Fun and games with a Patterson Super System 4 tank

A while back I scored my first Super System 4 tank in a job lot of stuff. I have been using System 4 tanks for ages without any problems aside from loading 120 film, (have happily switched to Hewes reels and stainless tanks for MF).

Today I decided to use the Super 4 tank for the first time. I noticed that when you insert and twist the inner lid / funnel there is no positive lock. I don't know if my tank is defective or incomplete. Or perhaps there is a seal missing as the inner lid / funnel is a very loose fit in my example.

Anyway, after 7 mins developing with two inversions every 30 seconds and a quarter turn rotation it's time to dump the developer down the drain. I peeled off the big black lid and tipped the contents into the sink. Well, talk about contents, everything in the tank fell out - the funnel and centre column with film reels attached. Luckily I held the tank fairly close to the sink base and the column and empty top reel only came out about an inch. The air was multicoloured for a few seconds as I scrambled to get the lid on and some stop bath into the tank.

During agitation the lid / funnel had rotated to the point where it was no longer engaging the lugs in the tank body that are supposed to hold it in place.

Has anyone else had this happen or is my tank missing a piece?

Cheers, Martin

P.S. There is a happy ending to this story. The Tri-X negs are drying right now and they look fine.

Yeah, something is wrong. The black lid/funnel should positively lock into the tank. Perhaps the locking ears on the lower part of the funnel have been sheared-off?

I still use mine and have never had a problem with it after years of use.
The funnel lock engages with a positive click when rotated and it stays in place.
Once locked, it needs a reasonable about of twisting force to disengage it.
I'm guessing the locking lugs on yours are probably worn.

I also use a Jobo tank which has the advantage of taking two spools, each of which can take two 120 roll films in tandem.
It has a push fit, flexible orange plastic collar to hold the lid on. That seems to work well too.

Mine has a definite lock, too, when the funnel is twisted into place. I would say it's somewhat loose, if you grab the funnel and twist/shake it, but it stays put during processing. There should be a gray plastic seal that fits on to the top of the tank; on mine it's gray, anyway. Does your tank has this seal? Is that why it's too loose?

Alan9940 said:

There should be a gray plastic seal that fits on to the top of the tank; on mine it's gray, anyway.

Click to expand...

That is the older, System 4 tank, not the current Super System 4 tank.
I believe that I have the answer that Martin needs, because his problem happened to me, and it is fairly simple to solve.
You will note that there is a red rim at the top of the main body of the tank, and that rim has three red tabs that extend slightly toward the centre of the tank.
Those tabs keep the funnel lid engaged with the light lock when it has been clicked into place. The clicking mechanism is designed to only release when it is rotated in a very specific way.
The red rim is glued in place, and if that glue wasn't perfectly applied at time of manufacture, it can fail. In my case, it failed just enough to allow the red rim to flex more than it should, which allowed the funnel lid to unclick itself as a result of normal inversion.
I solved my problem by re-gluing the red rim in place, using generic Super Glue.
That was a few years ago, and the tank has performed flawlessly since.

Thanks guys. I've just studied the tank more closely and looked at a few videos on Youtube. Takes quite a bit of pressure to lock the funnel onto the tank body. Also takes a little bit of jiggling to get the funnel sitting properly before it will lock. Now that I know what is going on should be OK in the future.

This a bit like the challenge in screwing on the lid on the System 4 tanks. If you don't get it lined up exactly the threads don't engage properly and the lid cross threads itself. Always takes me a couple of attempts to get the lid and body to mesh properly.

Ah well, onwards and upwards....

Cheers, Martin

I find if I have not seated all my reels firmly down on the centre column, 5 reel tank, the funnel does not sit properly to allow the locking twist, just something else to check. The "notches" on the funnel also are uneven so locking should be clockwise twist, in case others are reading this as I'm sure you have found that out.