Temperature control in C41 - manual process

Gerald C Koch said:

Are each of the solutions at the correct temperature? They should each be brought up to temperature and also be in the bath before you start.

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Exactly. Use a calibrated thermometer to monitor the water bath temperature.
I warm up my C41 chemicals in the same bath, starting at slightly higher temp than processing design temp, and let it all drop in temperature together to reach design temp. Then just keep the water bath at the correct temperature by pouring in a little bit more hot water when needed. I can easily keep it right at the correct temperature for the entire processing cycle, even though it's only the developer that is absolutely critical to be right at design temp.

Or, use an electric water temp sensor and a controller hooked up to a submersible heater in the water bath tank (need to have water circulation for this too, or the heat gets unevenly distributed).

Has anyone tried one of those sous vide circulating heaters?

So, I am having repetible consistent result with a single thermometer and warm water.
For amateur purposes I am not sure if all these gadgets would needed, really.
Cheers!

sagai said:

So, I am having repetible consistent result with a single thermometer and warm water.
For amateur purposes I am not sure if all these gadgets would needed, really.
Cheers!

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I agree. Unless higher volume is required, the ability to keep things simple and still get repeatable results is pretty nice by using just a water bath and a thermometer.
It takes a lot of cost out of the process, and there are fewer things that can go wrong. Would I like to have a JoBo? Sure! Do I need one? Nope.

sagai said:

So, I am having repetible consistent result with a single thermometer and warm water.
For amateur purposes I am not sure if all these gadgets would needed, really.
Cheers!

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It's what I've said all along. I really don't care if people use these things (or do anything they do for that matter). The problem is newcomers researching DIY C-41 are likely to stumble over one of these threads talking about processing color film in a modified crock pot and decide that it's too much trouble.