Jobo ATL 3 Self Contained Water Supply (Pics Inside)?

tron_ · Aug 16, 2015

Hello,

I just picked up a Jobo ATL 3 and now I'm in the middle of deciding how I'm going to place/operate this behemoth. I'm pretty limited on space so I may need to explore avoiding any plumbing changes in my workspace. Would the following plan be feasible? Have I gone crazy?

1. Get one of these IKEA shelves.

2. Put two containers on the top of the shelf. One for tempered water and one for "cold" water. The tempered container would be heated by a Nova Protronic immersion heater and I would probably put an aquarium water circulation pump in it. I would probably put some kind of temperature sensor in the tanks to monitor the temps. Both would be 5 gallon plastic containers like this though.

3. On the back of the shelf I would mount the following "control" board. It consists of some fittings, copper pipes, shutoff valves, water pumps, filters, temp gauges, and pressure gauges.

Jobo Board by ssbhamra, on Flickr

Pump:

Immersion Heater:

Filter:

fotch · Aug 16, 2015

Personally, I would not trust the IKEA shelves. Maybe OK, maybe not. Make something out of 2x4s. If you have the tools & skills or know someone, make it out of 1x4 with dadoes for the wood for strength. JMHO

MattKing · Aug 16, 2015

Costco sells resin shelving units for about $40 that have higher weight capacity than the Ikea shelves. That being said, I have a few of those Ikea shelving units in my storage area. Just be sure to check the ones you buy, because some of the wood has quite a few knots in it.

Be sure to tether the shelves to the wall - that water storage could be quite top heavy.

How do you plan to fill and maintain the water tanks?

tron_ · Aug 16, 2015

Thank you guys for the insight. The only reason I mentioned the IKEA shelf is because I already have one. But that being said I have a durable black plastic one too so I guess I could always use that. The shelf will definitely be tethered to the wall.

How about in terms of technical feasibility? How much tempered and cold water does the ATL 3 take? Why does it even need a cold water supply?

Oh and I would have to take the containers off the shelf and refill them in the bathroom. To be honest I wouldn't put them not he very top, maybe the second row down?

tron_ · Aug 16, 2015

Also I was just thinking I'm not even sure if I need a temperature gauge on the line. I could just have a display on the tempered water container and it's fair to assume via thermodynamics that the "cold" water would be at the ambient temperature in the room!

ic-racer · Aug 16, 2015

Might be easer just to get a CPP2. Keep the ATL3 for when you have the correct water supply.

tron_ · Aug 16, 2015

I will be selling my CPA2 in the near future once this is up and running

Brian Puccio · Aug 16, 2015

I've got those Ikea shelves. Double up on the cross-supports and you'll be OK.

(I've also used Ikea rast nightstands to make a 12U server rack. Their wood products are a whole lot more sturdy than their particleboard stuff.)

tron_ · Aug 16, 2015

Thanks again for the insight on the shelf guys. I will definitely keep that in mind.

Does anyone know if 5 gallons of tempered and cold water will be enough?

ic-racer · Aug 17, 2015

tron_ said:
I will be selling my CPA2 in the near future once this is up and running

I'd look into a hookup to your darkroom sink with some long hoses and a quick-disconnect. Or have a plumber splice in a ball-valve with the connector of your choice, so you can use pex or garden hose to run to the machine.

CatLABS · Aug 17, 2015

It might be enough for one run, considering all other temps have been pre regulated (chem bottles etc).

tron_ · Aug 17, 2015

Wow Catlabs replied, cool!

Do you guys have any idea what the water consumption on one of these is like? Is 5 gallons enough for each supply?

Regarding the plumbed system + hose fitting on the sink: The Jobo requires a tempered supply that is +/- 10 degF within the processing temperature. So I don't think that would work unfortunately .

CatLABS · Aug 17, 2015

tron_ said:
Wow Catlabs replied, cool!

Do you guys have any idea what the water consumption on one of these is like? Is 5 gallons enough for each supply?

Regarding the plumbed system + hose fitting on the sink: The Jobo requires a tempered supply that is +/- 10 degF within the processing temperature. So I don't think that would work unfortunately .

We try to reply to all related threads but you can contact us directly if you ever need to, our email response time is very short.

In general - you are far better off running the machine on cold/cold connected water supply, then with some external source. The machine will pull in about 20 liters for the main trough (long time since i last filled an ATL3, but the manual will tell you), then about 6-8 liters of rinse water in a normal color process run. Consider the machine will also pull in cold/tempered water to balance out the main trough throughout the run, though these are usually smaller amounts. If running 6 bath E6 expect doubt the amount of water (extra rinses), or if you program a custom rinse cycle as well.

When running on cold water only, the only disadvantage is that the rinse is run in cold water instead of the process temp. Small price to pay for the machine to actually work.

Good luck!

tron_ · Aug 21, 2015

CatLABS said:
We try to reply to all related threads but you can contact us directly if you ever need to, our email response time is very short.

In general - you are far better off running the machine on cold/cold connected water supply, then with some external source. The machine will pull in about 20 liters for the main trough (long time since i last filled an ATL3, but the manual will tell you), then about 6-8 liters of rinse water in a normal color process run. Consider the machine will also pull in cold/tempered water to balance out the main trough throughout the run, though these are usually smaller amounts. If running 6 bath E6 expect doubt the amount of water (extra rinses), or if you program a custom rinse cycle as well.

When running on cold water only, the only disadvantage is that the rinse is run in cold water instead of the process temp. Small price to pay for the machine to actually work.

Good luck!

My only question is how specific do the wash temperatures need to be for E-6 processing? I know for C-41 and black and white it doesn't matter much.

Also on my CPA-2 the water recirculates and heats on its own. Is this not the case with the ATL 3?

CatLABS · Aug 21, 2015

1. Its not as crucial as one might think, and in any case there is a heat exchange in the machine.
2. yes.

tron_ · Sep 15, 2015

Would something like this work, Catlabs?

Dual faucet valve something like this:

CatLABS · Sep 19, 2015

timparkin · Dec 6, 2015

I use steel shelves from IKEA and the following for the components (I run an ATL2300)

1) A water tank from mobile home (about 30L I think)
2) Aquarium Pump (to move the water around to even out temperatures
3) Two Nova heaters
4) External temperature display
5) Shower thermostat filler (not really necessary but I wanted a quicker start up)
6) Shower pump
7) Same water filter as you..

The tank gets filled via the shower thermostat so it's close to temperature

The Nova heaters keep things ticking over (you only really need one)

I also mounted a 'drain' on the JOBO ATL in so that I could prime the pump (just bypass the system to get everything flowing).

The results are very good indeed!

Jobo ATL 3 Self Contained Water Supply (Pics Inside)?

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