Nova Slot Processor heater jacket water?

[Kino]

I am cleaning my 2nd hand Nova Slot processor and noted that the water jacket appears to have filling holes, but no drain spigot. How are you supposed to drain the water jacket once you fill it for processing?

Literature from Nova emphasizes that the processor should be filled in stages across the slots to avoid rupturing the seals.

So, when you dump the chemistry from all 4 slots (as is the case on my processor), does this place a huge strain on the slots with the water jacket still full? Doesn't seem to make sense.

Also, I was thinking of putting a few drops of bleach into the waterbath port to inhibit biological growth.

What do others do for this?

 

[perkeleellinen]

When I drain the chemistry out of the slots, I open all the taps at the same time. When I dump the water out of the water jacket I turn the whole unit up 90 degrees and allow the water to pour out. On my quad I fill tank 4, then tank 2, then tank 3 and lastly tank 1. That is mostly to do with reducing contamination than putting stress on the unit. Also, yes, I put a few drops of bleach in mine.

 

[Kino]

Thank You, Perkeleellinen. Exactly the information I needed.

 

[Kino]

A bit more information if you would?

I have the original tube slot caps/covers for the chemistry. I assume the black one is for the developer, correct?

There is discussion of using cling wrap on the machine to further lengthen life of the chemistry. Do you put the cling film over the tubes as whole or remove the tubes and lay it over the slots and replace the tubes?

Second option seems risky for cross contamination.

Also, the wall power supply for the processor does not appear to have an indicator lamp to show the heater is turned on. Norma?

Thanks again.

 

[pentaxuser]

I found it awkward to do what perkeleellinen does so I use a syphon tube placed into the holes and pushed to the bottom which draws the water out. It avoids draining and refilling the slots and even moving the processor at all. The best kind is the bulb in the middle of the tube which you squeeze with a finger over the open end until the liquid is drawn but frankly you can just use a tube and suck. Once you see the water coming over the top of the tube simply remove you mouth and gravity the rest

pentaxuser

 

[perkeleellinen]

A bit more information if you would?

I have the original tube slot caps/covers for the chemistry. I assume the black one is for the developer, correct?

There is discussion of using cling wrap on the machine to further lengthen life of the chemistry. Do you put the cling film over the tubes as whole or remove the tubes and lay it over the slots and replace the tubes?

Second option seems risky for cross contamination.

Also, the wall power supply for the processor does not appear to have an indicator lamp to show the heater is turned on. Norma?

Thanks again.

• I've always used the black one on Blix, nor sure why now I think about it!
  
• Never used cling wrap, sounds like it could work but honestly, the chemistry lasts pretty well with just the floating tubes.
  
• Yes normal, the earlier models had an indicator lamp on the unit where the power came into the heaters.

 

[Kino]

Thank you Perkeleellinen and Pentaxuser. All good information.

I have cleaned the unit and now will fill it with water and turn on the heater for a test run and final cleaning before putting it into operation.

Will check it in a few hours to see what temperature I have.

I found it awkward to do what perkeleellinen does so I use a syphon tube placed into the holes and pushed to the bottom which draws the water out. It avoids draining and refilling the slots and even moving the processor at all. The best kind is the bulb in the middle of the tube which you squeeze with a finger over the open end until the liquid is drawn but frankly you can just use a tube and suck. Once you see the water coming over the top of the tube simply remove you mouth and gravity the rest

pentaxuser

The last suggestion is what we call an "Oklahoma Credit Card"; siphoning gasoline.

 

[pentaxuser]

Thank you Perkeleellinen and Pentaxuser. All good information.

I have cleaned the unit and now will fill it with water and turn on the heater for a test run and final cleaning before putting it into operation.

Will check it in a few hours to see what temperature I have.



The last suggestion is what we call an "Oklahoma Credit Card"; siphoning gasoline.

How do the Okies feel about that saying?

It is worth adding that in the past I wrongly never bothered with a few drops of bleach I endorse perkeleellinen's suggestion on this as they do stop the ugly growths in the water that I used to experience.

pentaxuser

 

[Kino]

How do the Okies feel about that saying?

It is worth adding that in the past I wrongly never bothered with a few drops of bleach I endorse perkeleellinen's suggestion on this as they do stop the ugly growths in the water that I used to experience.

pentaxuser

I was born in Oklahoma, so as an Okie, its OK. (it's a common joke there.)

Will do on the bleach; rather not use other nasty stuff and the biological growth is a real problem in this climate.

 

[Kino]

@perkeleellinen
@pentaxuser

Had to abort my temperature testing. Started to leak around the two rubber plugs on the back of the unit. I emptied the processor and looked down inside, but they only appear to be rubber plugs.

Any experience with these leaking?

 

[BobUK]

Kino
Could the original mains indicator lamp have been a source of fogging?
I have every mains indicator covered when doing colour work just in case.
I did hear that the latest transparent slot tanks had a problem with fogging, thought to be caused by the indicator neon in the internal heater tube.
I do not know if they changed the fish tank style heaters for ones with no neon lamps.

 

[lantau]

@perkeleellinen
@pentaxuser

Had to abort my temperature testing. Started to leak around the two rubber plugs on the back of the unit. I emptied the processor and looked down inside, but they only appear to be rubber plugs.

Any experience with these leaking?

You are talking about the rubber plugs on the side? The ones for the heated water jacket? I had the same problem and solved it. But it turns out you are not supposed to fill above those. Upon my first major 'service' of my unit a few months back (after three years of operation) I refilled only to just below the plug holes.

BTW, like the others I used a small amount of household bleach to preserve the water. Just enough so that I could smell the bleach at the fill holes.

 

[Kino]

Kino
Could the original mains indicator lamp have been a source of fogging?
I have every mains indicator covered when doing colour work just in case.
I did hear that the latest transparent slot tanks had a problem with fogging, thought to be caused by the indicator neon in the internal heater tube.
I do not know if they changed the fish tank style heaters for ones with no neon lamps.

Bob,

I think you misunderstood my (poorly written) query. I was just asking if there was a power indicator at all when the unit is plugged into the mains. Usually there will be some indication that the heater is working, but I guess with color material, there shouldn't be a neon lamp or LED. I have yet to process any paper and am just trying to test this 2nd hand unit before I do attempt print processing.

However, your information is most welcome; good to know all variables!

 

[Kino]

You are talking about the rubber plugs on the side? The ones for the heated water jacket? I had the same problem and solved it. But it turns out you are not supposed to fill above those. Upon my first major 'service' of my unit a few months back (after three years of operation) I refilled only to just below the plug holes.

BTW, like the others I used a small amount of household bleach to preserve the water. Just enough so that I could smell the bleach at the fill holes.

Lantau,

About the time I wrote that, I found a manual online late today which confirms what you say:

I had filled each core totally up to the top! Hopefully I didn't do any damage. My rubber bungs are rather stiff, so I may have to order new ones...

Glad there are many experienced users here; I appreciate all the knowledge.

 

[lantau]

Lantau,

I had filled each core totally up to the top! Hopefully I didn't do any damage. My rubber bungs are rather stiff, so I may have to order new ones...

Glad there are many experienced users here; I appreciate all the knowledge.

I don't think that you did any damage. As I said, I operated the Nova like that for three years. Not quite to the very top, but considerably above the rubber bungs. I did play around with some extra teflon tape to keep them from leaking, though. I was thinking about using a wooden plug, inserted into the bungs from the outside. That way they could be compressed better against the hole, if necessary with extra teflon tape.

But that is up to you. I'm doing it the way the manual says, now.

When I think about it: if filled to the top the slots might hold the temperature better. OTOH, if the top third to halve of the slots is above the warm water level then the content will cool at the top and descent to the bottom to be reheated. Maybe that could work to keep the working solutions mixed.

However, using the processor should thoroughly mix the solutions. Now that you have the manual you should notice that they say something about moving the print along an oval path (out of memory). That means I start off-centre, then move the print to the side and lift the clip, change direction and slowly let the clip back down into the slot. You can also wag the paper like a dogs tails. All to get some agitation of the surface of the print and to mix the solution.

You can also quickly raise the print much higher, and then back into the slot, to see if the image is visible already, monitoring if your developer is still good. Good Adox MCC developer will start showing an image after 4-6s at 24°C. Even replenished for weeks.

You may start wondering how you could live without this thing. Especially if you want to try RA-4, as well.

 

[Kino]

Very good! I hope this works out for me,as I took a gamble and build my sink purposefully smaller to free up space for other things. 3 8x10 trays are my limit now; I'd have to tear it out and totally rebuild if the slot processor didn't work out.

Many thanks again!

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Yes- you want to fill only to the level of the bungs. If you overfill, when you put the chemistry in the tanks, there is no room for the water in the jackets to go, and you'll stress the seals. You do need to drain the slots first before draining the water jacket. When the entire unit is full, it will be too heavy to lift or move in any way. I always just used the floating tube lids for my slots, but if you wanted to do the cling wrap thing, I would put it over the entire unit, not under the tubes. It's a great tool, and when I had a very small, temporary darkroom, it enabled me to print up to 16x20.b They are best for RC papers (and RA-4 paper which is very similar) but you CAN use them for printing fiber as well, if you are careful. I ran into problems with mine where the waffle pattern on the slot walls would get contaminated and I'd get purple stop bath stains where the paper had stuck to the slot wall. I never tried RC paper in it but I suspect the issue would not have happened with RC because it is rigid (compared to wet fiber-based paper) and would not stick to the slot wall. Now that I've moved on to alternative process printing, mine is sitting on a shelf unused.