My GraLab quit ... oh CRAP .... Tech in the darkroom

[photobymike]

My GraLab Timer up and quit on me. It has only lasted 35 years of almost everyday work.

I just downloaded an app from Digital Truth to my Iphone. It is the coolest Timer/Time and Temp database thingey i have ever seen. Its to bad i did know about this sooner.

Question: Anybody using technology in a creative and useful way in the darkroom?

For instance I was trying to measure 673 ml so i could get an accurate on my PryoHD mix for some film. Do you know how hard that is to get accurate? Then my youngest son 16 ... reminded me that at sea level 75 degrees 1ml of water weighs .998 grams. And then he had an epiphany moment and an idea. Why dont you weigh the water on your mail scale. Shazam it worked.......

[vinny]

I'm only 34 and on my third gralab timer. They just quit on me, usually while souping important negs.

[false_Aesthetic]

i have repaired more of these things than I ever want to.

this past semester I just suggested to students that they download that app.

benefit 1) I'm not repairing these things as often. benefit 2) they've stopped coming to me asking: "How much time should I develop _____ for?"

now if I could only get them to remember what a ratio is. stupid effin millenials.(however you spell it)

[J. Fada]

I use an app that is a simple timer on my IPhone called Chronolite. You can set up a list of timers on the IPhone screen and activate whatever one you want one at a time and they run independent of each other. It also means I can develop more than one tank simultaneously and keep the times straight. Works great for developing for me.

[John Kasaian]

I have a two prong metal GraLab that was older than dirt when i got it. No cheesey plastic and it keeps on working

[Bill Burk]

I've got 3. One's running 8 hours a day to light my desk lamp (an hour at a time). The other's my darkroom (fix) timer. It'll be running as soon as I finish this post. The third is in a box.

oh CRAP. I'm out of MG paper and the "cool" shot I want to print needs grade 8. Guess I will have to settle for the "professional" shot that will fit Grade 2.

[ChrisN]

Does the App require a live internet connection at all times, or is the database stored within the device? I don't have wireless 'net access in my darkroom.

[photobymike]

Does the App require a live internet connection at all times, or is the database stored within the device? I don't have wireless 'net access in my darkroom.

i dont know...good question.... you can go online to digitaltruth.com and print out times for different film and developer combinations with there Massive Film Dev Database

[Brian Legge]

i dont know...good question.... you can go online to digitaltruth.com and print out times for different film and developer combinations with there Massive Film Dev Database

I believe the iphone app stores the database locally. I just switched to 'air plane mode' and still had all of the database info.

[jp]

I've received a digital timer like ebay item 320817822368. It has red digits so it should be fine in the darkroom. My gralab is still working fine after 20+ years, so I haven't hooked up the digital timer yet.

If it's for film developing, digital kitchen timers will work well. Wind up kitchen timers aren't accurate for most developing times.

I have the massive dev chart on my android phone, and also have printed out the developer combinations for my film of choice. I keep the printouts in a binder with other documents.

[ChrisN]

i dont know...good question.... you can go online to digitaltruth.com and print out times for different film and developer combinations with there Massive Film Dev Database

Thanks for that. I took the plunge and bought it. It does work fine while offline, and I like that as well as the recommendations in the database I can add my own preferred times and routines to the "My Times" section of the application. I've also discovered I can plug my Ipod into my little stereo in the darkroom and have it playing music while the timer is running! When the timer finishes it plays the alarm sound through the stereo. :)

[photobymike]

Thanks for that. I took the plunge and bought it. It does work fine while offline, and I like that as well as the recommendations in the database I can add my own preferred times and routines to the "My Times" section of the application. I've also discovered I can plug my Ipod into my little stereo in the darkroom and have it playing music while the timer is running! When the timer finishes it plays the alarm sound through the stereo. :)

cool beans ..... i am going to get me a player also. I would highly recommend an Otter case with a cover for the screen ... i can "touch" my iphone with wet fingers without worry. Even answer a phone call on speaker while i am working ...

[Robert Oliver]

Are there any android based timers that give audible reminders at specific intervals so i dont have to watch the second hand on my gralab when tray processing?

[Gord Robinson]

Does anyone have a repair manual for the Gralab 300 that they could make available. I have two of them that are having problems after being in the darkroom for 20 years+ and don't really want to throw them out.

Regards
Gord

[D. Bryant]

Are there any android based timers that give audible reminders at specific intervals so i dont have to watch the second hand on my gralab when tray processing?
I just did a search on Android Market for 'interval timer' and 2 came up, both targeted to PT and workout enthusiasts, both are free downloads.

[paulr]

Wow, I've never heard of those things dying. I bought an ancient one used, it lasted through my darkroom decades, and now times my french press when I make coffee.

I used it for timing development. For the enlarger I really liked using that Zone VI compensating metronome. With it, complicated prints were easy ... almost relaxing. You can just go at your own pace and stop and start as often as you want.

[welly]

Oh, just out of interest, there's another iPhone app which works brilliantly.

Take a look at http://bigredpepper.com/develop/

It integrates with filmdev.org so you can download recipes from that site directly into the app.

[polyglot]

I use the MDC app on both iPhone and droid and it works well as long as you don't expect the red mode to be paper- or ortho- safe. Its only real shortcoming is that you can't put an arbitrary sequence of steps in it so it's not flexible enough to do E6 with all the washes required.

There's another APUG/LFPFer that wrote a suite called "Droid in the Dark" but I don't see it on Google play at the moment. It's meant to integrate exposure notes with BTZS computation with print f/stop timing via a Bluetooth relay; there was a thread or two about it a year or so ago.

I use my open source f/stop timer of course but it's got a micro controller in it and isn't droid based.

Those with iPhones can get an official app for BTZS.

[Nathan Potter]

My first Gralab was bought new in 1962. 50+ years later it still runs fine. Of course that is 50 years of intermittent use.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[doogie]

At this point I'm just moving from 35mm into Large Format, but I did stuble accross an idea that has worked well in lieu of using the school timers.

I use my watch. It is a chronometer and is a wind up, requires no batteries or electricity, and I can see it perfectly in any light including that of a developing room in "Pitch black" when loading film as well as developing it afterwards.

Ironically it works better that the GraLab timers at school and my results have been 100% consistent in both developing film and in the Darkroom as well.

Just an idea. Thought I'd put it out there. Hope it helps.

V/r,
Doogie

[jp]

I haven't used a watch since I got a pager in the mid 90's. Now i use a smart phone.

I use either a gralab or a cheap digial kitchen timer I got on ebay for $3. Often both since I sometimes develop more than one batch at the same time.

[Kevin Crisp]

Search "darkroom" on Craigslist, there are usually cheap ones readily available. My rusty one from the 1960's works fine. I had a hand break on a modern plastic version, but no issues since I put on the replacement part.

[Scott Davis]

I have, what, four? Gra-Lab timers (one of the smaller, modern plastic ones, and three of the big old metal beasts). The other day I thought two of them died, then I thought I was having a problem with the outlet I was using for them. Turned out it was just the surge strip they plugged into had finally gone tits up after 15 years. I need to find some good glow-in-the-dark tape or enamel paint to put on the hands of two of the Gra-Labs because the original has flaked off. But for now I'm not doing anything so complex that I need four timers simultaneously, and the enlarger/UV exposure unit runs off a digital Gra-Lab that also takes a foot switch.

[doogie]

Ah! The smart phone whatchamacallit. I'm still not on board with those things(came kicking and screaming into the computer age about a year ago when I was forced to buy a computer for College- still complaining. lol) Of course who am I kidding I still mail out letters with a stamp on them. Go figure. As for the watch. Well Been wearing one forever. Still don't like the idea of checking the time on a mobile phone.

I did just pick up a Gra-lab timer, as I'm assembling a darkroom at home. During the summer the school dark room closes down. :( :( So I am sure I will experience the frustrations listed here already very very soon.

[John Kasaian]

Ah! The smart phone whatchamacallit. I'm still not on board with those things(came kicking and screaming into the computer age about a year ago when I was forced to buy a computer for College- still complaining. lol) Of course who am I kidding I still mail out letters with a stamp on them. Go figure. As for the watch. Well Been wearing one forever. Still don't like the idea of checking the time on a mobile phone.

I did just pick up a Gra-lab timer, as I'm assembling a darkroom at home. During the summer the school dark room closes down. :( :( So I am sure I will experience the frustrations listed here already very very soon.

I hear you!
Actually it is very rare for a Gra-lab to go south on you. My 2-prong rusty is still bravely soldiering on quite nicely.

[paulr]

I'm just amazed there's no website with repair tips and links to a Radio Shack parts catalog. People have been suffering and patching these things forever.
I had to replace a switch on mine but luckily have avoided major surgery. It mostly gets used for timing the french press coffee these days.

Has anyone seen the white version? Aparently Gralab makes it for bakeries.