Looking for a 4x5 dev tank that takes 1L of chemistry

EASmithV

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Been doing my own E6 lately, but taco-devving 2 sheets of E6 is a pain, and my rolling print drums won't be able to keep the chemistry at temperature. So, Does anyone have tank suggestions? I've used a Yankee tank before, but i'm not sure how well it would hold up to doing color chemistry.

Having it take 1 Quart of chemistry is a must though.
 

Ian Grant

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Many people use the Jobo tanks with the rotary systems for 5x4, I'm not sure of the tank no's. However I use an older inversion 2000 series tank (pre-rotatry) that takes two spirals of 6 sheets each and this needs 1 litre of chemistry per spiral. I have used if for E6 many times in the past.

One advantage of a rotary processor is they use less chemistry.

Ian
 
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werra

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Yes, old Jobo 2000 tank and 2021 reel use 1l of chemistry. Those pop up on german 'bay quite regularly and are a tad cheaper than new style reels. Watch out to get correct size reel, because they are not adjustable. Most of them are available in 9x12cm size.

Two-reel setup (which Ian has) looks like this:


Loading device is of no great use IMHO.
 

Steve Smith

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paul_c5x4

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Nova do (did?) a dip'n'dunk line based around the Combiplan tanks - These use a little over 1l per tank, and if you can find some cheap enough, worth considering.

I keep looking at my Combiplan and tossing around the idea of getting some tupperware boxes to do B&W dip'n'dunk. Maybe I'll get round to sourcing some when I get another big batch of films to process.
 

Mainecoonmaniac

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How about this?
Dead Link Removed
 

Mike Wilde

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I have a bunch of tanks that are designed for processing 4x5 film on hangersthat I run e-6 in. Most are the more common floating lid ones, but one I found that has a light tight lid, and only needs 1L of chemistry.

The down side of the little tank is that it will only hold 6 hangers, while the more common Kodak hard rubber ones take like 9 or more hangers at a time. The Kodak hard rubber ones take at least 1.5L to bring the level up to that of the fil in the hanger though.

I run the longer lasting chems or ones I have ample supplies of in the larger tanks; pre bleach, bleach, fix, stop(s).

The first developer, color developer and reversal bath I work though the small tank.

Sometimes I pour chemistry in with the lights out in the darkroom, and then pour out with the lights on and the tlight tight trap still in place, so as to not loose as much time in inrrtroducing solutions.

I suggest that making up a plexiglass or acrylic insert for a common 4x5 tank and siliconing it in place might be the way to go to get 1L to fil a common tanks most easily.

I know that convetional sink lines use stainless tanks and a water jacket. I don't run this rig often enough to want to dedicate that kind of space to the rig.

I store the longer lasting chems in their tanks, with floating lids, also with saran wrap over the top of a tank to cut down on evaporation.

To bring them up to temperature, I remove the flaoting lid and microwave the whole rubber tank. Take care, the ferric causes the bleach to heats much faster than the other chemical baths.

After they have been fast warmed in the microwave, then go into an oversized tray warm water bath that acts as an impromptu water bath.
 

AnselAdamsX

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Anyone tried a heat lamp on print drums? If not I may be the first to try. I'm going to try C41 first and then E6.
 

graywolf

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About the only 4x5 tank that I know that only takes one liter of chemistry is the HP Combiplan.

And for the other guy, they used to sell just the tanks so you could set up a line with them. I do not know if you an get just the tanks anymore. $75 each seems kind of expensive to me, if you have to buy the whole set to get the tanks, although it would be nice to have some extra film carriers.

The cheapest setup would seem to be the Yankee 1/2 gal plastic tanks that take regular SS (stainless steel) hangers. The best way to set up a line would be with SS tanks, and you can sometimes pick them up secondhand cheap.
 
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EASmithV

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The Mod54 would be a perfect solution, but last time i checked they were back ordered already. It has to be both a daylight tank and take 1L of chemistry, as that's the volume I use for doing stand dev, and the amount i mix my stock solutions to.
 
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EASmithV

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Those jobo tanks look quite viable.
 

EdSawyer

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How about the Nikor 4x5 tank? That takes even less than 1L I think...
 

Mainecoonmaniac

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They're hard to find and very expensive.
 

EdSawyer

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There's at least 3 Nikor 4x5s on eprey right now... @ $200ish, not that much more than other options (given how many sheets can be done at once in the Nikor).
 

PKM-25

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holmburgers said:
+1

6 4x5" sheets in a Paterson 3-reel = exactly 1 liter. Good product, just agitate gently.
Click to expand...

+2, I have two of these and *love* how simple they are, simply brilliant. I just do black and white and place the temp probe for my RH Designs Process Master II in the spindle and get right to it.

I might even buy a third for workshops just to cover my rear, they just make soooo much sense, looks like he just updated the design so at least we know Morgan is committed to the product....
 
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Ken Nadvornick

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EdSawyer said:
How about the Nikor 4x5 tank? That takes even less than 1L I think...
Click to expand...

The Nikor 4x5 tank is designed for 36 US fluid ounces, or just about exactly 1 liter. It can load up to 12 sheets, but care must be exercised to assure a sufficient minimum volume of developer is present, depending on dilutions used. If one is picky, care should also be exercised to arrange loads of less than 12 sheets symmetrically to minimize differential agitation artifacts. Some users load dummy sheets to assure the tank is always physically full.

Also, since the inner cage has a solid top over the loaded sheets (with a single large hole in the middle), it is possible to get trapped air bubbles underneath the top that show as irregular strips of lower density along whichever negative edge was facing up between agitations. Rapping the tank does not work in this case as the cage is not a spiral and there is no place for the bubbles to escape. One solution can be to add a few drops of Edwal LFN to the developer to reduce the formation of bubbles in the first place.

Regarding prices for used ones, I don't see $200 as excessive. If one can justify the expense as a one-off lifetime purchase, it actually makes a lot of sense. The thing is indestructable in normal use, and if used for 20 years that's only $10 a year for the peace of mind of having and using the absolutely correct tool. I've spent a lot more than that for equipment that gets a lot less regular use.

Ken
 

David A. Goldfarb

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I'm also a fan of the Nikor sheet film tank, which takes all sizes from 2x3" to 4x5". I've never made any particular effort to fill all slots, and I haven't had problems with air bubbles either, but I suppose it may just depend on what film/dev combination you're using. I have two--one set for 2x3" and one set for 4x5", but if I have a large batch of either, I can adjust them to the same size as needed.

I once asked Hewes if they might consider manufacturing this tank themselves, and I got the impression it would be too expensive to manufacture today, with its 120-odd spot welds.

I also have a single rectangular 4x5" SS tank that takes hangers and uses 1L of chemistry. I bought it mainly for monobath processing, but I've also used it when I wanted to make a one shot or other short usage developer and develop with hangers, continuing the process in my 5L stop and fix tanks.
 

EdSawyer

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bubbles?

Ken, thanks for the details on these. Would it be possible to drill a series of holes in the top plate to allow bubbles to escape? Seems like it should be feasible.

-Ed

 

David A. Goldfarb

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Given what the Nikor tanks cost, I wouldn't mess with it. Presuming you could find enough spots to drill without cutting anything, if the plate is weakened, then over time it could go out of alignment, and then you would really have problems. I could also see agitation problems emerging, and ultimately, the holes would have to be small and might not actually let bubbles escape, and could cause more bubbles.
 

Ken Nadvornick

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I'm with David on this. One of the benefits of the Nikor tanks is their ruggedness. I wouldn't want to do anything to compromise that. And if you did purchase one, then later wanted to sell it, holes drilled into it by the previous owner might not be such a good selling point.

Regarding the issue of air bubbles, to be fair I've never read anywhere else about someone having that problem with this tank. Or if they did, they never wrote publicly about it. But I also know I have definitely seen it in my processing. Now I do compound all of my b&w solutions from bulk chemicals, so that may have something to do with it as well. Perhaps I'm leaving out some magical secret ingredient from the commercial equivilents.

Using the Edwal LFN seems to mitigate the problem for me, without affecting the development process. A much simpler solution than drilling, I think.

Beyond that, if one didn't mind a little leakage then laying the filled tank on its side with the top facing away from you and rolling it right-to-left at least one full revolution would give any trapped bubbles a clear path to spiral out from between the loaded sheets. Something like that may work, although I haven't tried it.

Ken
 
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