Sous vide "cooker" for darkroom use??

[TheFlyingCamera]

I use mine for heating my Potassium Oxalate for platinum/palladium printing. It works a champ and it makes the process so much better. My printing is more consistent now because my developer temperature doesn't drift over time.

 

[JWMster]

As an inkjetter, every now and then I wonder about alternative prints. But as my space is limited and I don't have an enlarger for 4X5, it usually stops there. Now here you go and throw in platinum / palladium printing and the mind wonders, "Well... maybe that wouldn't have the hardware issues of carbon prints..." and there I am again. There's also the problem of inkjet printers.... and there's always the lure of a "better, simpler, more cost effective way" that somehow doesn't inhibit creativity? Right...

 

[Chan Tran]

I've been looking at these cookers. Is there one that works from 68F, which is the recommended temperature for B&W film? I could of course standardize on 75F...

Kumar

It's actually hard to get 68F because your room temperature can be higher and you need cooling not heating. I think it's good for higher temperature. I built my own temperature control which is not a problem I had more problem recirculating the water.

 

[JWMster]

FWIW, one of my favorite jobo articles on users has a pro developer identifying that is default process was to set TEMP for 72F. Summer AC usually means that's a cinch. I think 75F is the outside of good production range.

 

[saman]

I use the cinestill ones. I have two of them, one for developer and the other for heating toner. When I'm trying to maintain a particularly temperature, for example with toning, I use a water jacket tray to keep the temperature somewhat stable. Then, when the toner temperature drops I scoop out the toner from the tray into 2 liter jug, heat it it up with the cinestill, and then dump back into the tray to keep the temperature high.

 

[fs999]

I use Sansaire's sous vide machine since 5 years, the displayed temperature is 0.1°C above the real temperature...

 

[removedacct2]

Thanks for the information. I get bored doing manual agitation, and want to stand develop. I was hoping this could be the solution.

I have used the cheapest circulator (shorter to write than "sous-vide cooker") since they were available here in Norway, without problems, for lot of C41 development.
Even in the warmest norwegian summer tap water doesn't reach 20C, and the ambient temperature indoors may be around 20C, so a kitchen sink full of cool tap water brought to 20C by the circulator stays there all the time. The circulator I use has a default duration in the two and half hours and it happened many time I let it run all this time and no temperature variation.

If ambient temperature indoors was 35C for instance, I would measure the temperature of water (after brought to 20C) in the sink, at intervals, for instance after 30', 60' to see if there's significant temperature increase. If so I would try a thermobox instead of a sink. Put the tank inside the water in the thermobox, put the lock on for maximum insulation. It would also be easy to cut out a thermobox lock to make room for the top of a circulator.

 

[Nicholas Dellerba]

I got a Cinestill at freestylephoto.biz. It was half the price of the Anovo and it is specifically for photography. For the color negative printing it has a preset temp and time for developing.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

But my question is: does any one do sous-vide cooking in their Jobo?

I bought a Fisher-Thermo-Scientific water bath on ebay and use it for both sous-vide and processing. Overkill for both applications but it was cheap.

 

[AgX]

My Jobo CPP only goes up to 44°.
I have not done sous-vide cooking at all. But to my understanding that starts at temperatures much higher.

Also there always is the risk of the tempering bath being contaminated by developer, thus a exchange of water and cleaning is to be done.

 

[grat]

Yeah, 44C is a bit low for cooking. One thing both processes have in common, though, is if you have crossover between the water bath and the cooked goods / chemicals, you've got a problem. You really don't want the bath getting into your food, or vice versa.

 

[removedacct2]

btw, I recall this thread now that I am about to develop a small roll.

the Cinestill "temperature control" device has a pompous name for a slightly modified circulator. It seems it's just a circulator with preset thermostat (38C, 20C). I don't know if temperature can be set to whatever like with a regular circulator which is then very flexible, usable for whatever process.

so, my cheap chinese or somewhere-cheap manufactured circulator (bought at the Jula swedish stores that we have also here in Norway), there set at 38C, chemicals in the sink, a thermometer on the side for checking temperature of rinse and wash water that will be used on the smaller side sink. An old Blackberry phone is the stopwatch .
Very little is required. Have done hundreds of rolls like this, never a problem.

the name "sous-vide cooker" may be frightening, but it's just a water-heating device with temperature regulation.

the oldest basic water warmer electrical device (without temperature regulation/control), the good old Tauchsieder or whatever you call it in english:

 

[focus_on_infinity]

I have two that I've been using for C41 and E6 since last year, and I think they're great. I use one for the water bath, and another for my rinse water. They hold the temperature very well.

One is same one as the Cinestill, but without their name and features and whatever. It works great as is. The only problem with it is that it's too long, so it doesn't sit down far enough in the water bath, and I was always shutting it off if the water level got too low as I took things out of the container. That one even eventually moved over to my wash water bucket. The other one is much shorter and good for my water bath container.

I do sous-vide cooking, but I have one of those standalone units for that. Actually, I've only used it 2 or 3 times. It was a gift. Far more useful was the vacuum sealer that I had to buy to be able to use it. I use that all the time.