JOBO ATL-3

Kimberly Anderson · Nov 24, 2009

Just got one on Sunday for FREE! Has the manual and had a bunch of extra tanks and reels 'n' such.

The drain is missing any kind of a check-valve, so I am going to install one underneath the unit before it exits out the back. It's the only way I can see to have the tempering bath and the chemical recovery tank stay full.

I'm wondering if anyone has this unit and can take some photos of the drain assembly. I have not been able to run it through a complete program yet b/c I'm still plumbing it and setting up the workspace for it.

I know it's a long shot, but I thought I'd ask. Thanks!

Kimberly Anderson · Nov 25, 2009

Here's a video of me doing some initial set-up and testing. I still have the drain issue to figure out.

ATL-3 video.

MattKing · Nov 26, 2009

Michael:

I don't have anything directly helpful to contribute, save and except encouragement.

I wanted to thank you for the video though, because:

a) I've always wondered what the Jobo ATL series looked like, and how the lifts and chemical pouring actually worked, and now I know; and
b) for some reason, your video is fascinating - almost hypnotic.

I guess I do belong in the darkroom .

Matt

wildbill · Nov 26, 2009

check ebay's completed listings, also craigslist. I've seen some detailed pics of this thing recently.
It's got keys! All I want for Christmas is a film processor that has keys!

mhulsman · Nov 26, 2009

Michael,

The tempering bath must stay full, in the recovery tank there is a "handle" to empty the tempering bath.
The chemical recovery tank must be empty.
What you now have is probably an over fill because you put a stop in the chemical recovery tank drain.
If the tempering bath is having too much water it overflows in the recovery tank, but when there is a stop in the chemical recovery tank it will overflow.
To check the tempering bath stop, you have to remove the top coverplate on the side where all the chemical containers reside.

I have an ATL3 and have dismantled it all to clean and check for proper working.
It is not hard to dismantle the machine, just do not force things.

Mike

Kimberly Anderson · Nov 26, 2009

Mike,

YAY! Someone else that has an ATL-3! I can NOT find the handle in the tempering bath for the drain. I have looked and looked and if it was a snake it would have bit me by now. Can you PLEASE take a photo of yours and send it to me? sladephoto@yahoo.com

I have been scratching my head all day trying to figure out how to make the drain work and haven't been able to figure it out. I was about to install a manual valve for both the tempering and the drain basins, but I will wait until you have a chance to reply to this post.

To everyone else, yes, this thing is very cool. I also love the fact that it has keys. It's actually pretty cool to use the key to switch back and forth from the processing function to the run function. Something uber-geeky about a JOBO with keys.

I can take a better video if anyone is interested. After I shot it I realized that I didn't really give the wide shot showing the entire thing. I will once I get it installed in it's final working location.

Thanks for the encouragement and any help you can give!

mhulsman · Nov 27, 2009

Michael,

I do not have photo's at the moment.
But if you remove chemical bottle 1 at the front side, you should see the drain opening on the tempering bath.
The stop in the drain is some kind of rubber stop connected to a spring that is pressed down into the drain, and connected on the other side to the handle that you can reach on the side of the chemical disposure.
If the rubber stop and spring is missing, you could replace that with a "normal" stop and keep the water in the processor all time.
You should not make a valve in the chemical drain bassin, it will eventually overflow and all chemicals will polute your tempering bath.
You can put bottles in the chemical drain bassin to collect wasted chemicals, so that stop and fix can be reused.

Mike.

mhulsman · Nov 27, 2009

Michael,

I found a picture on the Jobo site.
http://www.jobo.com/jobo_service_analog/us_analog/bulletins/b012c.htm
See the black handle at picture 26.12 (middle at the bottom of the picture)

Kimberly Anderson · Nov 27, 2009

Awesome, thanks Mike. You have no idea how much of a help this is. I really appreciate it.

ic-racer · Nov 27, 2009

That is awesome, I want one !!
Seriously, though, is it practical for 1-3 runs per month? So, do you need to flush all the chemical tanks out if it will sit a month without use? Is it supposed to turn that slow? Won't hold an expert drum will it?

mhulsman · Nov 27, 2009

Michael,

No thanks, I also got this ATL3 for free.
I have it now for 2 months, it took me 2 weeks to clean, dismantle and fix the machine.
I took it all apart, including upper and lower motor houses.

IC-racer,
Ofcourse it is practical, but a newer series ATL2x00 is more convinient and somewhat smaller, it only house 6 chemical containers.
See the manual: http://www.jobo.com/jobo_service_analog/analog_frei/bedanleitung_pdf/ATL-2x00.pdf
But hey, if you can house an 1840 an ATL3 is peanuts
I will only fill the chemical tanks with about 20cc more fluids than needed, after the processing I run the cleaning program 3 times to flush all tanks with plain water.
It will hold the expert drums, even the one for 50x60cm paper (3063).
It can turn as slow as 25 rpm
I run my processor with an 2850 Drum (2830 + 2870) so I can process 4 8x10 negatives at a time, a 800 ml of chemicals will be used.
Mike

mhulsman · Nov 27, 2009

Michael,

I made some pictures of the tempering bath drain stop.

And I also did not see the black chemical reclaiming plate in your video.
Underneath you place 2 liter chemical bottles to collect wasted chemicals.
It looks like

This is my setup in a tiny (3x2 meter) darkroom

Ask Eddie Gunks, he visited last week, the first time he saw an L1200 enlarger from above
My darkroom is in a cellar beneath my house.

ic-racer · Nov 27, 2009

mhulsman said:
But hey, if you can house an 1840 an ATL3 is peanuts

That is exactly what I was thinking...now why can't my wife think like that.

hka · Nov 28, 2009

ic-racer said:
That is exactly what I was thinking...now why can't my wife think like that.

Perhaps she's blond

mhulsman · Nov 28, 2009

My wife is now at the stage, if it fits in the cellar and not staying in the living room it is fine

Kimberly Anderson · Nov 28, 2009

If that's where she's at that sounds pretty good to me.

Dave Dawson · Nov 29, 2009

I don't have an ATL-3 but I do have an ATL-2+ and managed to buy the service manual on cd that covers both off fleabay!

Cheers Dave

Kimberly Anderson · Nov 29, 2009

Dave Dawson said:
I don't have an ATL-3 but I do have an ATL-2+ and managed to buy the service manual on cd that covers both off fleabay!

Cheers Dave

Does it have any diagrams or images of the tempering bath drain Dave?

Dave Dawson · Nov 29, 2009

Michael, I don't have it with me but it is very comprehensive at about 200 pages and to my mind a MUST for any ATL-2/3 owner.

Cheers Dave UZN

ps...On the ATL-2 the chemicals to be saved go down 6 little hoppers via the six position arm and into the reclaim bottoles at the front of the machine.

Kimberly Anderson · Nov 29, 2009

Dave, yes miraculously the ATL-3 that I got came with that binder, intact, with additional printed-out pages from the tech section of the old JOBO site. I'm trying to figure out a way to get it digitized so I can share it with those from around the globe.

If there is a CD already available, I would be happy to host it on my server.

Kimberly Anderson · Nov 30, 2009

Well I tore the top off of the ATL-3 today and figured out that the drain bits were broken and/or missing. Bummer. I disassembled the drain, went to the local fix-it store and bought a bunch of drain parts. I can plumb it to my standard downpipe from the sink fairly easily, and will do that tomorrow. I am thinking for now I will just put a drain plug in the tempering bath and have plans to put an in-line ball valve in the drain from the tempring bath. I'm actually relieved that I've found out that this was all bunged up, now I have a plan and the parts to execute. Stay tuned...(if you care).

Kimberly Anderson · Dec 1, 2009

I have the machine plumbed hot and cold, drain is plumbed, power is on, drain is fixed (a drain plug for now...), and everything is good to go. Tomorrow I'll start programming the thing and running it through it's paces.

Dead Link Removed

DanielStone · Dec 1, 2009

I'm guessing school, cause there's only 23c's in there. most schools used them from what I've found... most(if not all) commercial labs I've come across(at least here in LA/San Diego/Santa Barbara all have at least a 4x5 if not an 8x10 capability.

That's if they're still doing optical enlargements :O

-Dan

Kimberly Anderson · Dec 1, 2009

One of the darkrooms at school. We have 15 35mm enlargers in that darkroom. We have a second darkroom that has 13 4x5 enlargers in it. It also has an 8x10 Elwood in there too. We also have a third darkroom just for film processing and alt. processes. We have a fourth darkroom for loading film, and a fifth darkroom for cutting negatives. We have a large and a small digital lab. I have the good fortune of running the place along with a colleague of mine. We teach a very rich and diverse curriculum.

www.waterfordschool.org

Kimberly Anderson · Dec 4, 2009

I'm having a hard time troubleshooting this thing a bit. I have it programmed and have run it through the cycle several times. I have set the bottles as full, and have set the required fluid amount to 1800. When I run the cycle the first bottle only get about 200-300ml drained. The grommet for the air line is a little loose, but it seems that it should be pumping a LOT more chemistry into the bottle than it is. I can seal off the leak pretty well, but it still isn't pumping enough chemistry.

I'm consulting the manual today...

JOBO ATL-3

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