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Thread: darkroom fans/vents

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Feb 2009
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    keywest florida
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    3

    darkroom fans/vents

    does anyone have the name and address of a maker of light vents and fans to be used in a new darkroom .Thank you in advance.Sarge in key west

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Stevens Point, WI
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    Re: darkroom fans/vents

    Check at Calumet for Delta products. They make light tight louvers that you can put between wall studs and they also make fans.

    Depending on the size of your darkroom, you might be able to get by with a louver low to the ground on one end and an exhaust fan in the opposite ceiling. For a small exhaust fan, you can use a bathroom fan sized for your room. I hear that Panasonic makes the most quiet fans but I have a Broan and it works OK. If it is a big room, you could get a kitchen/restaurant fan on the roof with a vent in the room so it will be reasonably quiet.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Aug 2004
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    New Hampshire
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    Re: darkroom fans/vents

    You could start looking here:

    http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/shop/5...s_Louvers.html

    Best,

    C

  4. #4

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    Aug 2001
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    Re: darkroom fans/vents

    My choice for a small darkroom would be a Doran fan and vent. Be sure to have a low fresh air intake opposite the wet area, and to place the exhaust fan above and at the back of the sink, if possible.

  5. #5

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    Nov 2006
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    Mount Vernon, Virginia
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    Re: darkroom fans/vents

    Quote Originally Posted by jeroldharter View Post
    Check at Calumet for Delta products. They make light tight louvers that you can put between wall studs and they also make fans.

    Depending on the size of your darkroom, you might be able to get by with a louver low to the ground on one end and an exhaust fan in the opposite ceiling. For a small exhaust fan, you can use a bathroom fan sized for your room. I hear that Panasonic makes the most quiet fans but I have a Broan and it works OK. If it is a big room, you could get a kitchen/restaurant fan on the roof with a vent in the room so it will be reasonably quiet.
    ******
    I did it this way. I cut an outlet in the ac/heating duct which keeps a slight high pressure in the darkroom. Then, sort of as Jerold says. However, I found a area with no cross members between the joists. I cut a hole in the inside dry wall of the darkroom for a louver near the floor--and a hole in the outside drywall for a louver up toward the ceiling. No light can leak in. Air goes out nicely.

  6. #6

    Cool Re: darkroom fans/vents

    I custom built my darkroom, put two louvers from Calumet in the wall between the studio and darkroom and then got a fan from calumet that is lightproof. It is very noisy and does not pull enough cold air from the studio to the darkroom in hot weather. I suggest if at all possible mount the fan outside the room and duct it to the room. Noise can be a real PITA.

  7. #7
    Louie Powell's Avatar
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    Sep 2003
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    Saratoga Springs, NY
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    Re: darkroom fans/vents

    In an earlier darkroom, I learned the hard way that ordinary bathroom exhaust fans make so much noise that I couldn't think. Also, exhaust fans pull air out of the darkroom - which means that replacement air comes in via whatever paths it can find, and drags in dust at the same time.

    So the approach in my new darkroom involved two elements:

    1. I used a quiet muffin-style fan (from Radio Shack), and I mounted it outside the darkroom to make it even quieter.
    2. I designed the ventilation system to push air into the darkroom (through a filter), and flow out through whatever incidental paths it finds. That controls dust.

    My darkroom is in the basement, and the space outside the darkroom is unfinished, with exposed first-floor joists. I built a box between joists with the fan installed in one end. The bottom of the box is actually an air filter - a standard furnace filter - so that the air is drawn through the filter into the box. The outlet from the fan is ducted (I used the plastic tubular ducting sold for use in bathroom ventilation systems) to a louver in the darkroom that is on the wall opposite to the wet side - so that fresh air enters the darkroom, flows across the room, and exhausts through a louver above the wet-side sink.

  8. #8
    Drew Wiley
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    Sep 2008
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    SF Bay area, CA
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    Re: darkroom fans/vents

    There are a lot of misunderstandings about this subject. And most fans allegedly marketed for darkroom use are just too weak. The light-tight louvers Doran makes are
    generally adequate for brining in replacement air. The bigger the better, or use multiple
    vents. Exchanging air depends both upon the volume of intake, the capacity of the
    exhaust fan, the efficiency of the ducting (just like a water hose) and the outside hydrostatic pressure - in other words, in damp or humid weather you need a more
    efficient fan. Air is more efficiently pulled than pushed. But if you want efficiency plus quiet, get an exterior mounted fan (Broan makes some, marketed by Grainger), or an in-line duct fan by Panasonic. The duct can be configured to minimize internal light reflections, but beware of corrugated ducting because it will reduce efficiency. These better fan can also be equipped with variable-power switches and even timers - very handy. Air should be pulled away from operator toward the exhaust vents rather than
    simply up - especially important for color work with nastier chemicals. With a sink, this
    means placing the exhaust ports behind the sink itself. Dependable fans are going to
    cost a few hundred, but probably less than your typical large format lens; and what
    are your lungs worth?

  9. #9

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Germany
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    Re: darkroom fans/vents

    My solution I have described here http://www.apug.org/forums/forum43/1...tml#post323539 and some posts further down here http://www.apug.org/forums/forum43/1...tml#post326437
    It's not exactly low budget but it's worth it.

    Ulrich

  10. #10

    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    41

    Re: darkroom fans/vents

    What Drew said.....I installed a Panasonic fan that is designed to be mounted remotely and installed it outside the darkroom with ducting blowing into the darkroom. I can hear it, but it is really quiet. I also made a frame to hold one of the Filtrete furnace filters to go over the vent so that the air blowing in is nice and dust free. I then installed an outlet vent to the outside. I get plenty of filtered air and my darkroom is nearly dust free. I looked at the specs of a darkroom fan (Doran?) and I was worried that it wouldn't be enough once I installed a filter.

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