Best 4x5 Developing Tank

[Bob Salomon]

Bob,

I just finished giving my HP Combi a good cleaning with Dollar Store dental pre-rinse and an old worn soft toothbrush. I figured the dental rinse would be good because it has no abrasives so would leave no residue.

Upon close examination, I noticed one of the two flexible horizontal bars of the top clip is cracked. How do I go about getting a replacement for that along with the second loading bar.

BTW, the loading bar I have really does not snap into place. It kinda-sorta does but according to what you wrote in a different Combi thread on this website it should snap on and stay in place. At least that's how I read what you wrote.

›

With what seems to be a resurgent interest in large format photography and your HP Combi system in general, have you considered having a new mold made for the tank? I know you wrote that the old one was no longer viable.

Thanks,
Terry

Terry, there is no reason for two loading bars. It should have only come with one. It fits into the cutouts on the holder and then you can lift the holder up, if desired, by lifting straight up on the loader. The loader does not lock in place and it is removed by pulling the bottom out of the cut outs.

To order parts just call our office 800 735-4373. The reason that the bar on the clib cracked is that the bars were not squeezed when removing it from the top of the holder. That top plate has a ratchet and if you try to pull the clip up without squeezing the bars you will crack the bar. The bars release the ratchet.

There is no way to make new molds at a price that would allow the Combi to go back into production at a reasonable price. And there are other tools that also have to be re-made. It is just that we have run out of tank bodies. The other parts we still have stock of.

[mmerig]

I don't think that one type of tank is inherently better then another, its really personal preference.

I personally prefer the Mod54 in a Paterson 3 reel tank.

Will the MOD54 work in a Nikor tank that holds four 35-mm reels? The Nikor's inside dimensions are: 85 mm diameter by 165 mm long. Maybe I can use one 35-mm reel as a spacer in the Nikor tank along with the MOD54. The reels are steel and 39 mm high.

More simply, if I know the inside dimensions of the Paterson 3-reel tank, I can go from there.

Thanks.

[Bob Salomon]

Thank you for the link!

BTW, has anyone else noticed all the embarrassing mistakes in the PDF instructions?

› on page 3, part number 459419 is shown but never mentioned elsewhere in the text, not even as an optional Accessory as is part number 459418.

› on page 4, Section D starts before Section C starts on page 5. The bold headline of Section D really belongs on page 6.

› at the top of the right hand column of Section C there seems to be some text missing because the first thing we read is "abrupt tilting of the tank from side to side ..." Where is the leading part of the sentence?

› paper is wasted printing pages 7 and 8 because they are blank.

Email me and I will send you later instructions in a pdf. But 7 and 8 are still blank. So don't print them.

[Tin Can]

No, Paterson tanks are 10 to 12mm bigger, I just measured my Nikor and a Paterson.

Nikors used stainless steel reels and Paterson used plastic reels which are bigger.

I loosely measure the Paterson tank to be 97mm, +-5mm.

Will the MOD54 work in a Nikor tank that holds four 35-mm reels? The Nikor's inside dimensions are: 85 mm diameter by 165 mm long. Maybe I can use one 35-mm reel as a spacer in the Nikor tank along with the MOD54. The reels are steel and 39 mm high.

More simply, if I know the inside dimensions of the Paterson 3-reel tank, I can go from there.

Thanks.

[AtlantaTerry]

Bob, thank you for the information. I plan to call you ASAP.

Terry

[mmerig]

No, Paterson tanks are 10 to 12mm bigger, I just measured my Nikor and a Paterson.

Nikors used stainless steel reels and Paterson used plastic reels which are bigger.

I loosely measure the Paterson tank to be 97mm, +-5mm.

Thank you, Randy.

[Corran]

Regarding the Combiplan, I'm having a strange issue. I am getting a thin line of higher density at the bottom of my negatives when I use the Combiplan, both color and b&w, with dip 'n' dunk style processing. Any ideas why? I think it only happens on one negative out of the 6 generally.

[Bob Salomon]

Regarding the Combiplan, I'm having a strange issue. I am getting a thin line of higher density at the bottom of my negatives when I use the Combiplan, both color and b&w, with dip 'n' dunk style processing. Any ideas why? I think it only happens on one negative out of the 6 generally.

You do know that the CombiPlan T was made for inversion processing?

[Corran]

Am I not allowed to use it in other ways? This happens in both the Combiplan tank and slightly larger tanks, while still using the Combiplan holder. So it is something happening with the holder.

[Bob Salomon]

Is the film clip properly in place? Why not try it the way it was designed and see if that makes a difference.

That would call for filling in room light, tapping the tank a couple of times on a table to remove any air bells. Turning the tank upside down and letting the chemistry flow to the opposite end, then repeat. Do this as often as the manufacturer's recommended agitation time. Use the quantity listed on the inside of the top cover for the proper amount of chemistry so it flows properly during agitation.