Simple Solution ?

[DanK]

Occasionally I've been accused of overlooking the obvious...

I need a simple solution...all ideas welcome...simpler the better...

Once I coat my dry plates, I lay them across dowels on a darkroom counter to dry - unfortunately with the southwest summer and swamp coolers, drying is excessive - beyond a week...if that soon... (usually one to two days in winter)

The plates require total darkness to dry....and unfortunately I can't really have a functional darkroom while drying the plates....

My first inclination is to build a light tight wooden box with vents - but might someone have a simpler solution - looking at 15 to 20 plates each time (4"x5") - must have some air circulation, and light tight....

Ideas??

Thanks,
Dan

[David Karp]

The box seems like a good idea. Darkroom louvers could provide light-tight venting.

[Nathan Potter]

Vacuum chamber with pump attached. I suppose could be a dessicator chamber maybe something like is used for drying herbs or such. Perhaps something used from the *bay might be found. For instance I see hospital supplies at auction sites around Austin frequently that could be rigged for quick drying.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[mdm]

I live in a humid place and was unable to dry my carbon tissue quickly enough untill I got a dehumidifier. Now I can dry it in about 3 hours if I want to. Fast drying may cause marks on your emulsion. My carbon tissue was growing mould, so I expect your emulsion will too, unless the silver content stops it. I just dry my tissue in a cupboard with the dehumidifier at the bottom running at whatever relative humidty i want. A dehumidifier costs a lot less than most photo equipment and will improve your living environment when you are not using it to dry your emulsion.

[jp]

Dehumidifier or air conditioner

[mdm]

Dehumidifier or air conditioner

Dehumidifier. A knee high appliance with a water tank to collect extracted water. A fan sucks air through the appliance. It heats things up slightly but you only notice when it is running in a restricted place such as a cupboard. Mine is capable of extracting 16 liters of water per day from the air. I got mine from a big diy/homewares chain store. Any old brand will do but I believe an Evantair collects the most water athough it is among the noisiest. They are noisy. Probably wont cost much more than USD200 but I am not in the US so that is only a guess. Mine is a Dimplex and fairly basic. The big name brands cost more.

[jp]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009RAVO/ref=oss_product

Just saw them at home depot as well.

I got one of these dehumidifiers for my garage. It's quiet as a computer or portable fan. It really surprised me as I was accustomed to noisy heavy dehumidifiers that worked like a noisy AC sitting on a water tank.

I put it in my garage at 70% humidity (1200 sf 1.5 story garage), and it filled it's tank in about 8-10 hours. Hooked a hose up to it so I wouldn't have to tend to it. It's presently able to reduce humidity by about 10% a day. (It's job won't be done, as the air changes are inevitable when the garage door is open for a while.) Since darkrooms are substantially smaller, it would probably work very quickly and effectively.

[DanK]

I'm not too sure a dehumidifier would work here in the summer - we have 'dry heat' and use swamp coolers to cool - which cools by simply adding moisture to the air.

Haven't had any issues with mold on the plates - they just stay slightly tacky, shootable, but can't stack them together or they stick.

Looking like I'm going to end up having to build the wooden box, and use a vent, maybe with offset baffles to keep it light tight.

Thanks all for the suggestions....
Dan

[mdm]

I'm not too sure a dehumidifier would work here in the summer - we have 'dry heat' and use swamp coolers to cool - which cools by simply adding moisture to the air.

Haven't had any issues with mold on the plates - they just stay slightly tacky, shootable, but can't stack them together or they stick.

Looking like I'm going to end up having to build the wooden box, and use a vent, maybe with offset baffles to keep it light tight.

Thanks all for the suggestions....
Dan
If you have dry heat then why is your emulsion not drying? It should dry fastest of all in dry heat. Cool and humid is what I have during the autmn and spring. Cool and dry weather should dry slower than warm and dry weather. Are you using enough gelatin? Glycerin will slow drying time dramatically, if you are using it. Too much Glycerin would be a bad thing. Stuff drys much faster if there is some air movement, you could put a fan in there if you are not already using one. Perhaps the swamp coolers are the problem.

[DanK]

The swamp cooler actually is the problem, the humidity created by it, but without the swamp cooler darkroom temps would be in the 90's+

The idea is to have a usable darkroom while the plates are drying...

I use premixed emulsion - am not doing enough tintypes to justify making my own emulsion...

I also don't mind the longer wait time for the plates to dry - I was simply looking for a simple idea as to what may be feasible to store the plates in 'while they dry'....

As I really don't have time or energy at the moment to build something suitable, I was hoping someone had encountered similar problems and has a simple, quick, cheap, and easy solution...

Thanks,
Dan

[Donald Miller]

A small refrigerator would not humidify and it would be light tight (if you load it in darkness and remove the light bulb). I live in Phoenix and I understand swamp coolers and the humidity problems that they can create.

[DanK]

A small refrigerator would not humidify and it would be light tight.

Thanks Donald !!

A small refrigerator...is an exceptional idea....

Plenty of racks to hold the plates - cool temperature will help keep the emulsion from pooling while drying...can go straight from pour to fridge...

(and I have a spare fridge in storage)

Excellent... Thanks again... I really appreciate it...

Dan

[J. E. Brown]

Dan,

I don't pour plates, so I don't have experience with this, but I wonder if a tray of desiccant would help speed your drying in the fridge, if it isn't drying fast enough. It is fairly cheap and most have indicators to show when it is saturated. Then you simply bake it to remove moisture and reuse. I am not sure how many times you can redry it, but it is fairly cheap. As a fellow evaporative cooler user and New Mexican, I can relate to the humidity battle!

Regards,

-JB

[DanK]

JB,

Thanks... I have yet to try the fridge...I suffer from Photography Attention Deficit Disorder and jump from film to plates and back to film again...

I'll sure try a desiccant in the fridge....couldn't do anything but help....I've used (cheap) plain (oven dried) 'kitty litter' in the past for other items, and might try a cookie sheet full to draw down the moisture....

Thanks again,
Dan

[jon.oman]

Dan,

I've been thinking of trying dry plate. Where do you get your premixed emulsion? How well does it work?

Jon

[imagedowser]

If your interested in dryplate check out lightfarm.com Emulsions, hand made paper, glass plates, etc....... Oh, and the kitty litter, you'll be bringing dust into an enclosed space with your undried plates, maybe not so good..

[DanK]

Jon,

I use the Rockland Colloid tintype kits - comes with the emulsion, plates, and developer (they used to come with fixer as well, not sure if they still do)

They actually work quite well IMO - I use an old 2D 5x7, and modified a few old 5x7 holders to fit the 4x5 plates (the plates are slightly larger in size than film)

Basically, heat the emulsion container in a water bath, pour the plates under a safelight, and allow to dry in total darkness...

Once dry, Rate them pretty low ISO 3 or 6, but I use an old lens wide open....so exposures aren't too long...

Everything in the kit is readily available elsewhere, most is pretty common....I just find the kit quick and easy for me...

They're a nice change from film every now and then....

Thanks,
Dan




Dan,

I've been thinking of trying dry plate. Where do you get your premixed emulsion? How well does it work?

Jon

[erie patsellis]

Link above should be http://www.thelightfarm.com, btw