Darkroom Resurrection

ColColt · May 13, 2016

I'm considering resurrecting my old darkroom after years of inactivity. The one I built back around 1982 has old faucets that no doubt will need the seals replaced but I may update that altogether. I'm looking for a means of being able to get and keep a steady 68 degrees from it if possible as the only time that's available at the tap is during the winter. Otherwise, tap water from the faucets are 75 degrees Summer months.

This is what it looked like while in use some years back. You may/may not be able to discern the faucets. the lamp at the left was for lighting purposes only. Couldn't get the flash to work back then when that was taken so used the lamp for light.

HiHoSilver · May 13, 2016

'Pretty serious looking work space, Col.

Andre Noble · May 13, 2016

From the hair style and wood panelling decor, it's gotta be a 70s photo, possibly early 80's?

oops I see you already said 1982

Bill Burk · May 13, 2016

Everything's still there???? Hooray!

Take it one piece at a time... You don't need to spend a jillion dollars on a chiller.

I just run my wash water through a 25 foot hose coiled in an ice-chest full of ice and water in the summer. I just run it really slow.

Costs me $6 bucks for a bag of ice at the local market, so sometimes I feel a pinch. But if you shop around you should be able to find cheaper ice. I know I can find a better deal across town.

eddie · May 13, 2016

Freezer packs, in the wash tray will keep the water cool enough, if you do as Bill says- run the water slowly. It's easy to keep a few of them frozen, so you can rotate them in and out of the tray.

ac12 · May 14, 2016

Personally I would adjust your processing to the higher summer temp. In Hawaii, I found it too difficult and too much of a hassle to try to lower the temp down to 68F.
Then in the winter you raise the chemical temp to 75F, or adjust processing to the lower winter temp.

Svenedin · May 14, 2016

Just out of interest, why does the tap water get so hot in Summer? Surely if it is "mains" water it travels in pipes quite deep underground and the temperature is fairly stable. If it is stored in a tank in the house then it's a different matter. I don't know how water supply works in the US but in the UK there is "mains" water that comes into the house for drinking and then everything else (toilets, baths, basins etc) is gravity fed from a tank in the loft. I always run the tap to purge what is in the pipes in the house until it runs cold from the water underground. Probably too geographically specific, climate included as well as plumbing.

Jim Jones · May 14, 2016

I've had no experience with in-line water coolers, but one might be adapted to your need.

Hatchetman · May 14, 2016

That looks like an amazing darkroom!

Svenedin · May 14, 2016

It really does look amazing. I am also having a darkroom resurrection but I don't even have running water in mine and it isn't "dark" yet either! I don't have any problems with water being too hot though. 68F is tropical heat as far as I'm concerned.

L Gebhardt · May 14, 2016

My tap water is at 24C/75F in the summer. I settled on that temp for my developing. Much easier to raise the temp than to lower it.

Truzi · May 14, 2016

Svenedin said:
Just out of interest, why does the tap water get so hot in Summer? Surely if it is "mains" water it travels in pipes quite deep underground and the temperature is fairly stable. If it is stored in a tank in the house then it's a different matter. I don't know how water supply works in the US but in the UK there is "mains" water that comes into the house for drinking and then everything else (toilets, baths, basins etc) is gravity fed from a tank in the loft. I always run the tap to purge what is in the pipes in the house until it runs cold from the water underground. Probably too geographically specific, climate included as well as plumbing.

It depends where you are. Typically, the water lines are buried below the frost line so they do not freeze in the winter. The purpose is to keep the water lines from freezing and/or breaking - having cool water in the summer is merely a side-effect. I suspect it is the same reason in your area.

In areas that do not get freezing winter temperatures, they don't always bury the lines deep enough to keep them cool, especially if the area is very rocky. It is seen as an added expense.

I live in Northeast Ohio, and our lines are buried. Nice cool water year-round. Homes feed directly off of the buried water lines. Tall buildings, like apartments, will pump water from the mains to a large tank on top to feed the building like you mention; there would not be enough pressure otherwise. Many people in the U.S. still have wells, but these are usually areas that do not have easy access to a public water infrastructure (some rural areas, or places where it is too difficult or expensive to run mains).

I have no idea how long my city has had public water - at least 50-60 years. A home behind me kept using a well for a very long time, and finally tied into the mains probably 20 or 30 years ago. I only know this because I smelled a foul odor one very hot summer day about 5 years ago. I thought it was our dog's "fertilizer" fermenting in the heat, but learned our neighbor had kept his well to water his lawn and garden.

jvo · May 14, 2016

ac12 said:
Personally I would adjust your processing to the higher summer temp. In Hawaii, I found it too difficult and too much of a hassle to try to lower the temp down to 68F.
Then in the winter you raise the chemical temp to 75F, or adjust processing to the lower winter temp.

i do what he says - 72 degrees, works great.

Svenedin · May 14, 2016

@Truzi Thank you for taking the time to provide that answer. New homes in the UK tend to run entirely from the mains but older homes store the water in tanks in the roof space (like my house does, sometimes with a dead pigeon in them so we learn as children never to drink water from any other tap but the kitchen tap). I am not really sure why this is. I think the water supply was less reliable, could have poor pressure and perhaps interrupted at times. The other reason might be because they did not have non-return valves so there was a potential risk of contamination of the mains from back flow from toilet cisterns etc. Some very rural locations do still have wells.

RalphLambrecht · May 14, 2016

ColColt said:
I'm considering resurrecting my old darkroom after years of inactivity. The one I built back around 1982 has old faucets that no doubt will need the seals replaced but I may update that altogether. I'm looking for a means of being able to get and keep a steady 68 degrees from it if possible as the only time that's available at the tap is during the winter. Otherwise, tap water from the faucets are 75 degrees Summer months.

This is what it looked like while in use some years back. You may/may not be able to discern the faucets. the lamp at the left was for lighting purposes only. Couldn't get the flash to work back then when that was taken so used the lamp for light.

check into an itellifaucet; not cheap but excellent!

Ben 4 · May 14, 2016

The water in this part of Pennsylvania comes from local rivers and so varies with the season. It falls to the low 40s (F) in the coldest months of winter and rises to the upper 70s in the hottest month of summer. It does travel miles underground to get to us, but still is far from constant. In winter I raise it to 68, and in summer I usually adjust processing time. Part of the adventure.

ColColt · May 14, 2016

There are times during the year, usually late Spring and early summer when the water temp is 68-70 degrees but as the months wear on and you get into late June and beyond it's right at 75-76 degrees. I'm not so concerned about the temperature developing prints as I am the film.

My tap water is at 24C/75F in the summer. I settled on that temp for my developing. Much easier to raise the temp than to lower it.

That's where I am with film developing. I can't remember what I use to do but don't recall using 75 degrees as my film developing temperature. Anymore it's like the water has gotten warmer or so it seems. That sink was built inside the room as I knew I'd never build it in the garage and then try and get it inside that room. It was given the fiberglass treatment at all joints around the sink and several coats of epoxy paint. It's never leaked.

Lots and lots of prints made in that sink from around 1982 onward for quite a few years but not in a good while. Maybe something will work out. I'm not too willing to put $800 in a mixing valve, however.

Thomas Bertilsson · May 14, 2016

75 degrees for developing film is just fine. You simply adjust your processing time. Not a big deal. Just standardize on 75 degrees and call it good.

ColColt · May 14, 2016

Yep, I've had to go to 1:1 with Xtol using that temp as using it straight would possibly give some problems due to short developing times. Tri-X at ASA 250 and 6 minutes seem to have worked good.

Sirius Glass · May 14, 2016

ColColt said:
Yep, I've had to go to 1:1 with Xtol using that temp as using it straight would possibly give some problems due to short developing times. Tri-X at ASA 250 and 6 minutes seem to have worked good.

Or use replenished XTOL in a Jobo processor for Tri-X shot at ISO 400 for 5.5 minutes.

ColColt · May 14, 2016

I just don't think I could get into the replenished thing.

Sirius Glass · May 14, 2016

It is not that hard. Add 70ml of stock XTOL per roll into the replenished XTOL bottle before emptying the tank back into the replenished XTOL bottle and dump the excess. It is as easy as falling off a motorcycle.

MattKing · May 14, 2016

Sirius Glass said:
It is as easy as falling off a motorcycle.

And far easier than getting back off the ground afterwards!

ColColt · May 14, 2016

Problem is a new adjustment developing time. That could be hit or miss each time. So, if you're using it 1:1 that's 70ml stock plus 80 ml of what you just used to bring it up to 150ml and then add 150ml water for 1:1? That for 300ml for one 35mm roll.

MattKing · May 14, 2016

ColColt said:
Problem is a new adjustment developing time. That could be hit or miss each time.

You must have a Kodak Darkroom Dataguide somewhere there. The Developing Dial will handle it for you - just take a combination that works for you, reverse engineer the "Development Number", and use that Development Number on the dial from then on.

Easy Peasy!

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