Help Loading a Yankee Agitank

[Wade D]

I recently found a Yankee Agitank cheap. It holds 12 4x5 sheets but I'll probably never put more than half that in at a time. The problem is getting the sheets into the skinny slots. I end up with the top in one slot and the bottom in the next slot or worse touching the next sheet. Maybe I just need to get the feel for it but are there any tried and true tricks to loading one of these? I have been using SS hangers and dip & dunk for years. Just wanted to try something different to lessen the time in the dark.

 

[Neal]

Dear Wade,

When I used mine, I would drag the edge of the film over the slot dividers and count the snaps on each side. I would still have problems occasionally.

Good luck,

Neal Wydra

 

[hughitb]

The one I have has a little separate plastic guide device that you place on top of the first slot, slide the film in, move on to the next slot, slide the film in and so on .. makes it quite a bit easier I think.

 

[Wade D]

Mine is missing the guide. More practice in the dark is in order I think. Thanks for the replies.

 

[michaelbsc]

Mine is missing the guide. More practice in the dark is in order I think. Thanks for the replies.

I have an FR, which I believe is the precursor to the Yankee. (Actually I've heard it's exactly the same tank; when FR slipped away Yankee took over much of their lines. I don't know that for certain.)

Frankly, I think I would have a tough time loading it without the guide, especially if trying to do it in a changing bag. (I have a blacked out room and load film on a table top in the dark.) But honestly, I don't even really use the tank very much.

What I use (way *NOT* cheap) is a Phototherm sheet film insert. I bought it for my Phototherm, but Phototherms use Patterson reels. Ergo it's an exact fit in a Patterson 3 reel tank. Works flawlessly. Gives you four sheets in a Patterson tank, and way better than the taco method in my mind.

But again, it's not cheap. The insert is $130 for a plastic doohickey. The high cost is from vanishingly low sales volume. (Kind of like film!)

Here's a couple of links with pics and some discussion:

Here:(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

And over at photo.net:http://photo.net/large-format-photography-forum/00RMar

If you do want to use the Yankee without the guide, then I'd suggest you load every other slot as someone else offered. Maybe if you've got steadier hands than me, and you got used to it, then you could load every slot. But I also think they show up on evilBay frequently enough you can probably find one cheap.

 

[Dan Henderson]

Dear Wade,

When I used mine, I would drag the edge of the film over the slot dividers and count the snaps on each side. I would still have problems occasionally.

Good luck,

Neal Wydra

I use the same method. I start by loading the slots farthest away from me, holding the sheets by the edges close to the slots, starting at the outside, and feeling and listening for the film to "snap" across the slots, counting until I know I am at an empty slot, and the film drops right in. If I am developing more than 6 sheets, when one side gets full I turn the frame 180 degrees and start over. I have noticed that I need to make sure that the frame is adjusted to the correct opening using an old, developed sheet of film before going dark. If the sides get compressed too closely together the film will not slide in easily.

 

[Francis in VT]

The FR tank and the Yankee tank are two completely different animals.
After the FR company went away the tank was sold under a few different names but not Yankee.
As I remember the Yankee did NOT come with a loading guide.