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Easy way to warm up cold chemistry in trays

albada

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Joined
Apr 10, 2008
Messages
2,177
Location
Escondido, C
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35mm RF
It's winter, and the chemicals in your trays are too cold. How can you warm them? Here's an easy way.

1. Fill a one-liter glass bottle with hot tap-water, and screw its cap on.
2. Put the hot bottle in your tray.
3. Agitate until temperature is correct.

Does everyone already know this trick? I'm new to darkroom work, and my search didn't find a posting about this topic, so here it is.
Mark Overton
 
Depending on the size of your tray, you can also place it into a larger tray with hot water in the larger one.
In hotter seasons, both methods work with ice water.
 
and I was thinking pig warming blankets .
warm bottle so much easier ( and cheeper )
 
I've used ziplock bags with hot water in them instead of bottles. That's when working with 16x20 trays. For smaller trays, I just stick them in larger trays with a bit of warm water in them.
 
Depending on the tray, you can use a fish tank heater too.
 
eddie said:
Depending on the size of your tray, you can also place it into a larger tray with hot water in the larger one.
In hotter seasons, both methods work with ice water.
Click to expand...

I tried this, but the warmer water lost its temperature quite fast. I needed to keep the tray at 35degrees celcius.

I have been thing of using 3D printer heated bed:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Reprap-3D-...355079?hash=item1a491668c7:g:pbkAAOSw8eFbPo0F

and buck converter to adjust the current to limit the power (you don't want 200W really :

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-DC-Conv...150784?hash=item58fe0965c0:g:6OwAAOSwisVZrgue

Power from old laptop power. Pretty cheap..
 
Nice tip, thanks! I warm up my trays with hot water before I poor the chemicals in. If I forgot that and am confronted with lower than 20° C developer, I use the hairdryer which belongs to my darkroom because I use it for drying test prints. I blow under tray, this has a faster effect than blowing in the liquid.
 
I have read about people using a sous' vide cooker for this. I'm not sure if they go low enough for our use though.
 
aquarium heater in larger tempering trays, been doing it for years. You just have to remember to turn it off, which I have forgotten to do twice.

I now have a Phototherm tempering bath which is great for solution bottles, and I've tinkered with the idea of running a circulation pump from it through the tempering trays. But that sounds like work so I probably won't bother.
 
I live in a farmhouse and we're on spring water - at this time of the year, it's absolutely freezing! So, I have 2x 500ml glass jugs that I fill, along with a deep roasting tray. All of these then sit on the top of the Aga at a nice steady, warm, temperature. Perfect!

All the best,
Dee.
 
Craig said:
Depending on the tray, you can use a fish tank heater too.
Click to expand...
That kind of a heater in a larger tray of water surrounding the tray for developing would be my favourite as well. It gets over the problem that has already been mentioned of keeping the water from the tap hot. The heaters are thermostatically controlled so set it up, switch it on and then you can get on with printing without further attention

pentaxuser
 
I do the opposite.

My darkroom is cold. As soon as I enter it, I Start the heater. Takes 15 minutes to bring the temp to a steady 20c.

I install a 11x14 tray at the bottom of my deep laundry sink (Love that sink) and fill the tray with hot water directly (55c) and put the 2L glass bottles containing the chemicals in the tray filled with hot water. It is very important they be glass bottles, not plastic, as plastic acts like an effective isolating wall. Within 5 minutes my chems are up to 20c.
I then pour them into their respective trays.

The ambient temp which is now at 20c keeps the chemicals at a stable 20-22c for the whole session.

Basically, 15 minutes of preparation for a nice 3-5 hours session.
 
If I just want to put a few degrees on some chemistry, I warm it in a beaker on an electric mug warmer. It just takes a couple of minutes.
 
When I want to warm up a 11x14 tray with 32 ounces of developer, I fill a gallon bucket with hot water from the tap (about 125-degrees F).

I lift an edge of the tray and pour 1/3 to half of the gallon under the tray. I watch the temperature and if it needs the rest of the gallon, I'll pour the rest and refill the bucket.

Many times it only takes a half gallon of hot water to get me up to 68-degrees F. Since it warms the bottom of the sink (stainless steel), the temperature stays pretty steady.
 
In winter I slide a terrarium/reptile heating pad under the developer tray. They come in various sizes, appear to be impervious to water (though I wouldn't leave one submerged), and are infinitely adjustable.

Here's the one currently in use:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XBF9LPZ

Cheers,
Tim
 
I heat the chemistry in a microwave. Done it for 30 years. I worked for Amana Appliances manufacturing plant in Amana Iowa. We made commercial and Industrial microwaves, the industrial jobs used something like 35, 100W magnetron tubes. This kind of machine is what is used to cook bacon. The stuff you buy ready to eat.

Anyway, I could get free field test appliances, at one time I had furnace and AC, 3 refrigerators, washer and dryer, 2 microwaves, gas range. It was great. I would test the product for a certain period. Look for defects before the product was released for volume production (RVP) I have a Korean made microwave that I've used forever in my darkroom, just put a partial bit in a beaker give it a few seconds.

Now Amana has been through 3 buy outs. The refrigerator plant where I worked is still there, but all the white collar jobs are long gone. I made it through all 3 buyouts, the last was Whirlpool, lasted 5 years. They moved a lot of the design work to Mexico, China, India, and to HQ in Michigan. Maytag was before Whirlpool, Maytag was a great company. Now it's all gone. Newton Iowa was their HQ, the original Maytag washers built up through the mid 80's, would run forever, usually all they would need is a v belt every decade or so, took about 5 minutes to change.

Anyway buy a cheap microwave, use very small bursts of power. In the cold months I run a electric 1500W oil filled radiator set low, has a thermostat built in, keeps my darkroom and it's chemistry at 68 - 70°F
 
Off topic but its a joke what corporate America does to people earning a living wage...we pay just as much or more for these appliances and the difference goes in someone's pocket...not giving living wage oversea either..
 
Peter Schrager said:
Off topic but its a joke what corporate America does to people earning a living wage...we pay just as much or more for these appliances and the difference goes in someone's pocket...not giving living wage oversea either..
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've been gone from Amana for 10 years. They can't understand why they have so much turnover. The plant is in the middle of nowhere. You can't expect people to drive 30 miles one way to be paid 15 dollars an hour, and end up getting laid off or let go during a downturn. Whirlpool is moving product to Mexico and China. Have been for decades.

Pretty soon it will all be the Korean giants LG and Samsung. I have no idea how they treat workers but they are technology companies.
 
Peter Schrager said:
Off topic but its a joke what corporate America does to people earning a living wage...we pay just as much or more for these appliances and the difference goes in someone's pocket...not giving living wage oversea either..
Click to expand...
One point, appliances are not very profitable. Whirlpool has done well like every company in this crazy market but it's really a tough business.
 
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