Hopefully someone has addressed this same issue.
My darkroom (in a converted garage) has cold water only from a mixer tap. (One day...) So I process film using multiple thermos flasks of pre-mixed water, and this works well.
I'd like to get back to developing prints, predominately for paper negatives at present using resin coated (Ilford MG) paper.
I'm thinking I could use a plastic plumbing tank (or simply a plastic storage box) as a reservoir to hold pre-mixed water for the wash, with an outlet valve to control the flow, and gravity to take it down to a tray or print washer in the sink.
The Ilford documentation has very little detail on the wash requirements:
Fresh, running water above 5ºC / 41ºF
Time 120 seconds
When it is important to obtain a print in the shortest possible time, vigorously wash ILFORD resin coated papers for 30 seconds in running water.
Prolonged immersion in water can cause edge penetration and print curl with resin coated papers: for this reason, avoid wet times longer than 15 minutes.
I'm aware that RC papers require far less washing than fibre but I'd be grateful for any thoughts on the volume of water and flow rate required.
And if you've done this yourself, using either a tray or a multi-print washer unit, what was your experience?
Many thanks,
Peter
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