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Colour printing with a jobo cpp3?

snaggs

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Feb 18, 2005
Messages
323
Location
Perth, Austr
Format
35mm
I just realised Ive never seen an analogue colour enlargement. Im young enough to have gotten into photography when light jets were dominating labs.

Ive been curious but intimidated by colour prints. Id thought it was maybe too late to start learning, but then the Jobo CPP3 came out, its nice to know if I go to the trouble of setting up a darkroom that spares etc wont vanish.

Also, the jobo cpp3 sounds like something which could add a bit of structure to process for someone whos never done printing. I dont mind the cost. Seen what a 42" Epson costs?

Can anyone who uses a jobo comment on how difficult RA4 is with a jobo?

Daniel.
 
Daniel;

I have made up to 40 prints in one evening with my Jobo. It is a snap. Except for the darkroom becoming a bit warm and humid !

I use 100F or 38C for the process with a 30" prewet, 1' dev, 30" stop and 2' blix. Then I rinse in the drum and then place into a tray of water until my printing session is done. I wash all prints at one time in running water for about 5' at 85F. I use the RA-RT color developer from Kodak (or equivalent) and I use a 2% acetic acid stop.

The biggest warning or caution I might give is to make sure that the drum is dry for re-use, and make sure your hands are dry.

Have fun! I do.

PE
 
I've had the good luck with using the Jobo for prints, and do it basically the same as PE.

As far as drying the drums, it is very important. I use two sets of drums so I can dry one while the other is processing. A hair dryer on low helps get the final bit of moisture out that the paper towels mis.

You could also look into getting a roller transport machine such as the Durst Printo or and Ilford ICP. I found one of each for cheap a few years ago and now only use the Jobo for larger prints, or short sessions. They are more convenient if you wish to do a lot of prints. But the Jobo is fast to setup and take down.
 
I tried a Jobo for colour printing years ago and failed miserably. Too much hassle to clean out and dry the drum between prints. I changed to a 12x16 NOVA deep tank slot processor and the task was transformed. No between-print cleaning or drying and the work-flow was quick. Replenishment of the Dev, stop bath and bleach fix = 100cc's per 800 sq inches (10 x 10"x8" sheets or equivalent) The 3 solutions were never changed for at least 12 months before it was cleaned out and a new prime solution refilled.

There is a price advantage too. A slot processor for 12x16 inch paper is a lot less than that for a Nova CPP3 processor - less than 1/4 of the price. A 20x16 is about a third.

About the only downside of the NOVA processor is to fill the slots in a 12x16 model you need about 2 litres of developer, stop and bleach fix. But this is balanced by the long life when they are used.
 
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I prefer 84F and 2 min dev time because the fill and drain cycle will be a little less critical. RA4 is pretty easy as long as your chemicals are reasonably fresh and your temperature is accurate.
Don't forget good ventilation - important with all chemicals, but esp color. And I prefer Kodak RA/RT
chemistry.
 
Although it was not the topic of the thread, i actually use 20C a lot and process in trays.

PE
 
A little trick I came up with when color printing with my CPA2. When I try to figure out color filtration and exposure times, I don't use the drums for test strips. Instead, I use about 4x5 test strips. I expose a strip under the enlarger, roll it into a cylinder and process it directly in the beakers with chemistry: 1 min developer, quick rinse under running water and 1 min in blix. This way I don't spend time on rinse and drum washing just for the test strips - a quick 3min turnaround time for each test strip. Once I think I'm close to the exposure and filtration, I then fire up the whole sheet in the drum. Speeds things up dramatically.

Eugene.
P.S. Obviously, wear gloves when hand-dunking the test strips into chemistry. I get those 100-pack latex disposables and get new pair after each processing.
 
I never dry drums when I work with color papers at Jobo processor. For quicker work I use this sequence: 1´ prewash, 1´developer, 30"stop (2% acetic acid), 30" wash. Now I get out prints from drum and put them into blix, which is in the larger tray. Now I put the new papers into drum and all repeats. When the next ones are developed, I get out prints from blix, put them into tray with water and after session I wash them with running water.
 
I'm another Jobo colour print processor. There is a few of us about.
 

I'm afraid that a wet drum from such a process can lead to spots on prints and also colored contaminations.

PE
 
By far and away a dry to dry processor is the best way to go.... almost new reconditioned units can be had with a guarantee from DeVere in England. I use a 32" wide Colex tabletop processor requiring 10L of developer and bleach with automatic replenishment. Similar units can sometimes be found on Ebay at a fraction of their original price and parts and service are still available.
 
We just recieved the Jobo CPP3, It is a very nice unit and I think the OP would be fine using it for colour prints.

Single shot chemistry would be ideal and simple operation is the way to go for a home use.
This unit can fit in a very small space that has water supply and a drain.
 
Bob,

Interesting to hear your views on the CPP3. I'm just reading up re the motor on the back of my ATL-2300 as after turning it on this afternoon after about 18 months switched off the motor is running hot but not pumping water into the upper trough.

Tom
 
Tom

As you know I owned a few Alt 2300, great machines.
Difficult to fix when they decide to give up the ghost.I do not recommend trying to buy used as you never know when the motar, pump, liftarm is ready to go.


The CPP3 is a very nice unit, good programming capabilities, needs a bit of a work to phase in our operation, as the manual and explanation is kind of goofy.
But I think a very solid addition , we are using all our old tanks and as well purchased a larger tank so I can do five 120 at a time. We have purchased
new reels and extra lids and Expert Drums for 4x5.

I refuse to double roll the reels with the red sticker, too many problems.
This machine needs to be overseen but it really looks like a workhorse.
Omar at Cat Labs is a pleasure to work- with and honorable to boot so I highly recommend this machine, I was ready to have Richard Idle design and build
a unit but the CPP3 is pretty much what we figured out.
There is an issue with European parts that I will solve in future by buying extras of everything that is complicated.

Bob


 
Bob,

I think I'll try and have a look around the back of the 2300 to see if there is any obvious blockage, and then investigate the motor. I'm glad you report the CPP3 seems like a solid processor as this is not something easy to tell from the photos online.

Tom
 
Back in the 90s when I was a full time social photographer I processed the films and hand printed all of my work (except large groups such as school reunions as I could get them processed for pennies for an 8x10) using a CPP2 (without a lift). If I needed more than 5 prints of an image it was cheaper to buy 25 and throw the remainder away than process them myself.

I now have a CPP2 with lift (can't believe how much easier it makes it) but purely use it at the moment for sheet film processing with Expert drums although I do have a stash of c41 and RA4 chemicals for when I decide to do some LF colour)
 
You might be lucky and find that the water in the drum doesn't affect the next print and if contamination only occasionally happens it might be worth the risk against the time saved but I found that coloured streaks( green if I recall) occurred more often than was acceptable without a quick wipe of the inside of the drum.

pentaxuser
 

The pump uses natural oils on felt discs for lubrication and it turns to gum with age. Get the pump out, clean all the gum off the bearings and re-lube it; it'll be fine.
 

Pre-wash your paper and never get a flawed print from a dripping wet drum.
 
polyglot said:
The pump uses natural oils on felt discs for lubrication and it turns to gum with age. Get the pump out, clean all the gum off the bearings and re-lube it; it'll be fine.
Click to expand...

I turned on the Jobo this afternoon (Sunday) and it is pumping water around the machine without a problem. Which is odd considering the lack of operation on May 31st. Perhaps the pump un-seized due to warmer conditions...

Tom
 
Tom Kershaw said:
I turned on the Jobo this afternoon (Sunday) and it is pumping water around the machine without a problem. Which is odd considering the lack of operation on May 31st. Perhaps the pump un-seized due to warmer conditions...

Tom
Click to expand...

Algae can sometimes block one of the smaller hoses in the system. As you know the ATL 2300 has only one water distribution unit/pump for the entire machine, which circulates the water through an intricate hose system.
Its enough that one of those junctions or curves have a partial blockage to lower the pressure on the entire system.

It might also be be that the pump motor has reached the end if its service life, its a very easy replacement. If you see lower pressure, try tapping the motor on the rear of the machine and try flexing and squeezing/pinching the visible or accessible hoses with your fingers and see if they spit out any gunk through the spout at the upper trough. The mesh wire filter should catch most of it before its sucked back to re circulate.

Processor clean can help loosen up the gunk as well.

Let me know if you still need any help.
 
CatLABS said:
It might also be be that the pump motor has reached the end if its service life, its a very easy replacement.
Click to expand...

Seriously, pump motors do not wear out. They're chunks of iron with some copper wire wrapped around it; there should be nothing to wear out except brushes, and most mains-powered motors do not use brushes. They can be abused into failure via heat, but that's usually the "big bang" kind of failure where the insulation lets go or the heat seizes a bearing.

Bearings can certainly seize or be gummed with lubricant (my CPP2 pump has this issue), pumps themselves definitely wear out at points of contact and/or flex. But not motors. Electric motors are forever unless abused

If your electric motor has stopped, clean & re-lube it, maybe replace a bearing. If it's part of a pump, the actual pumping bit should be your prime suspect.
 
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