Jobo Autolab cleanliness regime

[Dhuiting]

Hi All, I recently moved from a Jobo CPA2 to A Jobo ATL2+. I primarily shoot 8x10 c41 film, but also do E6 and black and white. Point being that I don't always use the same front bottles for the same kind of chemicals 100% of the time.

I'm wondering how the heck you're supposed to ever get the front bottles clean since there's always a few ml of chemistry (or water, after the cleaning cycle) left in the bottom.

I don't process every day so I'm not sure its great to have leftover chemistry sitting in the bottles. I guess I could run the clean cycle with water and let the remaining amount evaporate over time by leaving the bottle lids off, but that would invite dust into the bottles.

I'm doing my best to mostly use the same chemistry in the same bottles, i.e:

Bottle 1: First Dev for E6 or Dev for B&W
Bottle 2: Reversal bath only
Bottle 3: Color dev for E6 or Dev for C41
Bottle 4: Stop bath for B&W and C41, or Conditioner/Pre-bleach for E6 (Is there a potential contamination issue here? Even with washing in between? I'm not sure how different these chemicals are)
Bottle 5: Bleach only
Bottle 6: Blix or Fixer for C41 (depending on the kit I can afford at the time), Fixer for E6, or Fixer for B and W

Just wondering if there's some tricks I don't know about for keeping the ATL clean and contamination free. (Some kind of small vacuum or turkey baster type thing to get all the chemicals or excess water out after using, etc.)

thanks,

[docw]

I had an ATL-3 which is very similar, I think. I had plans to do colour but never got around to it so I used only the front row of bottles. I also didn't like to leave any chemistry at all so I always tried to plan my session so that there would be as little as possible by the end, and then I would just go through a cleaning cycle. If I recall correctly, the cleaning cycle allows you to reclaim the remaining chemistry before the final rinse (of the cleaning cycle). I still have the manual so I will try to remember to take a look.

[Dhuiting]

I had an ATL-3 which is very similar, I think. I had plans to do colour but never got around to it so I used only the front row of bottles. I also didn't like to leave any chemistry at all so I always tried to plan my session so that there would be as little as possible by the end, and then I would just go through a cleaning cycle. If I recall correctly, the cleaning cycle allows you to reclaim the remaining chemistry before the final rinse (of the cleaning cycle). I still have the manual so I will try to remember to take a look.

Hi Docw, thanks for the reply. I may not have been clear enough in my initial post. I'm referring to the liquid left in the bottle after the full amount of liquid has been completely evacuated via the air pressure process. Even after that there is still a small amount in there, and I'm wondering how people deal with that.

Thanks!

[docw]

The cleaning cycle on the ATL-3 emptied the bottles completely. Perhaps your problem is not one of procedure but with the machine itself. Water in the bottle after the cleaning cycle just doesn't seem normal. Those beasts are complicated and it is hard to get solid and detailed advice. I wish I could be of more help.

A footnote: My ATL-3 died only a year or two after I bought it. It had a lot of mileage on it. Despite how truly magnificent it was when it worked, I wasn't sorry to see it depart. The maintenance was never-ending. I hope that yours is in better shape. I have a CPP-2 now and it works just fine (I only do b&w).

[Dhuiting]

Good to know. I’ll keep asking around. I wish Jobo was still a company so I could call and talk to someone.

Hopefully the amount left over in the bottles (it’s VERY small, like under 5 ml) won’t be an issue.

As far as ATLs getting long in the tooth and breaking on people, I found that out after I bought this one. I read some forums and other people echoed your feelings on the subject. So hopefully I got a good one that will last a little while before it breaks!

Thanks