Cold(er) water washing - RC paper

[MattKing]

Due to a "plumbing emergency" in our bathroom/my darkroom we now have a shiny new water source in our bathtub/shower.

For showers, it's great, but as a water source for developing prints, it has a problem.

Unlike the previous tap, it doesn't permit adjustment of flow. As a result, when I adjust the water temperature to 68 F/ 20 C, I end up with more flow than I want (and use more water than I prefer).

I can get the tap to give me the flow I want if I set the control to the very beginning of it's travel, but the resulting water temperature is about 62 F/ 16.7 C.

The rest of my chemistry is at 68 F/ 20 C.

My question is: Can I use the 62 F/ 16.7 C wash water safely, and if so, how long should I wash the RC prints for?

FWIW, most of my paper is Ilford (including both warm tone and cool tone) although I still have some remnants of Kodak RC and some (new) Oriental Seagull as well.

Thanks in advance.

Matt

 

[Perry Way]

I dont know the correct answer as to temperature, but.......... I have a flow gauge on my shower head that I can turn to back off the pressure or flow to a drip feed if I wanted it down that far. It's one of those lever action types. Maybe you could do the same thing.

 

[Perry Way]

I dont know the correct answer as to temperature, but.......... I have a flow gauge on my shower head that I can turn to back off the pressure or flow to a drip feed if I wanted it down that far. It's one of those lever action types. Maybe you could do the same thing.

Oh, and I forgot.. and I take the shower head off and use the hose that goes to it (its the detachable kind you can carry around in the shower) and tape that into the tray with gaffer's tape and set it down near the drain. Above the tub I have a wire shelfing unit I Macguyver'd together from two wire shelves you can get for the closet over at Home Depot. Just strip-tied them together to make one larger more rigid shelf, and thats where my developer, stop bath, etc goes. Works great for me.

 

[Martin Aislabie]

Matt, Ilford say wash in water more than 5C for 120sec in their fact sheet - http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/20061301948131639.pdf

BTW my wash water out of the cold tap ranges from 4 to 18C throughout the year but when the water temp is less than 10C I double the wash time.

Martin

 

[Brook Hill]

Ilford give one wash time for prints for all temperatures above 5degC/41degF, 2min. for RC, 60 min. for fibre. On this recommendation 62deg.F should be no problem.
Tony

 

[dancqu]

Have You so Many to Wash?

Have you so many to wash that you can't
use two or three tray soaks. RC soaks up
little fixer and wash quickly. Dan

 

[Christopher Walrath]

Wirelessly posted (BBBold: BlackBerry9000/4.6.0.167 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102 UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

My rinse is below 68, don't know for sure, prob in the 50's and a ten minuter rinse is more than adequate.

 

[WolfTales]

If givin a choice, washing a print in cool water would be less likely to damage a print then washing it in warm water.

 

[MattKing]

Thanks all for your thoughts/comments.

After starting this thread, I did re-check the Kodak and Ilford instruction pdfs, and noted the wide range of temperature recommendations. Thanks Martin and Brook for doing what I should have done first.

1SharpMonkey: I've considered a "plumbing accessory" option, and will continue looking for something that works (and works with the decor ). I'm already using that wire shelving over the tub - I agree that it works well.

Thanks Christopher and Martin for relating your experiences.

Dan: the tray soak approach was going to be my backup, but the reality of my workflow is that washing happens in the bathroom, and drying happens in the kitchen, and it's tough to be in two rooms at the same time.

WolfTales: I agree, but I was wondering if it would still work at the lower temperatures (now it's clear that it does) and whether I needed to adjust the time.

Thanks again.

Matt

 

[nworth]

I've often washed RC prints with water that was quite cold - maybe the mid to high fifties F. I usually extend the wash time some in those cases, maybe to about an hour. I think I was successful, but I didn't do any tests.

 

[dancqu]

So, minimum 5C, 41F. Two, 2, minutes.
With RC fixer is located only in the emulsion.

When I was using RC I gave the print 1, 2, and
3 minute minute tray soaks with agitation; just
enough room temperature water each wash to
make washing easy. After washing a sponge
dry then placed on edge. Soon dry.

Were I working with RC now days I'd give the
prints three 1 minute soaks with agitation and
a least amount of water. Room temperature
of course. Dan