I bought one of these used quite awhile ago with no instructions. How hard can a print washer be to figure out? Well, I am still trying. Does anyone know the trick? Mine has two large nipple fittings on the bottom of one end. At the top of the washer is a vertical chamber with a siphon tube device. Any advice is appreciated.
Nap time right now but will get back to you. What size?
11x14
I have a 1990 Salt Hill catalog which devotes 4 pages to the washer.
The bottom nipple is the inlet, the top is the drain.
I can scan the pages tonight and post them.
That would be great! Thanks.Originally Posted by Peter Lewitt
I have tried using the bottom nipple as the inlet but it does not work right. Maybe there is some additional trick.
Peter,
By "post them" did you mean the mail or online? If you meant the mail I can PM you my address.
I have tinkered around a bit more. I think the washer is broken. The vertical tube that is cemented near the top of the washer is cracked. The previous owner had Scotch taped it together. Also, not sure how much water pressure this thing requires but I had to crank it up to excessive level to get is sort of working. The manual would be great to see if I can salvage an otherwise nice looking washer.
I was going to post them here, but I haven't got them on a scanner yet.
There may be different versions as I don't see a vertical tube in the washer shown in the catalog. The working principle of these are not terribly complicated. I built several washers and a lot of processing equipment after looking at catalog pictures.
Cracked acrylic can be easily repaired if no pieces have broken out. Acrylic is fabricated with a solvent that is allowed to flow into tightly fitting joints. An eyedropper or syringe dispenses a small amount of solvent which which wicks into the space between the mating surfaces. The plastic dissolves slightly and fuses together.
Pieces are usually clamped or held in a jig until dry. It might be necessary to put some spring clamps on the tube to keep the crack tight while repairing. Alternately the tube might be replaced. The material cuts easily. I got a lot of great advice from plastics suppliers where I bought my stuff. These days you could expect to find a lot of information online.
A search on this forum turned up some references to people using these washers, so posting some pictures of your equipment or PMing those people might yield some advice.
Here's print washer section of the catalog
Peter,
Thank you for going to the trouble to post this info. That really helps. I think it is the Venturi tube that is vexing me and I should be able to get this think going. It really is a solidly built machine (except for the venturi tube). Thanks again.
There is a vertical tube that siphons/admits the air into the washer. You cannot see it in the photos as it is next to the sidewall where the connections enter. By capping it, you merely stop the flow of air into the wash water. The water still flows (and washes prints or negatives nicely). You might be able to repair yours by finding a tube that is smaller in diameter to ft inside the broken one.
The bottom inlet is the connection for water. It really does not take much flow to use the washer, so there may be another problem if you cannot just hook it up and have water flow through the bottom chamber into the washer. You are not looking for a stream of water to squirt up, just a flow through the venturi openings that moves the water. (I wonder if someone did not try to glue the tube at the base and got glue into the inlet port.)
Good luck.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks