Darkroom fixtures?

[Nick Zentena]

I'm going to do some plumping repairs next weekend. I'd like to add a basic faucet to attach a water filter to. While I've got the pipes all cut up and the torch blazing any relatively cheap things I should consider adding? I'm not going to a full darkroom water mixing valve or anything like that.

 

[Surly]

My darkroom sink has a garden hose thread, it's a standard laundry tub type that swings left and right.This makes it easy to attach hoses for a tray siphon, print washer, etc... I also have a hose that hangs down about 2 inches from the sink bottom so the water running does not splash. The faucet is about two feet above the bottom of the sink so everything fits under.The garden hose fittings are easy to find and you can get plastic hose barbs to step down the hose dia.'s.

 

[gma]

Mine also has the garden hose threaded spout. I bought it at Home Depot last year (cheap). You can get reducing fittings to be able to use a smaller diameter rubber or plastic hose if you want.

 

[gordrob]

I also have a laundry tub in addition to a large sink for trays. It also has a garden hose thread on the taps. I use an assortment of attachments in the tub for a film washer, inverted tube for washing bottles and graduates and a hose and these are attached with Gardena quick release hose adapters.

 

[jjstafford]

A quick-release attached to the spigot. It is a bit of a pain removing the garden hose type connectors.

 

[glbeas]

If you have much sink room you might think of putting two or three extra faucets along the side for hooking up to the film and print washers. This will leave the main faucet open for everyday housekeeping and you wont be wearing your connectors out swapping them back and forth. You can run the water from the hot and cold through cutoff valves the tee down to the line going to the extra faucets to provide some degree of temperature control. Sometimes its recommended that you add anti backflow valves inline on the incoming supply so the hot water don't crossover to the cold when the pressure fluctuates.

 

[Loose Gravel]

I have shut-off valves for the darkroom plumbing. Hot and cold. Turns everything off, just like the electricity. Turn these off and there are no surprises when I get home from vacation.

 

[Bob Carnie]

Nick you may consider a line off your hot water so the you can install a humidifer system for our dry winters. this is on my wish list for this winter in all my areas.

 

[Nick Zentena]

Right now the plan is :

2 shut off valves
2 new faucets. Garden type. One hot one cold.
Then fix/replace the old faucet.

Bob why are you using hot water for the humidifier? The drum one I have uses cold water. Also proves we have mineral water on tap-) Actually I should consider having the whole furnace replaced which would mean a new humidifer.

 

[Bob Carnie]

Nick
The units that I am installing do not ever need filling up but a requirement is a source of hot water. Once a humidity level is set and met the unit will only draw when needed . I am trying to humidify very large areas in my darkroom , drying, and hot press/mounting rooms.
As well we have a large selection of wood on premise that requires humidity to make nice joins in framing.
Constantly filling the floor models are a tremendous pain and they do not moniter the humidity levels.
As you must know in Canada November 16th till May the humidity drops to very low levels and I have acute problems with fibre paper curling .

 

[Nick Zentena]

The one attached to my furnace also fills itself. But it takes cold water. The only thing that comes to mind is the one you're installing lets the ho****er tank heat the water up some. Saves on power I guess.


So this unit you're getting monitors humidity levels? Sounds like something to consider if/when the furnace gets replaced.

 

[Nick Zentena]

ho****er is a naughty word?

 

[Nick Zentena]

Yup it seems if you combine hot water you get into ho****er. :rolleyes:

 

[MattKing]

Nick

As you must know in Canada November 16th till May the humidity drops to very low levels and I have acute problems with fibre paper curling .

Just one clarification - all of us out here on the wet coast of Canada, have no problems with low humidity during these months

 

[gordrob]

Humidity on the prairies is not a problem - except this week we had 7" of rain.

The quick connects are a great way to go to swap film washers and such in the tub. In the larger sink for the trays - about 84" by 30" I have a temperature controlled line that has two main outlets - one of them a lab gooseneck set of taps with three spigots - all temp controlled. Just like electrical outlets - you have to plan them out in advance and then double them to have enough.

 

[photobackpacker]

I have noticed something interesting in darkroom design. Many of the professional darkrooms plumb their water systems high and dangle the hoses down to the sink. When not in use, the hoses are secured in "broom clips" against the back wall or shelf edges.

Mine is not plumbed this way and I can see the advantages of getting the hoses out of the way.

 

[PeterB]

When my plumber connected my hot and cold faucets of the darkroom sink up to the main lines in the house, he used double non-return valves (I've forgotten their exact name - if someone needs to know I can look it up).

This kind of protection is mandatory on sinks in chemical labs because hoses could be attached to the taps and may then rest on the bottom of the sink; there is always a chance that chemicals in the sink are siphoned back into the main line of your building should the water be turned off in the building or the building's street.

He also wanted to use an automatic shutoff valve in case something burst when we weren't home, especially since the floor has no waste drain hole. I opted not to put one in, since at the time my budget was a bit tight.

regards
Peter Badcock