Emptying large trays.

Marco B · Thursday at 5:52 AM

I was wondering how many of you use a similar electric siphon pump as this one I recently acquired?

While emptying small trays with a maximum of maybe 2 litres is no problem, large trays for 40x50cm prints with 5 litres of working solution or more become unwieldy to empty.

For years I made do with the nuisance, but now I finally bought such a small electric siphon pump I've absolutely no idea why I didn't look for such a solution before.

It is such a relieve to be able to quickly and cleanly empty large trays without risk of spilling or breaking your back...

dpurdy · Thursday at 8:21 AM

I am lucky enough to have my trays in a sink so I just lift one corner. However if you look at tools for the home brew industry they have something called an auto siphon that I use to siphon beer into bottles. They are cheap and all you have to do is give the wet end a couple of pumps and away it goes.

Carnie Bob · Thursday at 8:54 AM

Marco B said:
I was wondering how many of you use a similar electric siphon pump as this one I recently acquired?

While emptying small trays with a maximum of maybe 2 litres is no problem, large trays for 40x50cm prints with 5 litres of working solution or more become unwieldy to empty.

For years I made do with the nuisance, but now I finally bought such a small electric siphon pump I've absolutely no idea why I didn't look for such a solution before.

It is such a relieve to be able to quickly and cleanly empty large trays without risk of spilling or breaking your back...

I have been agonizing over emptying big trays and the siphon is a good idea, where did you get yours. I have to get one.

Marco B · Thursday at 9:19 AM

Carnie Bob said:
I have been agonizing over emptying big trays and the siphon is a good idea, where did you get yours. I have to get one.

If you search on Google for "electric siphon pump" or "electric transfer pump", you should find plenty of options for online shops. Additionally, any good car accessory shop is likely to have them, as they are used to transfer gasoline etc. as well (but do fine with water). Mine is battery powered by 2 AA cells, and pumping speed is more than acceptable. Takes just 50 seconds to transfer 5 litres. The last half litre or so that can no longer be pumped, is easily ditched manually from the tray back into the storage container.

koraks · Thursday at 9:28 AM

Neat trick! Thanks for sharing; I had never thought of that. I always try to minimize the volumes of liquids I work with, and I admit to mostly only printing small, up to 24x30cm most of the time. On the rare occasions I go up to 50x60cm, I find that I can get away with 1-1.5l of chemistry - but pouring that out of one of those large, floppy trays is indeed kind of tricky.

dpurdy said:
I am lucky enough to have my trays in a sink so I just lift one corner.

Yeah, I mostly do that, too, as my trays generally sit right next to the sink, so I can just shove them closer and then tip them gently. However, that's nice for dumping water - if you want to pour back liquids (dev, fix, toner) into bottles, you still need to figure something out. In my case, this often boils down to pouring the stuff into a pitcher and then using that to pour back into a bottle. The siphon approach is a single-step, convenient alternative.

tezzasmall · Thursday at 9:29 AM

Thanks for the prompt Marco. Until now I have been using a just about working syphon system. I've just checked eBay and have upgraded what I've got.

I'll also be checking out the 'D' battery sized syphons for sale, as the one I bought previously, I didn't check the size and it turned out to be enormous and more suitable to emptying oil drums!

Terry S

Neal · Thursday at 12:28 PM

I don't know how helpful this is but I use a single tray system when printing that large using only about 2 liters for each bath. It is then light enough to pour back into the respective bucket.

jk0592 · Thursday at 10:24 PM

I use a small Eheim aquarium pump for emptying trays larger than 8x10.

mshchem · Thursday at 11:00 PM

Nice tool! Would come in handy for emptying water baths as well. I think maybe a place like Harbor Freight sells something similar, no electricity, for transferring gasoline etc. Even with a huge sink this would be handy.

Emptying large trays.

Marco B

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