Stainless Steel Tank Lids - Are they all loose, leaky and slow?

[bvy]

A trick I picked somewhere in the last 40 years or so: For a loose cap on a SS tank the trick is to rub a little 320 grit sandpaper around inside of the lip of the cap (circular) and do the same around protrusion on the tank lid. The mating surfaces get polished over time and the cap will pop off. The 320 grit will renew the "micro-interlock" with the very fine scratches. Don't overdo; a couple of swipes will do the job. More than that may make the cap difficult to remove.

Sounds good in theory. Wonder if the same will work for the cap.

When I process C-41 film, which uses much higher temperatures, I use electric tape to fix the lid to the tank. If I don't, I have so much leakage that I lose too much of the chemistry (which I reuse).

I wouldn't expect that to work -- electrical tape in wet conditions. I might try it.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I wouldn't expect that to work -- electrical tape in wet conditions. I might try it.

It works for me. There are a few little drops that leak out. It IS electric tape after all. But it prevents 99% of the leaking, which is good enough.

 

[Ronald Moravec]

Nikors from 1960 leak to a small amount. Lids are not interchangeable. If someone mixed them? Black plastic will split. Red is better, but store off tank so it does not stretch.

You are not supposed to pour developer in. Drop loaded reel in the dark, cap & invert. Ok to pour out. tall tanks need a lift rod.

 

[mshchem]

The very last iteration of Nikor tanks had a truly quick fill lid. They are hard to find,. You can identify by there being 3 steps in the lid rather than 2. Also the cap had a flange so you could easily remove the cap to pour solutions. I have a couple and they will fill as fast as a Paterson. The lids were sourced by Honeywell from Japan.
To keep them from leaking I would tape the lid on with Scotch super 33 electrical tape. Or you can get a late model Kindermann (Beseler professional ) with a leak proof lid..
Best Mike

 

[bvy]

The very last iteration of Nikor tanks had a truly quick fill lid. They are hard to find,. You can identify by there being 3 steps in the lid rather than 2. Also the cap had a flange so you could easily remove the cap to pour solutions. I have a couple and they will fill as fast as a Paterson. The lids were sourced by Honeywell from Japan.
To keep them from leaking I would tape the lid on with Scotch super 33 electrical tape. Or you can get a late model Kindermann (Beseler professional ) with a leak proof lid..
Best Mike

Do you have one of these with the "quick fill" lid? If so, could you share a photo (or link to one)? Thanks.

 

[mshchem]

I have a tendency to hoard darkroom stuff. The Last and the best was the "Professional" I know they were all professional. I have seen some references that Honeywell had the lids and caps made in Japan, the tanks are the same. I bought one new in the mid 70's. They came in 2 35 mm or 4 35mm reel sizes.
These things fill like no other SS tank, and the flange on the cap makes it so you can actually remove when you are trying to get your developer out on time. These are both "Honeywell Vintage" products after Honeywell acquired Nikor. These are as much better than the ordinary as Hewes reels are better than Spiratone. You can fill these like the original system 4 Paterson tanks tilt the tank 45 degrees and pour out of a graduate into the tank in 5 or 6 seconds.

 

[mshchem]

By the way I use Jobo everything now 35 mm to 8x10. I got a deal on a CPP2 processor that was sold for parts and it snowballed from there. I always thought Jobo was silly and expensive. It is. But it works great and is fun! .... Way simpler to use either a Paterson or a good SS tank. But now I can walk away while the Jobo keeps churning away.
Best Mike

 

[mike c]

The Honeywell/Nikors work very well.

 

[adelorenzo]

I started with brand new metal tanks from Freestyle and Hewes reels. The tanks all leaked to some extent. This one leaked badly because of the welder hitting the side as shown in the photo. Just poor quality control.

I switched to various plastic tanks (new Jobo, old Jobo, Paterson) and have been much happier.

Dead Link Removed

 

[bvy]

I have a tendency to hoard darkroom stuff. The Last and the best was the "Professional" I know they were all professional. I have seen some references that Honeywell had the lids and caps made in Japan, the tanks are the same. I bought one new in the mid 70's. They came in 2 35 mm or 4 35mm reel sizes.
These things fill like no other SS tank, and the flange on the cap makes it so you can actually remove when you are trying to get your developer out on time. These are both "Honeywell Vintage" products after Honeywell acquired Nikor. These are as much better than the ordinary as Hewes reels are better than Spiratone. You can fill these like the original system 4 Paterson tanks tilt the tank 45 degrees and pour out of a graduate into the tank in 5 or 6 seconds.

I've not seen such a beast. Thanks for posting the pictures. Something to look out for...

 

[kreeger]

"QUICK POUR"... this works for me with any of these tank with plastic or stainless lids, learned this trick.
Tip the tank to the 1 o'clock position before you start pouring. The fluids go in really fast that way. When you are 80% done start tipping it back slowly to the 12 o'clock position.
I only do it this way - watched somebody else do it that way for speedy pouring and I've been doing it ever since!

 

[sepiareverb]

Loose, leaky and slow. Sounds like my ex.

 

[silveror0]

Way back in the 60s when I was doing 35/120 roll film, I bought Honeywell/Nikor tanks and when I noticed the leakage I immediately matched up the caps to the tanks to minimize leakage (testing with water) and marked them to avoid mixing them up later. There was still a little bit of leakage, nothing of concern, but I always placed a dry rag - folded several times - over the cap during agitation to prevent the heat from my hand warming up the tank (and developer), so any bit of leakage wasn't noticed anyway. Filling and emptying was always done with a 45* tilt and never was an issue.

 

[StephenT]

All my tanks leak to some degree upon agitation. No worries - wear nitrile gloves and hold the tank over the sink while agitating.

Keep a finger on top of the metal lids just in case!

A little leaking from a top never hurts - just be sure your glass beakers don't get a hairline crack - and if they do, hope you are in your darkroom with the lights on when it happens!

 

[John Wiegerink]

I want "NO" leakage period. Yes, I wear nitrile gloves also, but when using pyro developers it's nice not to have any of it "dropping" around anyplace. I like SS tanks and plastic lids. Never had a problem and will continue to use them until something better comes along. I did go the JOBO route at one time, but no longer see a use for it with just doing monochrome work. I had the CPP2 model with lift and all the goodies. Did it work good? Yup, but I sold it for a huge profit (I got it for next to nothing in a camera swap) and took that cash and bought film and paper. Would I buy another JOBO? No, not at the prices they go for. I guess I'm to Dutch maybe? So, it's the simple, but reliable inversion tank for me, but "NO" leaks please.

 

[LAG]

Excuse me

Like one of the above (mshchem), I have one double SS Hewes tank fitting 2/135 or 1/120 reels. Fills and pours out perfect, although I always tape it (sometimes under pressure, the cap remains stuck) Too many years of effort

 

[paul ron]

don't mix caps n lids with different tanks n brands, they are not all equals... thats a guaranteed leak.

i hate those plastic lids on steel tanks... they always leak. also the plastic lids crack n break in a couple years.

time the fill n empty cycles of your tanks to compensate solution times.

my kinderman n nikor tanks generally take 20 seconds to fill and empty.