JOBO 2551 magnet

[Ari]

Hi,
I just bought a 2551 tank, it came with a magnet on the bottom. I usually roll the tank in a sink half-filled with water, so I don't need the magnet. Problem is, it puts weight on one end of the tank.
My question is: Is the magnet removable?
It looks like it would just pop off with the help of a flat screwdriver, but I don't want to risk breaking the tank.
Any experience? Ideas?
Thanks

[Lachlan 717]

Hi, Ari.

This might be a weird solution to this.

I have a 25XX tank, but with the cog lid. If this is the same basic design as the magnetic one, there is a central hole in which chemicals enter/exit the tank.

When I was using this with manual agitation, I used to plug the hole with a champagne cork cut down to size.

Now, as cork floats, perhaps this method would nullify the weight of the magnet to give you neutral buoyancy?

[Dirk Rösler]

Yes, it is detachable. I once dropped my 2551 and it popped off, not the recommended way of removal of course. :)

[IanMazursky]

Hi Ari,

I spoke with a Jobo tech about this a few days ago.
I have an ATL 2200 and a few drums with the magnets, it doesn't need them so i asked if i can remove them.
He didn't recommend it. He said once they are on, they are extremely hard to remove and could damage the tank.
But if you want to try, he did say that you can try to pry equally all the way around the magnet from the base.
If you pry it off unequally you could risk cracking the bottom of the tank.

Hope that helps. I decided not to risk it, the drums are so thin im afraid that the screwdriver would crack it before the magnet gives.

[jwaddison]

I have a 2551 and until now didn't realize it had a magnet. What is its purpose?

[IanMazursky]

The magnet is used to connect to the jobo magnetic drive systems.
Like the CPE-2 PLUS (http://www.jobo.com/web/Processors.334.0.html), CPA...Instead of driving the drum via the cog on lid, it uses a magnetic coupling to spin the drum.

[Ari]

Thanks everyone for your answers.
To pry or not to pry...hmm

[Jim Noel]

A small gear puller works very well.

[domaz]

They are very hard to get off without damaging the tank. I can attest to that, I broke one of the little arms on a tank trying to get a magnet off.

[Ivan J. Eberle]

I popped several of the magnets off by accidentally dropping a tank in my sink or on the floor, which snapped the molded tank standoff sprues that hold the magnet, but it didn't crack the bottom of the tank. Not that it couldn't happen, but if you don't need and don't like the magnet you likely can remove it without creating a leak. (Occurs to me that a sharp Olfa snap-knife or hot thin putty knife could work too).

Bigger problem was that this all happened while I yet needed the magnet (pre-Lift Accessory) and the tanks were then kind of useless without magnets-- and they didn't look to accept most glues.

I got the Lift and cog lids but considered how the tanks were worth far less if I ever sold them without intact magnets, so I left them on the remainder (knowing I'd bust the standoffs to remove 'em. Too, by that point I'd already built a drying rack out of steel shelving-- where I hung them inverted to drain, via the magnets).

[Jlentz]

I have a few on my Fridge.
I don't remember how I got them off but I don't recall it being a big problem. I didn't want the extra weight on the end of the tank when I use the lift.

[tgtaylor]

Maybe you could create an electromagnetic field that would neutralize the magnets force on the tank? :confused:

Just thinking out loud.

[IanMazursky]

The magnets are not held on by magnetic force.
They are a press fit held in by those fingers. Press fit might not be the best way to explain it.
If you bought one yourself and installed it, you would press it onto the bottom and it would be held in by the fingers.

I also found out that the magnets have another use.
When im done processing, i can rest them on something metal and they just stay put.
I think im going to put some small metal strips in my drying cabinet one of these days.
Im already leaving them on the bottom of the dryer and its working out pretty good but hanging might be better.

[Ari]

Did a quick dry run yesterday, I tried to carefully pry the magnet off from the base of the tank with a tiny flat screwdriver.
No luck, the bottom of the tank is surprisingly thin, and I felt like it might crack or worse if I pressed hard enough.
There are, however, worse problems I could be having:)

[Graham Patterson]

While they come of easily by accident, they are not so easy to remove without damage by choice. And a tank with the magnet removed won't retain the magnet securely again. The plastic sockets on the tank base for the magnet get damaged or stretched.

[IanMazursky]

The only thing i can think to get the magnets off is to take a dremel type rotary tool with a cutter disc and slice off the plastic standoffs.
The magnet should come off but this is only if you never intend to have a magnet attached ever again.
This is one of those permanent solutions. Im not sure if its worth it but in the case of a water bath processing it just might.
You can probably also use a thin and small saw blade to do the same.

[seabird]

I use a 2551 in a water-bath with magnet attached. No problemo. The trick is not to try and float the tank, but to use a cradle/roller base of some sort. My one looks like an upside-down skateboard and cost me all of $5 to construct using parts from a DIY store. I find that a water level that only just exceeds the bottom lip of the Jobo tank is sufficient to maintain temperature (at least for my B&W process using dev times of up to 10mins).

Cheers

[Dirk Rösler]

Try warping the bottom of the tank back and forth/in and out a bit and it should come off...

[Ari]

I will try to build a roller base today; last night was the last straw. The tank was bobbing like a rubber duck in a tidal wave. Will post photos if it comes to fruition.
Thanks again, everybody.

[maurits]

Ari, the magnet comes off real easy. I just tried on one of my tanks and, using a screw driver, it popped off in a sec without using any force worth mentioning. It is kept to the bottom of the tank by four plastic pins only. No need to remove any plastic with a Dremel or doing anything that damages the tank permanently.

The added weight of the magnet kept the 2521 tank from staying in place on my new (second hand) Jobo Duolab. Now it is working fine.

Cheers, Maurits

http://rexmundi.nl/photo/_DSC5547.jpg



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[Ari]

Dear Maurits and everyone,
I found my long-necked flat screwdriver yesterday, one I haven't been able to find in months, and in one quick, harmless movement, popped off the magnet.
Then I sat down and found your post.
Many thanks to you, and to everyone who answered.
Ari