Daylight developing

I'm looking into purchasing a SS Nikor tank and this might seem like a strange question but can the liquids be poured in and out in daylight just like a Paterson tank? The reason I ask is that a few years back I purchased a steel tank only to find it could only be used in complete darkness. Many thanks in advance.

I thought all developing tanks could be filled with chemicals in daylight as they have a lightproof entry, usually by means of a funnel from the tank top such as Jobo, Paterson etc or a lightproof baffle built in to the tank top such as Durst tanks. I wonder which tank you purchased that required filling in total darkness? I suspect, if you purchased it from a private seller it may have had the funnel/baffle missing

Just as a matter of interest which tank was it that needed filling in total darkness?

pentaxuser

The only one I have ever seen that needs to be used in darkness is this old Kodak tank for developing plates.

Robert Canis said:

I'm looking into purchasing a SS Nikor tank and this might seem like a strange question but can the liquids be poured in and out in daylight just like a Paterson tank? The reason I ask is that a few years back I purchased a steel tank only to find it could only be used in complete darkness. Many thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

In a word: YES

There are some very large stainless tanks which don’t use daylight lids, because filling and emptying takes too through the trap for the volume they hold.

pentaxuser said:

I thought all developing tanks could be filled with chemicals in daylight as they have a lightproof entry, usually by means of a funnel from the tank top such as Jobo, Paterson etc or a lightproof baffle built in to the tank top such as Durst tanks. I wonder which tank you purchased that required filling in total darkness? I suspect, if you purchased it from a private seller it may have had the funnel/baffle missing ...

Click to expand...

The answer to the original question, "Can SS tanks be filled and emptied in daylight, like a Paterson (yuck)," is Yes.
The SS tank he means is like the round Nikor style tanks. They have a body which takes reels and a light tight top through which solutions can be poured.

What you are referring to is the rectangular, boxy, open-topped tanks which hold several gallons or more of solution. These can be SS, but also rubber. They were for processing commercial volumes of film, often loaded on hangers or reels which then went on racks. The racks were then lowered into the tanks in the dark. To agitate the film, the racks were lifted out of the solution,then returned. Rather than pouring solutions in and out of the tank, each solution had its own tank, and you moved the film racks from one tank to the next. Don't see them used much anymore, since volume processing of B&W at a commercial level isn't common today, and most volume color processing it done on automatic machines.

FWIW, I prefer the Paterson type, in part because I can fill and drain it much more quickly than the stainless tanks I've used. The problem is that the light traps in every stainless tank I've owned or used has fairly small passages that are shared by the incoming liquid and the escaping air (or vice versa), limiting the rate at which liquid can transfer in or out.

That said, a Nikor or other stainless "daylight tank" can be filled and drained in daylight with film loaded, without exposing the film. That's why they're called "daylight" developing tanks.

The only tanks that I really did not like are the Yankee 4"x5" tanks because when you move them back and forth across a table as recommended by the manufacturer the chemical slosh out of the top.

Sirius Glass said:

The only tanks that I really did not like are the Yankee 4"x5" tanks because when you move them back and forth across a table as recommended by the manufacturer the chemical slosh out of the top.

Click to expand...

I've got one of those, and I love it (fills and drains lickety split) -- especially since I figured out they don't mean to slide it back and forth to slosh the contents, but rather to tip it. The feet are closer together than the ends for good reason; even with more than a liter and a half of liquid in the tank, mine pretty readily tilts up on one leg (which runs all the way across the bottom) until the bottom edge on that end touches the counter. I tilt one way, back to center, then the other, and back to center, and treat that as equivalent to an inversion or swizzle stick rotation cycle, and I've gotten good results with no spillage. Now if I could just figure out how to load the thing without my film sheets winding up two in a slot...

Donald Qualls said:

I've got one of those, and I love it (fills and drains lickety split) -- especially since I figured out they don't mean to slide it back and forth to slosh the contents, but rather to tip it. The feet are closer together than the ends for good reason; even with more than a liter and a half of liquid in the tank, mine pretty readily tilts up on one leg (which runs all the way across the bottom) until the bottom edge on that end touches the counter. I tilt one way, back to center, then the other, and back to center, and treat that as equivalent to an inversion or swizzle stick rotation cycle, and I've gotten good results with no spillage. Now if I could just figure out how to load the thing without my film sheets winding up two in a slot...

Click to expand...

I took it back to FreeStyle and they gave me full credit for it which I then used to buy the Jobo 3010 Expert Drum and I have been a happy camper ever since.

Donald Qualls said:

I've got one of those, and I love it (fills and drains lickety split) -- especially since I figured out they don't mean to slide it back and forth to slosh the contents, but rather to tip it. The feet are closer together than the ends for good reason; even with more than a liter and a half of liquid in the tank, mine pretty readily tilts up on one leg (which runs all the way across the bottom) until the bottom edge on that end touches the counter. I tilt one way, back to center, then the other, and back to center, and treat that as equivalent to an inversion or swizzle stick rotation cycle, and I've gotten good results with no spillage. Now if I could just figure out how to load the thing without my film sheets winding up two in a slot...

Click to expand...

I use my Yankee Tank for washing my 4x5 negatives. Works like a top and I can store them while I develop other negatives.

You can fill SS tanks really quick if you tilt them 45º. Just a little tip for you.

Patrick Robert James said:

You can fill SS tanks really quick if you tilt them 45º. Just a little tip for you.

Click to expand...

That's spot on! I do exactly that with the one reel and two reel Combina tanks.

For the larger tanks: I got enough tanks (the five reel 135 or three reel 120 large Combina tanks) so I can load film in the first tank, and prepare three other tanks with the chemicals. After that it is just about turning off the light, taking the reels on the stick out of the first dry tank and putting them into the developer tank. Light goes back on. That repeats when it is time to go into the stop, and finally again into the last tank with fixer.

Patrick Robert James said:

You can fill SS tanks really quick if you tilt them 45º. Just a little tip for you.

Click to expand...

My experience (with a Nikor 4x5 size tank and 2x 220 reels, as well as various standard size 35/120 tanks) is that even with that (which I've known for a good while) they don't fill or drain anything like as fast as a Paterson. And for 4x5 or larger you need the specific cage (currently well above $100 on eBay) for the film. You can get a new Agitank for about $40 plus shipping. Note, that's new from the factory; these are still in production.

I think I mainly need more practice with mine, using the loading aid (comes with the tank) to fill the slots sequentially to get to the point of routinely loading without getting two sheets in one slot. Likely also a good plan to pull all the films out of their holders before I start loading the rack.