Info wanted on tabletop RA4 processors
James Hartmann
with tabletop RA4 processors. A couple of times in the last month, I
have needed to crank out 75 8x10s each of a couple of negatives in a
big hurry.
Years ago, I had access to a 31" Kreonite running EP-2, and it was a
pleasure, but I no longer have the space for a big unit, and drying my
Jobo tubes is a pain.
I have been looking at the Durst, Fujimoto, ThermaPhot and Mohr specs,
but specs only tell half the story.
I am looking for a unit to do up to 16x20 prints, preferably
dry-to-dry. Given that my use will be sporadic, I would prefer not to
have to dump 5 gal of chems due to age. Has roller cleaning gotten any
easier with RA4?
Do you have any experiences, both good and bad,to share ?
Post here or e-mail would be appreciated. TIA.
Jim Hartmann
Charles Knight
many good deals can be had on old processors made for EP-2. Trebla
makes a chemistry that processes RA-4 in an EP-2 machine that works
wonderfully. If you use it often, you might even be able to convert
it to the faster speed and use native RA-4. Look in Shutterbug. It is
full of such bargains. I paid $1500 for the Hope and the durst in a
dry to dry configuration would have been over 5000 andit is nowhere
near as good a machine. The hope processes paper as small as 3.5" and
as wide as 20". I travel a lot and when I come back, I have from 5 to
75 rolls and do then as a batch. It is amazingly convenient and fun.
There is an ad in this months Shutterbug for a Beseler 16" wide at
about $500. The Beseler is not nearly as good a machine, but I had an
8" version of it that served me well for sevaral years.
Michael F Smith
chemicals are less toxic and more stable. There is no comparison in my
opinion. It was my job to keep a Kreonite machine going at a college, my
job got much easier when we switched to RA.
You might keep your eyes open for an older Kronite machine that you can
swith over to RA from EP2, i've seen them go cheap. It costs very little
to do if you do it yourself. Oh..........wait you have a space
problem......
I see you want dry to dry. That is something i don't have, but having
your prints come out in 90 seconds wet does have advantages. If i use
Fuji papers they have very little color or density shift when dry, thus
i can color and density balance wet much more quickly than a dry to dry
unit.
Make sure your processor is very well ventilated. A hood over the
processor with a fairly large vent pipe is a must.
All the Best,
Michael Smith
Tom Saylor
dry---do not change your color balance until drying the paper---speed
things up be rinsing your test strip then blow drying with a hair dryer.
blix coated wet prints will give a semblance of indicated color balance
when dry---for fast and dirty work do not rinse print, but eyeball the
blix coated print and alter your enlarger settings---still not good
enough for critical work.
best way to keep prints clean in roller transport machines is to use a
machine that offers chemical filtration and add a little household
chlorine bleach to wash tank at the end of the day's run to prevent algae
buildup. Next time you start printing run your wash tank water in hot 120
degrees or more for a few minutes while running 2 or 3 cleaner sheets
through the machine---then adjust wash water back to normal and start
printing.
For small amateur type table type processors use household cleaners
designed to clean toilet bowls to clean developer tar off rollers---blix
rollers can usually be cleaned up with hot water alone. Be sure to rinse
machine out good with hot water before loading with fresh chemistry.
If you don't have automatic replenishment invent your own---use drain
tubes to dump a specified amount of used chemistry at intervals based on
paper usage and then just use a very small funnel to pour in fresh
chemistry back into the machine using the same drain tube---(hold drain
tube up into the air while pouring chemistry)---that way you can run the
smallest machines all day long with consistent results if you are
consistent with your replenishment.
Even the cheapest RA table top processors can be improved with a little
homespun ingenuity---adding minature aquarium type submersible pumps to
the chemical tanks to agitate the chemistry and make the print run under
glass marbles to ensure complete submersion are a couple tricks. Change
to a smaller gear on your drive motor to lower the overall speed to get
more complete development.
But when you get tired of monkeying around get a dry to dry Kreonite.
Mike Fuger
I have used the fujimoto for 2 years now. they work great.
there are two models one which uses stabilizer the other just two
fresh water washes. I have used both versions. the one with fresh
wash water is far superior plus ra stabilizer from kodak is very
expensive.
The only maintenance I have had is a result of my inability
to read the directions. The rollers need to be removed each evening
and rinsed. No big deal I thought, after six months a couple of the
rollers in the developer began to swell. An expensive fix. As a
result I remove them each evening.
The only thing I consider a design problem is with the very
first set of rollers. The determine replenishment and signal the
processor to go into standbye mode. The problem was that fumes from
the chemicals caused the circuit board to literally rot out which
required replacement. The fix I came up with was to coat both sides
of the board with silicone calking. No failures yet after a year of
operation.
Let me know If i can be of any further assistance.
Mike Fuger
Alexander Miller
>... Trebla makes a chemistry that processes RA-4 in an EP-2 machine that works
> wonderfully.
Who knows where I can get more info on this or similar chemistry - especially
if available in Canada? Thanks............Alexander.