Just acquired a Super SideKick Automatic Film Processor.

[sruddy]

Does anyone have, or used one of these? I think this will save me a bunch of time and should be fairly efficient. The unit looks to be in very good condition. I'm planning on setting it up today. I hope it works! If so I will want to purchase the AF-4x5 film holders. I called the phone number in the user manual and got an email of someone named Jerry who supposedly has parts. If not I'm thinking I can use a film sheet adapter for Patterson tank.

 

[ic-racer]

Nice!

 

[NortheastPhotographic]

I use one of these almost every day of the working week. Great for roll film. I've had issues with the sheet film holder. Even with the emulsion not touching anything I see contact marks from time to time. I now only process my sheet film with Jobo equipment. Kind of a shame because the SSK is super easy to use for walk away processing.

 

[sruddy]

I use one of these almost every day of the working week. Great for roll film. I've had issues with the sheet film holder. Even with the emulsion not touching anything I see contact marks from time to time. I now only process my sheet film with Jobo equipment. Kind of a shame because the SSK is super easy to use for walk away processing.

I fired it up for the first time last night. Before doing a test run, I checked the temp calibration. It was 99.6, so I left it alone, as 100 is the target. Then I ran a Tri-X program with no film. The chemistry was approximately 73 degrees but the heater heated it to 81.6. I backed off on the calibration screw on the side of the unit with no luck. Then I found a temp adjustment on the circuit board however it was already turned down all the way. I found a new temp sensor but not sure if that's the part that needs to be replaced. I bought it anyway and am keeping my fingers crossed. I contacted someone named Jerry and he has a few used stock 4x5 holders but I also orderd the Ilford Mod 54 Mk27 Processor 4x5" Film Sheet Adapter for Paterson so maybe it will work better.

Can you tell me what parts need replacing the most? I would like to purchase some spares before everything is gone. At this point everything seems to be working except the temp.

 

[NortheastPhotographic]

Ok first,

I fired it up for the first time last night. Before doing a test run, I checked the temp calibration. It was 99.6, so I left it alone, as 100 is the target. Then I ran a Tri-X program with no film. The chemistry was approximately 73 degrees but the heater heated it to 81.6. I backed off on the calibration screw on the side of the unit with no luck. Then I found a temp adjustment on the circuit board however it was already turned down all the way. I found a new temp sensor but not sure if that's the part that needs to be replaced. I bought it anyway and am keeping my fingers crossed. I contacted someone named Jerry and he has a few used stock 4x5 holders but I also orderd the Ilford Mod 54 Mk27 Processor 4x5" Film Sheet Adapter for Paterson so maybe it will work better.

Can you tell me what parts need replacing the most? I would like to purchase some spares before everything is gone. At this point everything seems to be working except the temp.

Your approach is a bit flawed here. First, reprogram the calibration sensor to 100 or as near as you can make it. The SSK heats the chemistry over the target to compensate for the temperature loss that will occur when it's pumped into the drum. It's completely normal that your machine heated the chemistry beyond your target number. The reason why the calibration mode works the way it does is that you know a temp sensor is bad when it gives erratic results. Meaning you'll measure let's say 100 after a beep, then after the next beep it will be something else. If it's a consistent 100 +/- .3 degrees or so it's working ok. Both the drum and the SSK have temp sensors, it's a very smart machine. It heats the chemistry so that when it is actually developing your film it's the correct temp, and the drum sensors plus dryer help with this. (The air dryer comes on more when you run color films, higher temps).

It's not a bad thing to have another temp sensor, I've heard of users replacing them but I've never had to. Pumps are off the shelf, no reason to expect them to disappear. Same with the tubing. Rotator valves 'could' go bad but I've not heard of it happening. They do sell replacements but they're expensive.

There is a facebook group for SSK users, I would join it.

 

[sruddy]

Ok first,


Your approach is a bit flawed here. First, reprogram the calibration sensor to 100 or as near as you can make it. The SSK heats the chemistry over the target to compensate for the temperature loss that will occur when it's pumped into the drum. It's completely normal that your machine heated the chemistry beyond your target number. The reason why the calibration mode works the way it does is that you know a temp sensor is bad when it gives erratic results. Meaning you'll measure let's say 100 after a beep, then after the next beep it will be something else. If it's a consistent 100 +/- .3 degrees or so it's working ok. Both the drum and the SSK have temp sensors, it's a very smart machine. It heats the chemistry so that when it is actually developing your film it's the correct temp, and the drum sensors plus dryer help with this. (The air dryer comes on more when you run color films, higher temps).

It's not a bad thing to have another temp sensor, I've heard of users replacing them but I've never had to. Pumps are off the shelf, no reason to expect them to disappear. Same with the tubing. Rotator valves 'could' go bad but I've not heard of it happening. They do sell replacements but they're expensive.

There is a facebook group for SSK users, I would join it.

Thank you very much! With this info I deduct I will be ok. I'll re calibrate and raise it to an even 100 degrees. I ran the Drum senor temp sensor check and it passed. So I'm going to trust the chemistry temp will drop by 6 degrees by the time the drum is full. Since there is no chilling unit I assume as long as my room temp, and chemistry is 75 or lower it will function as designed for B&W film.

Update: I ran the calibration again and brought it back up to an even 100 degrees. Then ran a B&W program for Tri-X. The room temp and chemicals are 71 degrees. The tank is heating to 76.6 degrees for the developer. When the drum gets filled the temp only drops a few hundredths of a degree so the processing temp is about 76.4. The rest of the chemicals are getting heated to 82. The drum sensor test passed so what's left? Seems like circuit thinks it's 75 but I don't see anyway to correct it?

My program is for ilford FP4+ with 110c developer.

1. Developer 110c dilution B 5:10
2. Wash D stop (using water but have stop bath) 2:00
3. Fix ilford rapid fix 5:00
4. Wash F (Using reverse osmosis water) 6:00
5. Photo Flo 2:00

Now getting drain error, tubes are not kinked, and they have no drip loop, or any visible obstruction.

Just ran it again this time developer in the drum after 30 second wait was 78.6. I'm using a traceable digital thermometer. I have never noticed any consistency or accuracy issues with it.

Couldn't find a FB user group. The one on Flicker looks dead.

 

[NortheastPhotographic]

Why don't you try processing some film and see how you like the results. You're going to drive yourself a little crazy just testing every stage of the machine.

I would process 2 rolls, one after the other. This will ensure you're getting consistent results.

Can't comment much on your developer program. I use D76 or sometimes XTol with the SSK. I take the published times and subtract 15% for rotary.

Join the Facebook group, there are a ton of SSk experts in there.

 

[Randy Stewart]

I suppose this sounds like sour grapes, in that you have one and I do not, however it seems like a waste of resources to use this machine to process a roll or two of B&W film. Sort of like using a race horse to pull a plow. This was designed to do color film processing as automatically as possible. (You still have to load film in the tank.) Note that "Jerry" is selling off the Phototherm warehouse of parts, as the company closed down last year and "there ain't gonna be no more". Figure out what you may need in the future and buy what you can now. Join the support group, cause it's going to get lonely out there. Then use the hell out of your $7,000 processor. Maybe learn how to do real E-6, not the 3 bath kit stuff, and set up to offer small volume custom processing if you have the time for a side business.

 

[ic-racer]

Does not seem like any waste to me to do b&w film in that. Seems like a near perfect solution.

 

[alanrockwood]

I have a regular sidekick (not the super sidekick). In fact, I have three of them. I envy you for having a SSK. They are excellent processors, far better in my opinion than most of the Jobo models, at least for processing film of 4x5 format or smaller. They are more automatic, and the construction is not as flimsy as a Jobo. (I have a Jobo CPE, which is what I am using as my point of comparison.) Being more automated, they are a little less flexible than a Jobo, and they are not good for processing large paper sizes, but other than that they are better than a Jobo.

By the way, SSK was also the name of an old Mercedes Benz car. The Mercedes SSK was the super car of its time. Here is a photo I found on the web. (https://www.conceptcarz.com/view/photo/757878,20368/1927-mercedes-benz-ssk_photo.aspx)

 

[MattKing]

I maintain an automatic search on eBay that sends me emails when something with "Phototherm" in the name is listed.
There used to be more emails than there are now.
The prices in the listings I receive notification of seem to be going higher and higher and higher.
I would have one if I had the space for it and could rationalize the cost.
As I understand it, the resource person you were referred to is one of the individuals who used to supply the excellent customer support for them when Phototherm was still making and refurbishing them.
Good luck attempting to use the MOD 54 insert - I would guess that the Phototherm agitation would be too vigorous for that insert, but I don't know for sure.

 

[EdSawyer]

I have an SSK-4 and use it exclusively for C41. I agree Jerry is the man when it comes to Phototherm. He's not only an expert at diagnosis, I think he engineered the incremental improvements they made to things over the years (the 4x5 holders for example - I have 3, one is from a later revision they made, but he showed me how to update the older 2 to match, and why).

For spares to acquire: I'd think a spare drum, spindle and 4x5 holder, ideally. Maybe a few other things too? In general they are reliable machines, I've never had to mess around with mine as far as calibration and such. I have 3 sets of drums/spindles/4x5 holders so it's nice to be able to load up 3 sets and just run things back-to-back, speeds up processing a lot.

For the touching/marks on 4x5 - the latest version of the holder solves inconsistencies like that - I saw those a couple times on my older holders, but even there it was rare (< 5% of the time).

I doubt the Mod 54 would work, the film would likely not stay in position.

Agreed that it's more robust than any Jobo I have seen or used, and parts are less expensive and easier to come by (the standard ones like tubing/etc. - the custom parts are still not cheap). All in all the best film processor out there, I think. A shame they are no longer being made. :-/

Enjoy!
-Ed

 

[NortheastPhotographic]

I have an SSK-4 and use it exclusively for C41. I agree Jerry is the man when it comes to Phototherm. He's not only an expert at diagnosis, I think he engineered the incremental improvements they made to things over the years (the 4x5 holders for example - I have 3, one is from a later revision they made, but he showed me how to update the older 2 to match, and why).

For spares to acquire: I'd think a spare drum, spindle and 4x5 holder, ideally. Maybe a few other things too? In general they are reliable machines, I've never had to mess around with mine as far as calibration and such. I have 3 sets of drums/spindles/4x5 holders so it's nice to be able to load up 3 sets and just run things back-to-back, speeds up processing a lot.

For the touching/marks on 4x5 - the latest version of the holder solves inconsistencies like that - I saw those a couple times on my older holders, but even there it was rare (< 5% of the time).

I doubt the Mod 54 would work, the film would likely not stay in position.

Agreed that it's more robust than any Jobo I have seen or used, and parts are less expensive and easier to come by (the standard ones like tubing/etc. - the custom parts are still not cheap). All in all the best film processor out there, I think. A shame they are no longer being made. :-/

Enjoy!
-Ed

What was the modification to the 4x5 holder if I might ask? I have two, and I'd love to be able to trust them. Getting 8 sheets run in 'walk away' processing is amazing.

 

[miha]

Are these on par with Thermaphot processors?

 

[AgX]

Photo-Therm processors are all rotating-tank processors, as the Jobo ones.

The Thermaphot film processors were roller-transport, continuous working machines.

 

[miha]

Thanks. Not related then.

BTW, you said "were" however Thermaphot web page is still active (but looks like unchanged since the 90s).

 

[AgX]

But Thermaphot years ago cancelled their two film processors.

(If you look a bit more thorough you will see that on the homepage most links are dead meanwhile.)

 

[sruddy]

Jerry is checking to see if he has any 4x5 holders left. In the meantime I'll experiment with the Mod 54 and report back.

 

[EdSawyer]

The change to the 4x5 holders was removal of some material on the bottom, to separate a couple of sections. I will try to post some pics of the old/new versions.

 

[sruddy]

I tried the mod 54 4x5 insert and it worked. However I’m getting a fixer drain error. Developer drains fine and I never got the error during testing. I don’t see anything that changed. I also can’t find the FB group.

 

[sruddy]

Does anyone know the FaceBook Group? I can’t find it. I purchased a new temp probe and Im getting closer to 75 degrees now. During my initial trial tests I was getting hung up a lot due to lines not being routed the best. Now all drain lines go straight down but I’m now getting a drain error #2. This happens after the fixer drains out of the develope tank. I haven’t figured out how to fix it. I have to take off the empty tank and water rinse and photoflo in my sink. The development seems to be working great though.

 

[sruddy]

Couldn’t find the FB group however Jerry the has been very helpful. He doesn’t always reply but you keep after him you’ll get help. Looks like I have a fully functional unit now! I just cleaned the coupling and did a dump test. I fairly certain all will be well now. What a great unit. I think I’ll plumb the water source so I don’t have to fill the container.