the desired temp by varying automatically the flows of hot and cold as needed. Downstream of the mixing valve are two faucet-type outlets, one of which is connected to the Jobo processor and one which is for other uses. This is the faucet to which you connect the near end of the white water supply hose; the other goes to the processor. All of these components are on the board; the board connects by hoses to its water supplies and to the devices it feeds, so it's completely modular and portable.

The whole setup is spectacular and takes nearly all of the drudgery out of film development, and ensures consistent, repeatable results which is absolutely essential if you are going to accomplish much fine work with film photography. I've used it for B&W, C-41, and E-6 with comparably excellent results in all, but I mostly do just B&W now since my color volume was so low my chems all spoiled before I could use them.

There are those who decry continuous-agitation development, and it is not suitable for every film and developer combination; and of course is useless for stand or semi-stand development. I've never had much use for those techniques anyway, and find I can do 995 of what I need by varying developer dilution and development times. I use Xtol, Mytol (a homebrewed Xtol variant), and PC-TEA (another homebrewed Xtol cousin) for nearly everything I do, with the best results by far I've ever obtained--this after decades of hand development in small inversion tanks. what a hassle.

A few tips I've found helpful: use a pre-rinse of 3-5 minutes, which the Jobo's B&W dev cycles are pre-programmed to use. It's controversial, but Jobo recommends it even if some film mfrs don't, and i think it makes for more even development. Using this regimen, start with the recommended 75F/24C dev times for the film and dev you choose, and subtract about 15% from the recommended time for starters, for an average-contrast roll of film. I've done Tri-X, for instance, for as little as 3.5 min this way without any problem--a place where I think a pre-rinse helps. it won't take long to fine-tune your times; since the Jobo controls all the other variables, you can worry only about the time.

I'd also recommend using an alkaline fixer such as The Formulary's TF-4, which does not require hypo clear to wash out archivally. Keep things simple. Of course you'll be using the chems one-shot anyway, which is my other recommendation.

Can't recommend this setup highly enough.

 

[jeriann3]

Mike, thanks so much for taking time to explain your set-up.... that really helps me as I plan to integrate this machine into my darkroom. Right now, I'm looking around for the pump .. I have a heater which should provide the correct temp for the water supply, it acutally is from a DevTec unit...

Ultimately, tho my goal will be to plumb it as you described...and I think I'll probably seek a good plumber to do the work for me. Would you happen to have a snapshot of the way you've hooked yours up with the mixing panel. In my laundry room I have hot and cold lines coming in for both the washing machine and for the laundry sink that sits right next to the washer. I am thinking a plumber might modifiy one of these with a mixing panel that might feed the ATL as well.

I'll have to learn about the presets in the 1000 which is what I have, not sure I can alter them for pre-rinse, but hopefully that might be built in to the programs... I do see where I can choose push/pull setting and increase developer by percentages, etc. As I understand the 1500 is user programmable, but I'm not sure about my unit. Just got it a few days ago, so trying to learn as much as I can. The owner sent me all the manuals he had and they're helpful but basic.... so I really value actual user experiences!

I'm concerned abit about finding the parts, but I've written to Calumet, and thanks for mentioning BH too, I've dealt with them til my pocketbook fainted!!!! I'll check there too. I went to HomeDepot/Lowes looking for the so called brass adapter for the hose end, but not knowing what I has looking for and not quite what to ask for, was unsuccessful thus far.... I may take the hose with me tomorrow and see if I can find a fitting ...

Your help and experience is greatly appreciated Mike ... many thanks

 

[Kino]

About the only thing I can add to the prior posting is, IF you are going to place the machine any distance from the mixing valve, I found I had to put a "T" in the tempered water line and put a discharge hose there (a spray unit like you use in a kitchen sink) because it takes a while for the machine to come to temperature (at least for color) and you need to flush the untempered water out of the line and make fine adjustments to the tempering valve just before the machine kicks off its processing routine.

You to avoid this, you can find the subroutine in the program to run the wash water for 10 seconds at a time, but it is much more of a pain rather than just running the spray unit and adjusting the tempering valve.

Hope that made sense...

 

[Trond]

I set up my ATL-1000 in the bathroom just before using it. It takes me about 5 minutes to set it up. The machine is connected to a thermostatic shower mixer which does a good job at controlling the water at 38 degrees C for E-6 and C-41. My shower mixer doesn't do as well for 24 degrees C, but I prefer to develop BW by hand anyway.

I have attached a Y-connection (with built-in taps) to the Jobo, which allows water to trickle through the hoses. This way, the water in the hoses doesn't cool down before the machine actually starts washing.

The ATL-1000 is the same as ATL-1500, but the latter is programmable.

Please see the atteched snaps.

Trond

 

[jeriann3]

About the only thing I can add to the prior posting is, IF you are going to place the machine any distance from the mixing valve, I found I had to put a "T" in the tempered water line and put a discharge hose there (a spray unit like you use in a kitchen sink) because it takes a while for the machine to come to temperature (at least for color) and you need to flush the untempered water out of the line and make fine adjustments to the tempering valve just before the machine kicks off its processing routine.

You to avoid this, you can find the subroutine in the program to run the wash water for 10 seconds at a time, but it is much more of a pain rather than just running the spray unit and adjusting the tempering valve.

Hope that made sense...

Yes, that's helpful to know THANKS... I'm starting to envision what my plumbing setup needs to be. Have you any knowledge on the "pump" described for the portable tempered water setup... have you used your unit that way? thanks - jeri ann

 

[jeriann3]

I set up my ATL-1000 in the bathroom just before using it. It takes me about 5 minutes to set it up. The machine is connected to a thermostatic shower mixer which does a good job at controlling the water at 38 degrees C for E-6 and C-41. My shower mixer doesn't do as well for 24 degrees C, but I prefer to develop BW by hand anyway.

I have attached a Y-connection (with built-in taps) to the Jobo, which allows water to trickle through the hoses. This way, the water in the hoses doesn't cool down before the machine actually starts washing.

The ATL-1000 is the same as ATL-1500, but the latter is programmable.

Please see the atteched snaps.

Trond

Trond thanks for those images... pictures worth a thousand words!!! This seems feasible and would work with my laundry sink I believe. I've one spicket that both hot/cold water pours though, and I have the spray/hose also mounted on that sink... so thinking I'll need a way to regulate temperature and gives me an indication of the temp. Can you tell me where you found the y-connector with the taps, and does it have the european to u.s. adapter connectors? These I'm having a hard time locating

thanks again for taking time to help ! jeri ann

 

[edtbjon]

The way I set the temperature of the incoming water is to set it at 22-23 deg for B/W and at 36-37 deg for E6/C41 work. The machine will then heat the water to temper the chemicals to 24 or 38 deg. There should not be any problems with pre-washing and final washing at a degree or two off the developing temp.
Second, the Y-connector shown in Tronds excellent pictures are part of a garden hose system. In Scandinavia they are called e.g. "Gardena". That particular coupling should relieve you of some $20 or so.

//Björn

 

[Kino]

Yes, that's helpful to know THANKS... I'm starting to envision what my plumbing setup needs to be. Have you any knowledge on the "pump" described for the portable tempered water setup... have you used your unit that way? thanks - jeri ann

No, sorry! I have no experience with the optional pump.

Good luck; feel free to ask any further questions !