Searching for high temp, rapid (b&w) paper developer formula

John Salim said:

Chris,
I use an Ilfolab 2150RC ( ....heavily modified to auto replenish )...
John S

Click to expand...

Hi, i'm actually setting up this machine too (again, as i worked with it many years in the last century...).

This modification sounds very interesting.
Are you willing to share it, or is this a "state secret"? ;-)
Maybe it's just too complicate?

@Christopher:

That means I can't simply fill it 14L of prepared chemistry.

Click to expand...

There is no danger for overflow.
The machine will automatically stop the addition of water if the 14l are fulfilled.

John Salim said:

Chris,
I use an Ilfolab 2150RC ( ....heavily modified to auto replenish ), and can produce contact sheets very quickly when using two contact frames in tandem......the machine will out pace you ! Kodak Polymax RT developer and Ilford Rapid Fixer will sort you out
John S

Click to expand...

John! Re: "when using two contact frames in tandem" You're a freaking GENIUS! Why didn't I think of that? I should have taken Martin's good suggestion about batching, and applied it to the dry side of things.

Also, thanks to you and Martin for planting the great idea in my head about eventually converting the machine to a replenishable version, but I'd better learn how to use it as it is first! Martin, could you give me details about that?

Best,

Chris

I thought replenishment was standard? Having looked in the PDF for the 2150 it seems to be only replenishing from the tanks under the feedtray. In the machine plumbed in at the lab where I worked, it pumped from two ten-litre cubitainers next to the machine. Presumably there was some sort of kit (longer feed-pipes?) to take the concentrate from outside the machine? I can't recall if the cubitainers were on the floor or higher up on a table either.

Edit: Actually the 2150 PDF doesn't mention replenishment at all, and says the machine must be emptied after two weeks. The one we ran in the lab was emptied twice a year, literally each six months, so the replenishment really helped in practical lab-use. I cleaned the wash tank and the rollers much more often though. This makes me think that the machine we had was not a 2150 after all, but some other Ilfolab model, intended for constant lab usage.

Edit 2: I looked for larger Ilfolab machines and it seems that the 2150 was a table-top processor. The one I used all those years ago was apparently a 2240, which is a physically larger unit, though with only a 17" wide feed-tray instead of 20" (which sounds right as the largest paper I could put through it was 16x20"). We had it built in to the wall of the darkroom so paper entered in the darkroom and came out in the daylight part of the lab and that wasn't possible with the 2150(?).

Hi guys,
The 2150RC was only ever made as a 'fill up, use and dump' processor and I never understood why Ilford never made a replenishable version of this machine - probably so they can sell their 2150XL kits !

The original auto-ready system worked like this.....

The user filled the two front tanks with dev and fix concentrate straight from the bottle and shut the lid down.
The machine sensed this and starts to add water to the tanks filling both ( connected ) front and main tanks to the right level before switching the heaters and circulation on. The water tank would be filling up at the same time.
After about 25 mins a beep sounds and you're ready to go.

It can only be used in a darkroom to feed and receive paper, as both slots are at the front of the machine. Dry to dry is approx 70".

I'm happy to share info about my conversion but don't have the time to go into details really - there's a lot involved ( took a few months as a side line project ), but basically these are the mods....

1, Heaters, transport, reps and wash can all be switched on and off manually as well as used automatically.
2, The two front tanks have been disconected ( ...saves about 5 ltrs of volume ) so the main tanks use 10 ltrs. This was done with extensive pipe re-routing underneath. This means the auto fill system isn't needed.
3, Sensor fitted to actuate the ( Iwaki ) rep pumps.
4, New ( lower level ) overflow pipe installed for fixer overflow for silver recovery.
5, Heavy duty stand built to hold machine on it's own.
6, Thermometer installed for dev tank monitoring.
7, Both heaters have neon indicators for visual monitoring.
8, Fitted inlet and outlet fans to the rear compartment ( electronics cooling ).

Chris,
You'd be amazed how quickly you can knock out contacts with two frames and two enlargers !

Martin,
Tank changes must be made a few times a year - mainly because there's no chemical filters used.


To me, this ( modified ) machine is a God send !!!
John S

One point the dryer runs off the processor motor,. I have a dryer module I brought home from a 2150, it's for parts for my stand alone dryer. If you want fast contact printing keep your eyes open for a Arkay Speed Dodge printer. These were made for people that needed to make a 100 8x10 contacts in a hurry. With Azo takes about 5 or 6 seconds for exposure. Regular Ilford RC I was getting good prints at 0.6 seconds. Unit uses Argon lamps very rich long wave uv. If you have your negatives in Print Files you could expose 1 sheet every 15 seconds. It has a inflatable rubber platen to keep things flat, came with a built-in timer dual range 0.1 to 1 second and 1 to 10 seconds.
Run them through that 2150 and it would be like a Xerox machine
Best Regards Mike