Jobo ATL-2300 water bath heating / circulation issue

mtjade2007 · 2025-11-10T02:45:57-0500

Kino said:
I processed a lot of C41 and E6 color about a decade ago without serious issues in my Jobo 2000 series processor. Yes, each type of kit might require some tweaking for PH depending on a lot of factors, but all in all, results were acceptable in all instances.

I just bought a new E6 liquid kit and have a couple of C41 powder kits I hope to use very soon, so I will get to start all over again with those. I have forgotten everything I learned and my notes are hard to find.

To me it is not so simple. I do mostly C-41. First of all I could never determine how much chemical (volume) to use. I end up using a lot more than I probably should. That's how I exlude chemical (the developer) volume as the cause of my processing failure. There are many causes that could lead to processing failure. Insufficient pre heat or pre warm the film (and the tank), insufficient wet pre warm the film and tank with tempered water, and insufficient developer volume are the three main causes that could affect the result significantly. A lot of times I simply disliked the colors of my processed films. And I just could not determine which of the three caused it. Until one day I processed a very short film, only a few 6x6 frames, I was stunned by how beautiful the colors were then I realized it must be one or more than one of the three causes that resulted not so great colors for me from tme to time. The short film did not need much developer, nor pre warm. It did not bring down much of the temperature of the developer. That's what I interprete why I got such a success doing that short film.

Kino · 2025-11-10T08:16:05-0500

mtjade2007 said:
To me it is not so simple. I do mostly C-41. First of all I could never determine how much chemical (volume) to use. I end up using a lot more than I probably should. That's how I exlude chemical (the developer) volume as the cause of my processing failure. There are many causes that could lead to processing failure. Insufficient pre heat or pre warm the film (and the tank), insufficient wet pre warm the film and tank with tempered water, and insufficient developer volume are the three main causes that could affect the result significantly. A lot of times I simply disliked the colors of my processed films. And I just could not determine which of the three caused it. Until one day I processed a very short film, only a few 6x6 frames, I was stunned by how beautiful the colors were then I realized it must be one or more than one of the three causes that resulted not so great colors for me from tme to time. The short film did not need much developer, nor pre warm. It did not bring down much of the temperature of the developer. That's what I interprete why I got such a success doing that short film.

I didn't say it was simple; I said I usually got acceptable results (for me) from the processes.

My biggest problems were temperature of the 1st wash and varying PH for different brands of film. Even with a thermostatically controlled water valve, the water in the supply line would drop before the end of the development time. I finally put a diverter valve on the supply line, set a separate timer and purged the lines at least 30 seconds prior to the first rinse to bring it to a stable temp.

E6 was "fighting the blues" with PH adjustments.

Anyway, good luck with your endeavor.

Jobo ATL-2300 water bath heating / circulation issue

mtjade2007

Kino

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency