CPE2+ cleaning

I have a CPE2+ I use for processing, but the question applies to any water bath process.

It used to be when I had a darkroom ( ya, still working on setting up a new one ), I could easily dump the bath water after a session was done, this left the CPE2 pretty clean. Now, because the CPE sits on a table in my basement and it's not convenient to dump, I let it sit a week or so with water in it. Well now it gets pretty grungy between dumps. It all wipes out easy enough for the spots I can get to. There are a lot of spots in the CPE2 that are not easy to get to.

Anyone come of with something that you pour in and dump out that leaves the system squeaky clean?

I have put aquarium algae control drops in, does not seem to help.

Any thoughts?

I use a length of plastic pipe and siphon out 95+% of the water, then tip out the rest and wipe down. We have soft water so that is usually enough.

For calcification (hard water) try a teaspoon of citric acid powder in a litre of water. Citric acid is a major component of denture cleaning tablets. Citric is better than acetic because there is little residual smell. Don't make the acid solution any stronger than you need, or leave it after it stops reacting.

If it gets slimy, the citric acid should help, but then it needs a good clean with a small brush and wipes. Wear gloves if it is slimy - otherwise you will smell like the local pond...

No free lunch. You can't leave water in these, not even overnight. Scrub it out, get a 5 gallon bucket and empty after use.

Jobo used to sell a "processor clean" I don't think it would work any miracles.

Humidifier water additive would help, a bit.

Maybe some Hydrogen Peroxide to kill any bacteria/slime?

Burgy_Tog said:

Maybe some Hydrogen Peroxide to kill any bacteria/slime?

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Lots of things can kill bacteria. Permanganate also comes to mind. Or just simple household bleach - very effective and easy to get. Cheap, too. Some bleach, let sit for a bit, dump. Rinse. Then a citric acid solution, let sit for a bit again, scrub, dump, rinse.

mshchem said:

No free lunch.

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Having had a CPE2 sitting around with water in it for extended periods of time, I can only attest to this. The fouling is for all intents and purposes permanent - although in itself not necessarily harmful. I consider it mostly an aesthetic issue. These days, I drain the machine after every use and store dry in-between. It's so much better that way.

grahamp said:

I use a length of plastic pipe and siphon out 95+% of the water, then tip out the rest and wipe down.

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Same here, works a treat. Although I admit to just tipping the entire thing over into the sink some of the time. Works just as well, really - it's not too heavy. The splash is bigger, of course

koraks said:

I admit to just tipping the entire thing over into the sink

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That's how I empty mine. I have considered drilling in a spigot, though, like this:


But I hardly ever have any water in mine, anyway. Unfortunately, I use it mostly for b&w and some chemistry tends to drip out of the tanks and stays in there. So, I have to clean mine for a different reason.

Right now I do siphon the water out, makes it much easier to carry to where I can try and clean it better.

So seems like I just need to grin and bear it until I get a better setup.

Thanks

Joel_L said:

So seems like I just need to grin and bear it until I get a better setup.

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Don't sweat it. My CPE2 spent several years in squalor before its current, slightly better treatment, and it still does its Job(o) without complaint.

Yes, I have a rescued machine that looked like it was a goner. A couple hours of careful cleaning and adjusting and it works great.

Like my Nova print tank processor every 6 months or so it is cleaned out with normal household bleach. It is cheap and effective. I only do the development slot because the other 2 don't seem to get tarred up. I drain the slots (all, including the water jackets) pour in about 1 litre if water, followed by 1/2 litre of bleach and top up with water to the top of the slot. It is then left for a couple of days with occasional stirring and scrubbing around the top edges with an old toothbrush and neat bleach.

You have to thoroughly rinse out the processing slots which I do after protecting the electrics and gently washing out with several changes of water per slot

Of course you will not have to take such drastic action with a Jobo and it is much easier to get at affected areas.so simply using a bleach at less concentration than I do on on the Nova and leaving it overnight followed by rinsing out. I always empty the Jobo tank after every use so it has not affected me greatly

However one risk that accompanies leaving warm water in an open tank is this can promote the culture of Legionella. A disease called Legionnaires Disease that can affect the lungs and respiratory system which can be fatal. It can take as little as a couple of days to start in still water. The risk is possibly small, but why take the risk? The same can happen with Nova processors which is why, when filling the water jackets I always include a small percentage of bleach. 30cc per jacket on a 12x16 (Recommended by the manufacturer.)

I tried something and it seems to be working fairly well.

I used some anti bacterial that I use in my humidifier in my Jobo processor. what I use is, BestAir Humidifier Bacteriostatic.

Usually it would only take a couple days for the water to get nasty. I have let it run 2 weeks with no grundge/sludge. The other thing I did is left the water pump running with the heat turned off.

The trough also seems a bit cleaner.

I use a small 12V electric pump of the type used in caravans/mobile homes to empty it. I also use it to recirculate the heated water to keep the temperature even.

I used an aquarium pump, no provision to empty though.