E6 development without Jobo etc.

[Felinik]

Morning,

Last week I found a pack of the Tetenal E6 kit on sale at my local photo dealer, 5 euros... As I've been thinking for a while now that I should start developing C-41 as well at home I jumped this in a second seeing it as a great price to get started with color home development, and if things go south there's no loss really. Now I just have to get some cheap reversal film to try with as well.

I've been thinking about getting one of these: http://goo.gl/zxWZZ (yeah it's in french, I live in the south of France, but you see the photo of the item) in order to keep the temperature, if it works for food I assume it would work to keep development tank and bottles warm as well.

And in addition to this, I think I will get an extra Paterson tank + reels dedicated for this process, maybe it's not necessary but hey, who's not anal on this forum....




So those of you who do this without a Jobo, any advice and experience to share?




Thanks!



Cheers
JF Felinik

 

[damonff]

I get my E6 and C41 chemicals up to the correct temperature using a dedicated microwave. I always get great results. I do not use a bath to keep the temperature consistent. Also, C41 and E6 chemicals last a lot longer than stated as far as number of rolls you are able to develop and lifespan. Of course, your results are what count. With E6 I follow the recommended rolls per liter - about 8, but the life span is longer than stated. With E6 the temperature is only critical for the first developer and the color not so much. I warm up the color developer in the same way, but it can be used from 95 degrees and up so by the time you get to it (about 6 minutes after the first) it is at an acceptable temperature. For the blix, the times are the same for 75 degrees fahrenheit through 100 degrees so that can remain at room temperature.

Follow the instructions and experiment.

 

[destroya]

i do my e-6 in a Paterson at home. get a very large (14quart) slow cooker that has a temp setting, the cheaper the better. set it on low and it keeps all your chems at 100 spot on for hours. I have done many batches of c-41 and e-6 with the tetenal kit and they come out perfect.

the first time you un-spool an roll of slide film to hang and dry, it will bring a huge smile to your face

 

[tnabbott]

. . . the first time you un-spool an roll of slide film to hang and dry, it will bring a huge smile to your face

So true...!

 

[Felinik]

Sounds indeed like a thrilling experience! I have to go get me some reversal film!

 

[madgardener]

i do my e-6 in a Paterson at home. get a very large (14quart) slow cooker that has a temp setting, the cheaper the better. set it on low and it keeps all your chems at 100 spot on for hours. I have done many batches of c-41 and e-6 with the tetenal kit and they come out perfect...

My experience with slow cookers is that they get a lot hotter than 100, even on low. How do you keep the temperature so stable without overheating?

 

[bobwysiwyg]

My experience with slow cookers is that they get a lot hotter than 100, even on low. How do you keep the temperature so stable without overheating?

This thread caught my eye. I would love to give home color a try and thought the crock pot (slow cooker) sounded like it might be worth a try. I use ours pretty regularly for food, but never anything like this and my thought too was it would still be too hot, but then thought maybe with the cover off, it would do a better job as a water bath the heat would not accumulate under the heavy cover. Well, just tried an experiment this AM with some plain water. With the lid off, after a long enough time to stabilize the temp, it was around 110F. Actually, it varied around the pot somewhat, from 109 to 116F. Are there better controlled pots with actual temp settings? Ours just has "low" and "high."

 

[destroya]

The slow cooker/crock pot works great! I bought this one at walmart when it was on sale for $18. works like a charm. the cheaper models have the nob like this one that goes from a keep warm up to 450 degrees. somewhere half way in the keep warm range it will hold the water in the tub at 100. i usually do it in the bathroom and put warm water in it to begin with. I use 30 ounce brown glass bottles to keep them chems in as they star warmer that way. I turn on the cooker and them fill the bottles with the chems and then put them in the cooker for about 30-45 minutes to come to temp. I have one filled with water and have a thermometer in it to measure the temp. I can then fine tune it (kind of) by adjusting the temps. it works great. I got the idea from a link in a post from here. I have it saved at home but im at work so i dont have it with me. will try to post it later. here is a link to the cooker i bought. Get the cheapest one you can find and make sure never to cook withit

http://www.amazon.com/Rival-RO180-1...60862522&sr=1-1&keywords=Rival+RO180+18-Quart

 

[bobwysiwyg]

destroya, thanks for the link. I'll have a look at one. It does appear the temp control has finer settings.

 

[madgardener]

That's a turkey roaster, not a crock pot. I have been thinking about getting one of those myself. Glad to hear they work so well though.

 

[tnabbott]

I used a deep foot massage bath to temper the chemicals and Patterson tank. It worked very well. I've got a Jobo now and I enjoy the convenience, but it is not necessary.

 

[chuck94022]

There are some great Sous Vide machines out now, expensive but very accurate. You can make a very accurate tempering bath yourself, that you could also use for Sous Vide cooking, for much less than the commercial ones, if you're handy. Google "do it yourself sous vide machine" for plenty of links. Here's one: http://seattlefoodgeek.com/2010/02/diy-sous-vide-heating-immersion-circulator-for-about-75/

They claim it can be built for $75.

For me, for C-41, I use hot water in an insulated tub (you can use any ice chest). I monitor temps with an accurate (+- .1 degree) electronic thermometer (they aren't expensive). It doesn't take long to work out the starting temp that results in your chems and the bath hitting 38 degrees C at the same time, and once it is there, you just start your process, it won't drop too much before you are done with the critical steps. I also keep monitoring temps, and just add a bit of hot water from a separate jug if I think it is dropping too fast. But actually it never happens.

Results come out just like the pro labs. I do lights out dip and dunk for 4x5, using the Combiplan and some 1.5 liter plastic juice jugs for my tanks. For this, I use a timer app on my iphone that can generate different sounding ticks and alarms for the various processes, and the phone stays under a light trap nearby. For everything else, its lights on with a Paterson tank. Easy peasy.

Oh, and this is all done in a spare bathroom, so I have very easy access to hot and cold water.

 

[wiedzmin]

I built one based on Dead Link Removed It works really good. Temperature once stabilized, doesn't change.

 

[Felinik]

I built one based on Dead Link Removed It works really good. Temperature once stabilized, doesn't change.

Looks really nice!!!

 

[wiedzmin]

Aesthetically there are way to improve it for sure If you are interested I can post links to the parts I used and some observations regarding assembly process. It is something simple to do. Much easier than it seems.

 

[Felinik]

Thanks, though I'm not that DIY, mostly due to lack of time, I think I'll just go for the food heating thingie in my original post instead, it's not expensive, and all I need to do is to put it on, heat it up to 38°C and I am up and running.