submersible temperature control unit; anyone?

[austin granger]

Hello. I recently saw a gadget in the Porter's catalog (I get a lot of photo-related stuff in the mail) called a 'photo processor temperature control unit'. It's this sort of wand that you can submerse in water (or maybe developer?) and set the temperature from 65 to 105f. They say it's accurate to plus or minus half a degree. It's 120 bucks.

Can anyone tell me if they've ever used this thing?

Thanks much in advance.

[jnantz]

sure have, they work great if you do deep tank developing.

[Gregory Owens]

Go to a pet supply store or someplace that sells Tropical Fish and aquariums. A fish tank heater does the same thing a whole lot cheaper. I've been using a couple of them for several years now.

Cheers, Greg

[Jim Galli]

I've been using a cheap Radio Shack indoor outdoor digital thermometer for several years now. The little outdoor probe thingy goes in the soup.

[Alec Jones]

Remember, it only heats. So, don't expect to use it on a 99 degree day and get 65 decree solution. I agree with Gregory - the aquarium heater is just as good, and cheaper.

[Gem Singer]

Austin,

"A photo processor temperature control unit" is just a fancy name for a submersable water heater. The ones that are designed to be used in tropical fish tanks are usually contained inside of a glass tube. They are capable of warming a photo processing solution in a tank or tray, as long as you don't break the glass. This one from Porter may be in the form of a metal wand, but at a price of $120, it should, at least, be gold plated metal. I've never been keen on the idea of submersing anything in water that plugs into an electrical outlet.

[N Dhananjay]

A very nice way to keep trays warm is to use heating mats that are designed for use in greenhouses/growing plants. They come in various sizes and you just place your trays over them and use a thermostat to control the temperature. Nothing to put into the trays and they are pretty reasonably priced. Cheers, DJ

[austin granger]

Wow. I never would have thought of fish tanks or plant mats! I will certainly investigate these options.

Basically, I recently moved to 8x10 and my sink is a little small for big water bath trays. Also, my darkroom is very primitive and temperature control has always been an issue. I'm planning on giving pyro development a try and from what I've read, I'll need to get temperatures up around 70 or even higher.

Thanks to everyone for their great advice; I love this forum!

[Nick_3536]

http://www.wonbrothers.com/product/heater/ICHEATER.htm

That's the one I use. Mine is 350 watts. Cost less then $30 when I bought it. A pump to move the water helps to. If you're using tanks then a picnic cooler to hold the water will help keep the temps in control.