Need darkroom help/flammability issue.

rkmiec · May 27, 2009

So i have been given the go ahead to turn our extra room into my darkroom.This is awesome for me as the room is 8x8 or slightly bigger and would be easy to make light tight.The issue i have i just realized is the gas hot water heater is in the room.Would having a gas burner going in the darkroom be an issue?Most of the time it is just the pilot light but 2-3 times a day it needs to heat the water as we use it.What say the guru's.

I have a feeling this is a huge no no and i may need to look into sealing the hot water heater off from the room and vent the heater out the roof or crawl space.

richard ide · May 27, 2009

I think that as long as you make allowance for free air flow (baffled if necessary) you should have no problems. A carbon monoxide alarm would be a good idea.

keithwms · May 27, 2009

I don't suppose you'll be dealing with any flammable solvents; obviously you don't want film cleaner or such around the heater. But almost all of the standard chems are water based. Antistat film cleaner is the only one that comes to mind, which you wouldn't want anywhere near a flame.

I think the main thing about hot water heaters is that they raise the temp of the air around, thus dehumidifying it. Now that can create a real dust problem. Plus some films and paper could dry too quickly and curl. So you could humidify the room to combat that... or seal it off from the heater, as you mentioned.

zenrhino · May 27, 2009

I've had two photo profs mention that Pec-12 was very flammable (and a very fine aerosol mist from those little pump bottles). Careful with that.

jp80874 · May 28, 2009

rkmiec said:
So i have been given the go ahead to turn our extra room into my darkroom..

Has the person giving permission also taken out a large insurance policy on you or the building? That might give important information on your relationship, another person's knowledge of the risk, a pending change in the relationship.

John Powers

Martin Aislabie · May 28, 2009

Don't use Tetenal Protectan (http://www.silverprint.co.uk/ProductByGroup.asp?PrGrp=509) - its a flamable vapour

Avoid having any film or paper out of their boxes when the burner is running

Martin

removed account4 · May 28, 2009

new gas water heaters have an automatic shut off
when there are "fumes" and often times they need a certain
amount of air moving in the room to keep on keeping on.
they need to be well vented.

Ian Grant · May 28, 2009

The issue is going to be making sure the boilers light from the pilot light/burner doesn't fog film.paper.

Ian

Steve Smith · May 28, 2009

Should be o.k.

In the UK most boilers are balanced flue (not sure about US). This means they are sealed to the inside of the building and flue gas which escapes is replaced by fresh air. This way, even if the gas jets are burning very badly creating carbon monoxide, none of this gets into the room.

Newer boilers are similar but are fan assisted so the flue gas is drawn out to be replaced by fresh air. Again they are sealed to the room so there is no danger of CO poisoning even if it is burning poorly.

Older boilers past their prime could be an entirely different matter though.

If it's safe to be in the room with it then it should be safe to be in the room with it in darkness!

Steve.

John Koehrer · May 28, 2009

As above, PEC 12 and I wouldn't use any aerosol in there but generally there's not much if anything that's really combustible. The hint about blocking any light from the pilot or flame is a good one

bobwysiwyg · May 28, 2009

Be careful with chems in powder form. I would be sure to do any mixing elsewhere.

rkmiec · May 28, 2009

Thanks for all the replies all,i may just put a closet around the heater to be safe.It is vented through the roof and there is a fresh air vent next to it from the crawl space so if i enclose it i should be fine.

I am excited since i have no darkroom i have been very stagnant and hopefully this will boost my activity.Now all i need to do is run an a/c duct to the room as it has none right now and can get pretty hot in the summer here in georgia.

lamda · May 31, 2009

If it's old, it might pay to have the gas company inspect/maintain it; the savings on gas could pay for the inspection.

If you don't seal it off and have an exhaust fan in the darkroom, the exhaust fan could lower the pressure in the darkroom to the point that flue gas flows into the darkroom instead of up the heater roof vent (although the fresh air vent reduces the chance of this).

resummerfield · May 31, 2009

rkmiec said:
......Now all i need to do is run an a/c duct to the room as it has none right now and can get pretty hot in the summer here in georgia.

While you're doing that, make sure you have a way to vent any darkroom fumes outside, separate from the house a/c system.

An a/c outlet TO the room will require (or should have) a return duct FROM the room, to balance the system. A dedicated fume extraction system, ducted to the outside, with ensure that no darkroom odors enter the house.

fschifano · Jun 2, 2009

lamda said:
If you don't seal it off and have an exhaust fan in the darkroom, the exhaust fan could lower the pressure in the darkroom to the point that flue gas flows into the darkroom instead of up the heater roof vent (although the fresh air vent reduces the chance of this).

Not so true. I had an exhaust fan running in an upstairs room and the hot water heater refused to light. Period. Called the serviceman 'cause I figured that the heater was shot. Turns out that the exhaust fan lowered the ambient pressure in the basement enough to prevent the burner from lighting. It's a safety feature designed to prevent exhaust gases from accumulating. My hot water heater is pretty old and nearing replacement time. They don't last much more than 10 -15 years, depending on the water conditions and the temperature you run it at. The automatic cutoff feature should be on most, if not all, gas fired hot water heaters by now.

Need darkroom help/flammability issue.

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