Managing hypo clear with a print washer

ntenny · Jun 9, 2024

I have a Paterson print washer (8x10 model), which on the whole seems to be working pretty well for me as verified by residual hypo testing. I’m using a rinse / hypo clear / rinse sequence, and switching between plain water and hypo clear is inconvenient. Either I wait for a siphon to empty the washer, which takes a really long time, or I lift the full washer and pour substantial volumes back and forth, and usually all over the counter and floor for good measure.

What are other people doing as a practice for changing solutions in a print washer? Powered siphon? Get good at the clumsy high-volume pour between rectangular containers? Separate vessel to transfer the print rack into for hypo clearing? I feel like there must be a better way.

Thanks in advance
-NT

Keith Tapscott. · Jun 9, 2024

Do you have enough room for a print dish that you can fill with hypo clear?

xkaes · Jun 9, 2024

Print washers were designed for that -- washing, which should be minimal if using hypo clear. I'll add to Keith's suggestion. One tray for a brief rinse, then one for hypo clear, then the Paterson washer.

mshchem · Jun 9, 2024

I recommend looking at the Ilford Photo website for recommended methods of washing.

Nicholas Lindan · Jun 9, 2024

I use a large tub of water to hold & rinse prints after fixing. I then put the batch of prints through a tray of hypo-clear and finally put them in the washer.

I have never heard of filling a washer with hypo-clear.

Rick A · Jun 9, 2024

Nicholas Lindan said:
I use a large tub of water to hold & rinse prints after fixing. I then put the batch of prints through a tray of hypo-clear and finally put them in the washer.

I have never heard of filling a washer with hypo-clear.

What you said.

logan2z · Jun 9, 2024

My Nova Washmaster ECO print washer has a slot specifically for holding hypo-clear - it is isolated from the other wash slots. The Washmaster ECO uses very little water so I forego the hypo-clear and wash the prints for 60 minutes instead. I plan on buying the Nova kit to convert the hypo-clear slot to another wash slot.

ntenny · Jun 9, 2024

Thanks for all the quick responses. I guess one cycles through the prints in the hypo clear tray, like tray-developing a stack of sheet film? I don’t know why I haven’t done this; it seems obvious now that everybody mentions it.

-NT

snusmumriken · Jun 9, 2024

logan2z said:
My Nova Washmaster ECO print washer has a slot specifically for holding hypo-clear - it is isolated from the other wash slots. The Washmaster ECO uses very little water so I forego the hypo-clear and wash the prints for 60 minutes instead. I plan on buying the Nova kit to convert the hypo-clear slot to another wash slot.

I have the same washer, which I use for FB paper. I too gave up on hypoclear. The idea was appealing, but in practice it was tedious to empty the separate slot and rinse it out after every printing session. I bought the conversion kit, although it is not an elegant solution to the issue: it doubles the amount of unobliging hose you must accommodate around the washer, and requires a subtle adjustment of the inlet valve at every print session to achieve the same flow rate as the other slots.

I no longer follow Ilford's advice on washing, because I was getting staining as a result of inadequate washing between fixer and toner. So now I wash everything for 30 min before toning, then another 30 min after that. It's probably overkill, but residual fixer is then at archival levels (although there's absolutely no call for my prints to outlive me!)

I use a Paterson tray washer for the first few minutes after fixing: as well as sluicing off the worst of the fixer, it gives me a chance to take a good look at the print and decide whether changes are required. I wouldn't be without it now.

Doremus Scudder · Jun 9, 2024

You don't need to use your print washer for hypo clear (wash aid). Use a tray. A couple liters of hypo clear will treat 100+ prints; you're just wasting it by filling your washer with it.

My workflow: after fix #2 I rinse prints in a tray of running water for a few minutes (important to get the best from your wash aid) then I transfer them to the wash aid tray for 5 -10 minutes (Ilford sequence even though Kodak only calls for a couple of minutes in the wash aid), then directly (no rinse) into the washer. The washer rinses out the wash aid plus everything else.

My washers are for wash water and nothing else.

Good that you're testing for residual hypo.

Best,

Doremus

logan2z · Jun 9, 2024

snusmumriken said:
I have the same washer, which I use for FB paper. I too gave up on hypoclear. The idea was appealing, but in practice it was tedious to empty the separate slot and rinse it out after every printing session. I bought the conversion kit, although it is not an elegant solution to the issue: it doubles the amount of unobliging hose you must accommodate around the washer, and requires a subtle adjustment of the inlet valve at every print session to achieve the same flow rate as the other slots.

I'm glad you mentioned that, I was wondering how elegant the conversion would be. I probably won't bother with it.

snusmumriken said:
I no longer follow Ilford's advice on washing, because I was getting staining as a result of inadequate washing between fixer and toner. So now I wash everything for 30 min before toning, then another 30 min after that. It's probably overkill, but residual fixer is then at archival levels (although there's absolutely no call for my prints to outlive me!)

I use a Paterson tray washer for the first few minutes after fixing: as well as sluicing off the worst of the fixer, it gives me a chance to take a good look at the print and decide whether changes are required. I wouldn't be without it now.
View attachment 371891

I usually just put my prints in a 'holding bath' in another tray full of water until I'm ready to wash them, but I like your idea of a pre-wash in a Paterson washer.

Re: the Washmaster ECO, I love the washer but do have an ongoing issue where a couple of the plastic slot dividers bow badly after the washer is drained. If I fully empty the washer and leave it for several days the dividers do eventually straighten out, but it's kind of annoying nonetheless. Have you experienced this with your washer? I tried sanding the edges of the dividers so that they have a bit of expansion room but that hasn't really helped. Maybe I need to take another pass at that.

snusmumriken · Jun 9, 2024

logan2z said:
I'm glad you mentioned that, I was wondering how elegant the conversion would be. I probably won't bother with it.

I usually just put my prints in a 'holding bath' in another tray full of water until I'm ready to wash them, but I like your idea of a pre-wash in a Paterson washer.

Re: the Washmaster ECO, I love the washer but do have an ongoing issue where a couple of the plastic slot dividers bow badly after the washer is drained. If I fully empty the washer and leave it for several days the dividers do eventually straighten out, but it's kind of annoying nonetheless. Have you experienced this with your washer? I tried sanding the edges of the dividers so that they have a bit of expansion room but that hasn't really helped. Maybe I need to take another pass at that.

Yes, I have the same issue. Making sure the dividers are fully seated in their slots helps a bit, but I've not found anything else that does. My biggest mistake was taking out the dividers to wash and straighten them, but forgetting which divider went in which slot and which way up. They look identical, but they aren't. There are many permutations, so it took me a while to get back to factory status.

On balance, I'd say the conversion kit is worthwhile although annoying: I use it to dump my test strips in.

logan2z · Jun 9, 2024

snusmumriken said:
Yes, I have the same issue. Making sure the dividers are fully seated in their slots helps a bit, but I've not found anything else that does. My biggest mistake was taking out the dividers to wash and straighten them, but forgetting which divider went in which slot and which way up. They look identical, but they aren't. There are many permutations, so it took me a while to get back to factory status.

I did the exact same thing! Someone from Nova told me that each divider is hand-tweaked to fit a specific slot in each washer.

RalphLambrecht · Jun 9, 2024

ntenny said:
I have a Paterson print washer (8x10 model), which on the whole seems to be working pretty well for me as verified by residual hypo testing. I’m using a rinse / hypo clear / rinse sequence, and switching between plain water and hypo clear is inconvenient. Either I wait for a siphon to empty the washer, which takes a really long time, or I lift the full washer and pour substantial volumes back and forth, and usually all over the counter and floor for good measure.

What are other people doing as a practice for changing solutions in a print washer? Powered siphon? Get good at the clumsy high-volume pour between rectangular containers? Separate vessel to transfer the print rack into for hypo clearing? I feel like there must be a better way.

Thanks in advance
-NT

First, remember that you don't need HypoClear for RC prints, and use an extra tray for FB prints!

Paul Howell · Jun 9, 2024

I use a holding tray with water that I hold prints until I am ready for a final archival wash. I use a Kodak siphon to keep a bear trickle of water in the tray. When I ready to wash I empty the tray, add Peram Wash and soak with agitation, pulling the pint's apart, for 2 minutes, then carry outside where I have my archival washer. Of course it gets more complicated when I tone.

Managing hypo clear with a print washer

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