Jobo bottles. Cleaning with media???

[mshchem]

Jobo bottles, 13 bucks a piece plus shipping. I was contemplating buying a dry ice bead blaster, as I tried to clean up a Jobo bottle. A friend suggested using wet sand and a rock tumbler. Insert the bottle into a plastic cylinder and spin away. I think she's got a interesting idea. Maybe just a bit of sand and a few pebbles and water.

If I would not leave solutions in the bottles that would mean no cleaning. A few years back Freestyle must have bought a bunch as they were selling for 7 bucks each. I remember buying 10 thinking I was crazy to pay 7 bucks for a bottle.

I can certainly sympathize with the maker and distribution channel. I can't imagine the costs involved in blow molding anything less than a few hundred thousand bottles. And storing and printing, shipping etc.

 

[bernard_L]

A friend suggested using wet sand and a rock tumbler. Insert the bottle into a plastic cylinder and spin away. I think she's got a interesting idea. Maybe just a bit of sand and a few pebbles and water.

Indeed. It works. That is how I cleaned a bottle with old residues of used fixer. Just water, sand, and shake. Before that, I had tried NaOH, HCl, and H2S04 to no avail.

 

[mshchem]

I just posted a video on cleaning these. Maybe it can help revive yours.

Yep, I have the chromic acid cleaner, it works like a champ with developer residue. Instant. I reuse it. A very little goes along way. The residues I'm fighting right now are from Gold toner, it's a very sticky coating on the inside of the bottle, as I think it's gold, it's pretty inert. I thought about making up some aqua regia, but weighing permanent lung damage versus a 13 dollar bottle decided against it. This stuff comes off with Scotch Brite, I think I'm going to try the sand and a good shake.
Thanks

 

[mshchem]

Indeed. It works. That is how I cleaned a bottle with old residues of used fixer. Just water, sand, and shake. Before that, I had tried NaOH, HCl, and H2S04 to no avail.

Thanks for the info. This is my next step.
Best Regards Mike

 

[mshchem]

I found for my particular accumulation the wet sand has done a pretty good job. I need to get a small quantity of first class sand. What I used was a mixture of grit I collected from a muddy creek, which I washed. I think the sand trick, especially for stuff like sulfur from fixer is the way to go. This is part of the beauty of analog, it's a instinct to use sand, and it works.

 

[bernard_L]

Yep, I have the chromic acid cleaner, it works like a champ
(...)
thought about making up some aqua regia, but weighing permanent lung damage

Chromic acid (and any compound with Chromium in the +6 oxidation state) is nasty stuff; see MSDS:

 

[scheimfluger_77]

I just posted a video on cleaning these. Maybe it can help revive yours.

Where do you get your gauntlet-length Nitrile gloves?

 

[choiliefan]

I wouldn't clean anything in an acid solution indoors unless in an extremely well ventilated space.
Learned my lesson when gasses oxidized near-by steel and aluminum parts and surfaces.
An oxidized aluminum negative carrier or focus track is expensive to replace.
Work outside.

 

[mshchem]

Chromic acid (and any compound with Chromium in the +6 oxidation state) is nasty stuff; see MSDS:

Yes it is!

 

[scheimfluger_77]

I was curious because the ones i have barely come to the end of my hands. But I’ll check HF out, we have one here.

 

[mshchem]

This came today, comes with 6 new bottles