Minimum Temperature for Tray Paper Printing

RedSun · Apr 25, 2014

I was reading the old posts and saw some folks stating that the normal temp for tray printing is 20C/68F and the process would fail at 65F. Is this true?

Last night I printed some BW paper at my basement. It was chilly and I had to put on goose-down vest. This morning, I tested the air temperature there to be 58F. But the prints came out nicely. I was using Ektaflo developer with Polycontrast and Ilford MGIV papers.

I think it is very common to get 60F in unheated darkroom (garage and basement) and this is how a lot of folks work....

railwayman3 · Apr 25, 2014

Certainly a few degs variation from 68 degrees will not ruin the results, but I always understood that too low a temperature reduced the contrast of the print, which was not compensated for by increased time in the developer. I've always aimed for about 68-70 degrees as a comfortable darkroom temperature to work at, with the bonus that the chemicals would also be at their optimum temperature.

(I can't find the reference at the moment, but I'm sure that I've read of special formulae for work in severe cold climates?)

snapguy · Apr 25, 2014

hot water

Back in the Film Era I worked for a tiny weekly newspaper which used a short of shed for a photo darkroom and it had no hot running water. In the morning it would be 50 degrees in there but I never had any problem making photo prints with cold chemicals. I would heat my film developer to 70 degrees or so.
Of course there are dozens of photo chemicals out there and some may react differently.

MattKing · Apr 25, 2014

Polycontrast in Ektaflo - it may be that the time warp is affecting your results .

All developer and printing paper combinations will be affected by cool temperatures, but it probably is impossible to generalize about how much. I'd hazard a guess though that your main problem will be with consistency.

pentaxuser · Apr 25, 2014

If it works then great but if not then getting the developer to about 16-18 degrees C and then keeping it there with a water bath that you top up with hot water should work OK

Long term if you are stuck with low temps for a lot of the year then a heated Nova processor is worth considering.

pentaxuser

cliveh · Apr 25, 2014

I make up print developer solutions by testing the temperature with my finger. A temperature of 68°F/20°C would be ideal, but any temperature within the range of 55°F to 75°F (13°C to 24°C) should be fine as long as you compensate with a longer or shorter development time.

MattKing · Apr 25, 2014

One of my all-time favourite APUG threads: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

The link in Murray's first post is no longer current, but something like this would probably work: http://www.amazon.com/20in-Waterproof-Seedling-Heat-Mat/dp/B007P3UKKA

Gerald C Koch · Apr 25, 2014

If the developer contains hydroquinone then be aware that this developing agent stops working at 55F. Its action would also be slow below 60F. So yes there is a practical lower temperature limit for print developers.

MartinP · Apr 25, 2014

If cold or consistency seem to be a problem then some sort of heater might help. There are small-trays in big-trays options, or various electrical dish-warmers used to be common (and cheap). They are no longer either easy to find or affordable, but an alternative would be to visit an animal-husbandry retailer and find the sort of heated rubber mat used for warming young animals or snakes. Something which can withstand piglet-excrement should survive a drop or two of developer . . .

Vaughn · Apr 25, 2014

What I have read was that that below 55F the Hydroquinone stops working well and it will be difficult to get a good black. This is written knowing that it might be an old wives tale.

jp498 · Apr 25, 2014

Developer slows down a bit at 55f, but I still get good results. I'd fix it for a couple extra minutes at those temps, or at least test the fixer at that temp. My darkroom is often 50-60f range in the winter.

cliveh · Apr 25, 2014

Gerald C Koch said:
If the developer contains hydroquinone then be aware that this developing agent stops working at 55F. Its action would also be slow below 60F. So yes there is a practical lower temperature limit for print developers.

Gerald, I don't think it is true to say Hydroquinone stops working at 55F, but merely slows down sufficiently to be impractical for general use.

Rick Olson · Apr 25, 2014

Hi RedSun,

I have printed in a cold Colorado basement at 50-55 degrees. Using Ansco 130 type developer, Kodak indicator stop and Formulary TF-5 fixer. Just allowed some extra time in all solutions. Prints came out fine.

Have fun!

craigclu · Apr 25, 2014

I have a definite effect in my Wisconsin basement darkroom. I normally am using a variant of 130 (benzotriazole instead of bromide) and with my materials, I'm losing activity unless I run a small, stainless steel darkroom heater in the developer tray or pre-heat the darkroom long enough to bring it all up to temp. A few years back, I checked this with a densitometer and it was quite visible and measureable. I mostly use Ilford papers and I believe that's what I was checking on back then as I was trying to deepen my blacks on MG WT when going through this. Perhaps other combinations wouldn't be so temperature sensitive?

Gerald C Koch · Apr 25, 2014

I looked back at my notes. "Hydroquinone is very sensitive to temperature being greatly retarded at low temperatures and practically inert below 13°C." That would be 55.4F. If you are using a typical print developer then the metol may be doing most of the work since it is not as dramatically effected by temperature. However image contrast may suffer because of this.

Minimum Temperature for Tray Paper Printing

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Minimum Temperature for Tray Paper Printing

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