Is it hot in here? Or is it just me? (or my thermometer)

Hello, good friends!

I am an LFer in central Florida (winter garden, currently) and I just got my in-home developing process going. This consists of me developing in the guest bathroom of my apartment in a daylight tank. The funny thing is, though, that my cold water tap runs at about 75ºF. It's been a rather trying process to calibrate my process with the water being this hot. I also feel like slight variations make a larger difference at this temperature than they would otherwise. \

So therein lies my question: Is it hot in here? Here being Florida/the south in general? Any other southern/desert dwelling photogs want to chime in if they have the same problem and, if so, what they do to counteract it? Or is it just me? Perhaps my apartment complex just has hot water for some reason? Or maybe my thermometer is off? Though I don't think its my thermometer since I am having trouble getting consistent results.

In case anyone is wondering, I am currently using Ilfosol 3 and shooting Arista EDU 100.

When I lived in L.A. the cold water always ran at 75 to 77 F, and like you, I developed with a daylight tank in space borrowed from other activities. I made use of a temperature conversion chart, and developed at 77. I was shooting Ilford fp4, and developing in HC-110. I got good results.

I live in Dallas. I prefer to use filtered water instead of tap, especially for the developer. I just put my bottles in the fridge for 15 or 20 minutes and check the temperature. You will get finer grain at lower temperatures (more notable with smaller formats).

I also keep a bottle of filtered water in the fridge, mix just a touch with the tap water for presoak & final wash. I always use only filtered water for the final rinse because I'll get spots otherwise.

Sent from my 0PJA2 using Tapatalk

CHecking in from Tucson. In the summer we have to deal with 90 degree + "cold" water. I mostly shoot Ektar 100 and run C-41 in the summer even if I'm going to print it in B&W.. Or use a lot of ice to get the Jobo temps down.

Until recently, inexpensive temperature control of water was limited to heating. Recently, inexpensive thermoelectric water cooling solutions have come on the market. For example this device is less than $150.

Quote:

---

Product description
This is the ideal cooling solution for small aquariums, 55 gallons or less. This quiet, reliable efficient chiller uses advanced thermoelectric technology to directly convert electricity into cooling power. Can be easily bulkheaded through a 1 1/4 in. hole into siphon overflows, prefilters, sumps or even directly into plastic aquariums. Provides continuous chilling when plugged in to a power source, it does not have an on/off switch. A separate temperature controller must be used to turn the device on or off at pre-determined temperatures.

---

Attachment 164347
Attachment 164348

Certainly is cheaper than my 32 GPM chiller, Hass temperature control valve and all the required plumbing. So I assume you could install this in a water jacket and use it to cool it and then place the solutions in tanks inside the water jacket, or you can use it to give you a supply of cooled water without the use of ice cubes?

My old darkroom in south GA was in a shed in the backyard, and the water was usually over 80F in summer.

Usually 5-10 minutes in my freezer brought my developer down to 68-70 degrees. I never had much of a problem. I prefer developing around that temperature rather than doing extreme compensations.

Where I live in Memphis the summer cold water gets up to 80-85 degrees. I place several gallon containers with filtered or distilled water in the darkroom a day before processing. The temp gets near 70 degrees which works well for me. If I need cooler then I have to resort to a water jacket and ice.

The problem isn't just ambient air temperature. Up here in the great white north water mains are buried 6 feet under ground. The water line coming into my cellar is at least 9 feet below the ground level. We have to insulate exposed COLD water pipes in utility rooms and closets so humidity in the air doesn't condense on the pipes and drip all over. Some people hook their toilets up to the hot water line, otherwise the tank fills with really cold water and sweats and runs water on the bathroom floor. Of course rational people just turn on the AC :o
Not having cold (below 60F) water is a pain.I have processed a lot of film at 75F, using diluted D76 or XTOL works great at 75F. Modern film is hardened at the factory this makes it a lot easier.
Mike

Xtol and Tmax RS at 75 deg. F during summer works for me. Printing is a pain as some papers will start pealing their emulsion at higher than 75 F in the wash.