Leaking Paterson tank

Arctic amateur · Jul 15, 2014

I dug out my Paterson tank to finally develop some film that had piled up, and found it to be leaking a bit between the tank body and the red gasket thingy. The flexible lid seems to be sealing nicely still. Is there anything I can do to fix it, or do I need a new tank? Can I switch to swirly-stick agitation? I've seen some members recommend against it.

When I invert the tank the liquid seeps into a pocket between the tank body and the red gasket, and when I turn the tank upright again it spills out between the tank and the red bit. It's not leaking all around the tank, only in a small part.

Fast · Jul 15, 2014

I had a similar problem. I was able to glue the two parts together with epoxy. Worked great.

Daire Quinlan · Jul 15, 2014

Yeah my formerly leak free paterson tank started doing this recently as well. Bit disappointing, it's only about 2 years old, and not that heavily used. I plan to just put a bead of epoxy or silicon or something around the outside seal.

Hatchetman · Jul 15, 2014

I thought that was a standard feature of Paterson tanks. No?

Alex Muir · Jul 15, 2014

I have two I use alternately. One leaks as described, and the other is fine. Neither has been abused. I'll try the glue fix mentioned above. It's best not to have the chemicals running out to avoid potential contamination problems.
Alex

MattKing · Jul 15, 2014

I have a Paterson tank where the red ring actually came loose on one side, which meant that the lid would come off in the midst of an agitation cycle!

A bit of cheap "Super" glue, and everything works great - no leaks and no surprises.

StoneNYC · Jul 15, 2014

MattKing said:
I have a Paterson tank where the red ring actually came loose on one side, which meant that the lid would come off in the midst of an agitation cycle!

A bit of cheap "Super" glue, and everything works great - no leaks and no surprises.

That's what I did with mine too, but it broke only the last two times I used it before I switched to rotary and JOBO. Lol. But super glue works.

Newt_on_Swings · Jul 15, 2014

Nothing wrong with super glue, there's this one 5 reel Patterson at work that's been destroyed by the kids. Dropped multiple times which led to cracks. It's pretty much held together with superglue and duct tape lol.

zanxion72 · Jul 16, 2014

I still have a paterson universal 3 tank that even if it is a couple of decades old it does not leak. I have also another one that does not have any info on it other than a table of volumes under it. This one was leaking and I had that fixed by applying a relatively thin layer of soft silicone in the inner circumference of the cap (top part, not the smaller cap you use for draining it). Now, it seals perfectly and not a single drop comes out. It gets worn once in a while, but it is easy to remove it and replace it with another smear of silicon.

mauro35 · Jul 16, 2014

Mine seemed to leak from the same place, but then I discovered the leak could be stopped by just burping the tank, squeezing the top and let some air out to achieve some negative pressure inside. It works perfectly for me doing that.

Jaf-Photo · Jul 16, 2014

My Paterson tanks used to leak everywhere before I learned this simple trick:

Put the lid on tightly. Push down with your thumb in the middle of the lid. Lift a small portion of the edge of the lid with your index finger, expelling air. Push the lid down tightly.

This will create a suction action within the tank, that will prevent the liquids from leaking, even from the gasket below.

Now my tanks don't spill a drop.

baachitraka · Jul 16, 2014

It leaks, accept it.

Arctic amateur · Jul 16, 2014

This isn't the lid leaking. Burping the tank doesn't help, the leak is too big. I'll get some epoxy and see if I can seal the leak from the inside of the tank.

Jaf-Photo · Jul 16, 2014

The lid doesn't leak.

The red gasket has three small flues that will leak, if you dont create a suction seal by burping it.

StoneNYC · Jul 16, 2014

Jaf-Photo said:
The lid doesn't leak.

The red gasket has three small flues that will leak, if you dont create a suction seal by burping it.

You're not understanding, there is a separation between the red and black, "burping" doesn't create a vaccume neck see there's a leak, so even with the vaccume created, air slowly transfers into the tank through the leak and the suction/vaccume disappears and the leak happens mid-development. The "hole" needs to be sealed...

Jaf-Photo · Jul 16, 2014

Alright, then burp it again, glue it or buy a new one. Seems simple enough.

I spoke to an old bloke at the photo store and he said that no Paterson tank is leak proof unless you burp them.

Mine have been leaky since new and I sometimes have to burp them once or twice again during a development.

Arctic amateur · Jul 16, 2014

This is a new leak that wasn't there when the tank was new. It's probably been bumped around when I last moved house. A small section of the red gasket had come unglued from the tank body and didn't seal properly anymore. The epoxy is drying now. I also put a coat of epoxy all around where the gasket meets the tank, to be on the safe side.

Arctic amateur · Jul 19, 2014

I did another film today, and the tank seems nice and tight. The epoxy on the inside does create a little extra friction when rotating the funnel lid, but hopefulle that's not a problem. Thanks for the advice, everybody!

Leaking Paterson tank

Arctic amateur

Attachments

Fast

Daire Quinlan

Hatchetman

Alex Muir

MattKing

Moderator

StoneNYC

Newt_on_Swings

zanxion72

mauro35

Jaf-Photo

baachitraka

Arctic amateur

Jaf-Photo

StoneNYC

Jaf-Photo

Arctic amateur

Arctic amateur

Leaking Paterson tank

Attachments

Moderator

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency