Timer for tray or dip and dunk developing

[Wayne Olson]

OK folks, help me understand this. You'd think with a degree in mechanical engineering I'd be able to make a semi-educated guess but I'd rather ask those who know.

Now that my Burke & James 5X7 is reconditioned (it came out beautiful, BTW!), I'm faced with developing my B&W. Not a problem with the process, I've been doing my 4X5 for years in a daylight tank, Jobo drum on Unicolor motorized roller.

Well, tanks and tubes and whatnot for 5X7 are either prohibitively expensive (to wit, Jobo 3006 at around $300.00!) or simply seem like they'd be a PITA. So, I'm going to either tray develop or dip and dunk on hangers.

The question is - the timer. Is there one which is safe to use as this process goes on, i.e., won't fog the film? Or, am I destined to feel around in the dark for separate timers for developing, stop, fixing? I know that most men have no problem since we're good at feeling around for things in the dark but this requires some precision.

Is there a type of luminescent timer which can be seen for time but still not fog the film? I suppose it would have to be faced towards me and not the film trays or the tanks.

I read a thread here or on one of the net forums that sometimes the glow from a wristwatch face could fog film during loading or development.

Fill me in here folks.

Wayne

 

[juan]

I use my Graylab timer only a couple of feet from my developing tray. I've never had a problem with it.
juan

 

[Paul Howell]

Why not get unicolor paper drums for the motorized base? I use a gray lab for trays and dip and dunk for 35 and 120. Very faint green glow.

 

[Les McLean]

Wayne, I have several timers with luminous displays in my darkroom and in addition I have a number of small pieces of luminous tape attached to various bits of equipment that I need to locate when I tray process in complete darkness. I also wear a luminous watch. I have done this for over 25 years and have seen no evidence of fogging on any film that I have processed in that time. Clearly, I do take precautions, such as having the clock on a shelf above the wet bench about two feet to the left with the face pointing slightly away from the tray so that I can see the time. I find that a timer with a footswitch attached helps when you need to start the timing sequence.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I use an Omega Pro-Lab timer with a luminescent dial, much like the large Gralab timers, and haven't had any fogging problems.

 

[Wayne Olson]

APUG members to the rescue once again!

Thanks all. One of the problems with getting advice and input on the Net is the unfortunate preponderance of what is politely called "heifer dust" in the West and, less delicately, bullsh!# most places.

That solves some real questions. Every book I've read emphasizes total darkness (like we couldn't figure that one out!) but never elaborated on how to time the steps.

Well, I've got several old Time-O-Lites which need cleaning and repair. Best get to it. My 5X7 Efke and Tri-X will be here in a few days.

Gratefully yours,

Wayne Olson

 

[Poco]

If you have a wristwatch with a luminous dial and second hand, use it. I jam the thing right up against a light bulb and really juice it until it's ready to pop and then can read it for a good for 30 minutes in the dark. No fogging problems at all -- just bear in mind where the watch is and don't pass the film right over it.

 

[Lee L]

I've had the same experience with dip & dunk with two Gralab 300s. No problems with fogging at all at about 3 ft away, but with opaque tanks/tubes with open tops. I charge the timer hands with an LED flashlight just before starting, especially the minute and second hands and the minute and half minute marks. I don't load film around the Graylab 300s, but in another room or with the timers covered.

Another way I've contemplated doing this is with Audacity, an open source sound file editor/creator for Windows, Linux, and Mac. You can record a sequence of voice cues, create various beeps and sequences, and edit their timing with millisecond accuracy, then burn to CD for use on your darkroom stereo, your portable CD player, transfer to your iPOD, etc for use. You don't need to do the recording in real time, just record the voice commands and create beeps, then edit them into the right timings. Of course you'd want to do that work only for the routines that you repeat often. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

I noticed a user this morning on APUG who'd built a shell script to play .wav files on a computer for the same purpose when doing B&W reversal. I forget the name, but the link to his shell script and .wav files are in his signature. I believe he's in Germany. If he comes across this thread, perhaps he'll enlighten us.

Lee

 

[DBP]

I use a talking timer I picked up on *bay for about $20. It calls out the minutes from 10 down, so I don't forget to agitate. I usually load tanks in front of my GraLab, though, and have never noticed an effect.

 

[Neal]

Dear Wayne,

I use a Timex "Ironman Triathlon 100Lap" wristwatch. It has a very flexible audible timer function. Great for processing RA-4 in trays as well.

Neal Wydra

 

[cdholden]

tank developing in the bathroom

If you have a wristwatch with a luminous dial and second hand, use it. I jam the thing right up against a light bulb and really juice it until it's ready to pop and then can read it for a good for 30 minutes in the dark. No fogging problems at all -- just bear in mind where the watch is and don't pass the film right over it.

My method exactly!
My bathroom is also my darkroom. I hold my Casio dive watch to the light for a few seconds, then hang it over the cabinet door. Hour, Minute, Second hands are visible well past 16 minutes. Never tried for longer.
As for dunk tanks, there are many to choose from. I picked up some used Leedal stainless steel tanks that are great, but they're big... almost 4 gallons per tank. I've got hangers to use 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10 for them. After I purchased them, I found the Arkay 8x10 tanks. They only require a gallon per, and they work with my existing hangers. It's good to save money on chemicals. Try to buy something that you'll use to capacity or close to it, so you minimize your expenses. I got mine from Fred Newman on Ebay, but you might be able to get them from his website, viewcamerastore.com.
Some folks swear by the tubes. They claim more consistency than tanks, and a lot less chemical use for small runs. I can't vouch for consistency since I haven't used the tubes but unless you want to mix up a gallon of dev, stop and fix for each of the tanks... it's worth considering. This is also where you should be considering making your own developers. Raw chemicals are cheap when you think of the cost to mix it yourself compared to bottled or powdered developers.

 

[Donald Qualls]

I have one of the big Gralab 300 timers, and found it *did* fog my film when it was on the counter, about one foot from my transparent food container trays. Moving the timer to a shelf, about three feet above the counter the trays sit on, seems to have corrected this problem. If I had an MP3 player, I'd be tempted to do the recorded-voice timing method I've heard folks use (I don't own a portable cassette player, either, unless I could find my old Walkman) -- obviously, a timer that's invisible in the dark and only sounds off when time is up isn't much help when you're doing intermittent agitation. For now, however, the Gralab up on the shelf seems okay, other than being akward to start, turn off, and reset in that location.

 

[donbga]

OK folks, help me understand this. You'd think with a degree in mechanical engineering I'd be able to make a semi-educated guess but I'd rather ask those who know.

Now that my Burke & James 5X7 is reconditioned (it came out beautiful, BTW!), I'm faced with developing my B&W. Not a problem with the process, I've been doing my 4X5 for years in a daylight tank, Jobo drum on Unicolor motorized roller.

Well, tanks and tubes and whatnot for 5X7 are either prohibitively expensive (to wit, Jobo 3006 at around $300.00!) or simply seem like they'd be a PITA. So, I'm going to either tray develop or dip and dunk on hangers.

The question is - the timer. Is there one which is safe to use as this process goes on, i.e., won't fog the film? Or, am I destined to feel around in the dark for separate timers for developing, stop, fixing? I know that most men have no problem since we're good at feeling around for things in the dark but this requires some precision.

Is there a type of luminescent timer which can be seen for time but still not fog the film? I suppose it would have to be faced towards me and not the film trays or the tanks.

I read a thread here or on one of the net forums that sometimes the glow from a wristwatch face could fog film during loading or development.

Fill me in here folks.

Wayne

The best processing timer I ever used was the Darkroom timer made by Heath Kit. It finally died after about 20 years of use. I replaced it with a Gralab 900, not quite as verstle as the Heathkit but pretty close.

Both timers allow the display to be turned of and can be started with a foot switch. The Heathkit allowed a lot more flexibilty for programing processing sequences, however the Gralab 900 still does what I need it to.

I have several of the Gralab 300s but I never use it when light sensitive materials are used, even B&W enlarging paper.

 

[Jim Jones]

I've used a $10 kitchen timer for years with perfect results. It has an LCD display with no backlight, but I rely on the audible alarm at the end of the preset time. I start the timer just before transfering the negative from the prewash, and move it to the stop upon hearing the audible alarm. Time in the stop bath isn't critical, and after reasonable time in the fix it's lights on.

 

[Christopher Colley]

I had someone who once suggested to (if possible) select a playlist of songs to go with your developing routine which closely matched your development/fixing times..

i.e. John Coltrane - Summertime 11min 35secs would work quite well for my 11min30second time for Neopan400 (at 250) in d76 1:1 68F

 

[Kilgallb]

OK folks, help me understand this. You'd think with a degree in mechanical engineering I'd be able to make a semi-educated guess but I'd rather ask those who know.

Now that my Burke & James 5X7 is reconditioned (it came out beautiful, BTW!), I'm faced with developing my B&W. Not a problem with the process, I've been doing my 4X5 for years in a daylight tank, Jobo drum on Unicolor motorized roller.

Well, tanks and tubes and whatnot for 5X7 are either prohibitively expensive (to wit, Jobo 3006 at around $300.00!) or simply seem like they'd be a PITA. So, I'm going to either tray develop or dip and dunk on hangers.

The question is - the timer. Is there one which is safe to use as this process goes on, i.e., won't fog the film? Or, am I destined to feel around in the dark for separate timers for developing, stop, fixing? I know that most men have no problem since we're good at feeling around for things in the dark but this requires some precision.

Is there a type of luminescent timer which can be seen for time but still not fog the film? I suppose it would have to be faced towards me and not the film trays or the tanks.

I read a thread here or on one of the net forums that sometimes the glow from a wristwatch face could fog film during loading or development.

Fill me in here folks.

Wayne

I use a cheap LED alarm clock.

I mounted the alarm clock on a shelf about four feet away from my processing trays. The clock is plugged into the enlarger plug on my gralab enlarger timer. When I slip the film into the developer I reach over and flip the time/focus switch to focus. This applies power to clock and it starts flashing 12:00. After one minute it flashes 12:01 etc. I have found alarm clocks flash once per second in this mode. So if my process time is 7:30, I just wait until the clock reaches 12:07 then count the flashes.

I reduced the brightness of the LED display by taping a fogged piece of 35 mm film over the display. I have no problems with fogging. I do cover the luminous dial on the Gralab timer with a towel just as a precaution.

some may ask why I don't use the Gralab. My unit only counts to 60 seconds. (Not a model 300)