Source of hot water

[mpirie]

Hi guys,

I'd like to tap into the collective and ask a question.

What equipment/source for heating water do you have/recommend in your darkroom?

I only have a source of cold water in my setup and obviously need to raise it to 20deg C for B&W processing.

Maybe an electric shower or similar?

Thanks,
Mike

[morecfm]

Do you need a continuous flow of water or just a few liters or gallons every now and then. If you need a few finite draws of water, there are small 2.5 gallon water heaters that plug into 110 volt supplies that can be plumbed in and then run to a hot/cold water faucet. It may not be able to keep up with continuous flow though. There are also some tankless electric water heaters but they will require a separate 240 volt line run to the darkroom and can be somewhat expensive. What I said applies to the US as far as voltages are concerned but may apply to other parts of our blue sphere also.

[Peter Collins]

Just a note: It is critical to keep the developer temperature stable; I make sure that the pre-soak water (in case of film) is at 20 degC, as well as the developer (in the case of film and paper). The other--stop, fixer, wash agent, etc., need to be close. I think that I remember 'within 5 degF' The other solutions' activity is not so heat-promoted/heat-affected as are the compounds in the developer.

[Tin Can]

If the home and darkroom are heated why not store whatever water you need and let the home warm it to ambient.

Prepper water storage containers? Costco sells them. Or 3.5 gallon water bricks. https://www.overstock.com/Emergency-...FcIHPwod1TMAtA

[Jimi]

If it is cold in the darkroom too, a heater to keep the liquids in temperature could be a good idea.

[mpirie]

Thanks guys.

I was thinking of a continuous flow of tempered water for film washing, for example from an electric shower unit.

I have a mixing valve that will control the temperature, but it needs a hot as well as cold supply.

[Jac@stafford.net]

I have a mixing valve that will control the temperature, but it needs a hot as well as cold supply.

Put a T junction before the inlet to the heater.

[consummate_fritterer]

Thanks guys.

I was thinking of a continuous flow of tempered water for film washing, for example from an electric shower unit.

I have a mixing valve that will control the temperature, but it needs a hot as well as cold supply.

In that case, what I would do is get a small tank water heater (3-5 gallon) AND a tankless unit, run in tandem with the tank heater nearest the mixing valve. The small tank heater provides instantaneous heat, while the tankless unit provides perpetual heat. The tank heater serves double-duty as a mixing buffer for the less regulated (moderated) cold/hot water exiting the tankless heater.

[Randy]

I was thinking of a continuous flow of tempered water for film washing...

Just in case you didn't know, some of us do not use running water for film washing - we just soak the film and every 5 minutes or so, dump it and refill with fresh water, repeating for about 20 minutes or so. That is how I have been washing film for may years - so - no need for temperature controlled running water at your film processing station as long as you have access to it somewhere in the facility.

[mnemosyne]

Just in case you didn't know, some of us do not use running water for film washing - we just soak the film and every 5 minutes or so, dump it and refill with fresh water, repeating for about 20 minutes or so. That is how I have been washing film for may years - so - no need for temperature controlled running water at your film processing station as long as you have access to it somewhere in the facility.

That is the point, exactly. Use the Ilford film washing procedure, and all you need is a bucket full of water at the desired temperature. No running water needed. And for FB paper it is not a problem, as the temperature does not really matter unless it is well below 10C.

I was facing the same problem in my makeshift darkroom, I installed a simple under-the-sink 5 liter storage type water heater that works within normal power specs and is plug and play in a normal wall power outlet. I am sure you can get something comparable in Scotland. In my experience, those tankless on-demand heaters that have a reasonable flow of warm water are not plug and play as they have special power requirements requiring installation by a trained eletrician etc pp and it was just not worth the fuss for me. At least that is the situation here in Germany.