Does anyone know where I can get a light tight exhaust fan for a darkroom in Australia? Also, can anyone recommend a supplier of water filters and other plumbing fittings.
Thanks
Greg
You can build your own light tight trap for an exhaust fan, that is what I did.
I have been thinking of upgrading my darkroom for the last year, I will possibly do that this coming winter. One of the things was a far higher exhaust system.
Behind Moorabbin Airport in Braeside I found an exhaust fan manufacturer. Most of their stuff is huge and designed for industrial applications, but they did have a couple of small units one of which I was thinking of.
I don't have any web links, but I know how to drive there it's about 12 minutes from my place.
Newdark up in Sydney have (or had) the Doran D68 for about $240.
Hi, Mick. I'm in Blackburn. I'm planning to include a darkroom in the house rennovations and want to do it right (or near as) first time. I would like to track all the stuff down before the building starts so it can be installed efficiently without any retro fitting.
Greg
Well if you are building from scratch, it is far easier to build a set of baffles into a wall cavity with some scrap lumber and a quart of black paint, that way you can use an easily replaceable/repairable standard fan.
Hi Greg,
I bought a Doran A1212 from Newdark and am happy with it. It is reasonably quiet and seems to do the job. Mine goes through a brick wall, so at the back of it is some rather large diameter (150mm I think) pipe to the outside and then a 90 degree bend which faces downwards. I sprayed the inside of all of that matt black. No sign of light leaks at all.
I'm only a suburb away (Donvale) and got a lot of the plumbing bits for my darkroom from the plumbing supplies co-op in Mitcham - generally cheaper than Bunnings and more likely to have the bit you need.
I bought a standard exhaust fan from an electrical supplier for about $25, and built a simple baffle on the wall below. The enlarger sits in the corner below the fan and the baffle keeps that whole enlarger area light-tight, but I do still get some light creeping down in the other direction, but not enough to fog film.
OK, this might seem like a stupid question, but exhausting into the ceiling space (I.E., normal bathroom type fans) should be a strict no-no? If this is the case, would an old rangehood ducted through the roof, with a rain cap be sufficient?
I'm not sure about you, but I don't shower in Rodinal
I would have thought that getting the chemical fumes out of the house in general would be the idea. Or is a ceiling space sufficient to disapate the fumes?
The bathroom ceiling fan should send the exhaust air outside thru some ductwork, normally flexible plastic tubing, not just dump it into the attic space.
Oh wait, it's a little warm down there for the moisture to freeze on the attic framing and make lots of mold in the spring.
On the Newdark site there are a few diagrams explaining the best position for an exhaust fan. On the wall is best because this draws the fumes away from your face as you are working. In the ceiling will tend to draw the fumes across your face. If the rangehood was below face level that should be OK. The only possible problem with a rangehood is stuff getting caught in the filters and later dislodging and falling into the developing trays.
Does anyone know where I can get a light tight exhaust fan for a darkroom in Australia? Also, can anyone recommend a supplier of water filters and other plumbing fittings.
Thanks
Greg
Not sure if it's available in AUS, but there are many different companies making these fittings. They are fast, convenient, and save time, and they are wicked easy to install.
The Fan...
I'm going to get an a centrifugal axis fan for dust, fumes...
On the Newdark site there are a few diagrams explaining the best position for an exhaust fan. On the wall is best because this draws the fumes away from your face as you are working. In the ceiling will tend to draw the fumes across your face. If the rangehood was below face level that should be OK. The only possible problem with a rangehood is stuff getting caught in the filters and later dislodging and falling into the developing trays.
Yes, I see what you mean. Its the same with Welding enclosures, etc. The biggest drama that I might have is getting a fan in the wall. I am planning on using the Laundry as the Darkroom (very much down the track) and there would be very little wall where I could. there is a reasonably large sliding door (again problems with blackout, but anything is possible), which runs right next to the tub (The obvious place to put the exhaust fan). I suppose the question is do you put your head in the path of the air flow?
The problem with the filters would be easily solved....removed them
Oh (& I am not going to quote here), its very untypical in my current climate that we would duct bathroom fans to outside. Believe me, humidity is a very rare problem (its currently 40.8 Deg c and 16% Relative Humidity)
I am using 4 inch (100 mm) PVC pipe that is just pushed together with some elbows and such. I have an 8 foot plywood sink (2.5 meter) and I suspended the pvc above the trays, with an elbow just above each one..that way with the axial fan (controlled with an RPM rheostat-variable) I can control the airflow out of the darkroom. I have a vent that I found through Calumet and also on ebay for like $20 that is light tight. I was going to make one, but you can buy a nice one for probably less than you could build one if you had to go to the store. Thanks China.
As I was typing, I was dreaming about the great barrier reef...
Depends on how airtight your construction techniques are. But yes, it would be a good idea. If you use forced air heating/cooling, that ductwork will do it for you.
I used the fan from Newdark and hung it from the ceiling over the work space to draw fumes away. We used flexible pipe for venting dryers to vent it out of the room.
locate your vent on the opposite wall so the air comes in and gets drawn from behind you if you were working on the trays in front of you...across the trays and into the ducting to be drawn outside..
That's what all the advice I was given.
and I looked up here on APUG a place where people post pictures of their setups which helps, because this is my first. You can gain allot from looking at others darkrooms..
APUG Darkroom Portraits:
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
I though hard about an exhaust fan for my new darkroom but went another way: air conditioner! The one I got is a split system inverter with fancy air filtration and ioniser functions. Smell and fume control is excellent and all that cold air is delicious.
When the heatwave is on and it's 40 degrees Celcius in the street the darkroom is definitely the place to be. It's the best $2000 I've spent recently.
I'm very grateful for the tips. It is with some trepidation that I head down the darkroom route as it seems the majority of people think that film won't be around much longer. If I can get ten years use out of it I'll be happy.
The problem with using a fan to extract air is, as you recognise, that the air needs to be replaced. As it's drawn in, it brings dust with it. The best arrangement is to set up a positive pressure system, whereby the 'extractor' brings air into the darkroom (i.e. it extracts air from the outside) and pushes air (and dust) out. You can then minimise dust by putting a filter screen on the single source of air; the fan. A separate outlet duct can then be positioned so that the current of air flows in the most desirable direction. For instance, across your trays. I have my fan on the internal door, so that it brings in air at ambient household temperature, and the ducting vents to the outside.
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