Cold Weather Printing?

[healyzh]

So I have a slight problem, I want to work on some prints in my 'Darkroom'. The problem is that my 'Darkroom' is in the corner of an unheated garage. It's currently about 40F out there, and I can probably get it up to 45F with a space heater (maybe a bit warmer). How practical is it to work in such temperatures?

With my current primitive setup, it's not practical to try to heat the different tray's (for one thing no running water).

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Zane,

Consider a Novatank. Development at 45 degrees will take FOREVER. Or, try heavy curtains around the work area (tarpaulins will do) and a much smaller heater. You may be surprised. You may also be able to find flat, under-tray heaters, though I've not seen them for years, and another possibility is the sort of heater pads that some greenhouses put under seedling trays (I've only read about these, not seen/tried them).

Cheers,

R.

 

[rxmd]

Working at 45F is not practical unless you have some sort of heating for your chemistry.

Be careful with under-tray heaters because they are usually not made for wet environments (like those for the dinner table), unless you get some that are explicitly meant for laboratory use. Electrocuting oneself for the sake of faster photo turnaround is not a good idea.

You could build a larger tray as a water bath for your three trays of chemistry and use either warm water or an aquarium heater to heat that to 65F or so.

On another note - how will you heat yourself? Working in thick clothing is not very comfortable.

 

[Mablo]

Aquarium heaters could be one option.

 

[sepiareverb]

And at such temperatures I'd not even consider fiber paper, a developer incorporated RC paper (are there still any of these??) would help- and any little bit of help would be good.

 

[taylan]

I am using a hair dryer both for heating tray and drying test prints.
First of all, I think you have to heat your working place. You must manege to keep it around 68F (20C).

 

[sepiareverb]

First of all, I think you have to heat your working place. You must manege to keep it around 68F (20C).

I worked for several years in a tiny darkroom that was regularly below 60. Here in Vermont it is not unusual (well was not, hasn't happened for a few years now) for the outdoor temperatures never to rise above 0° F for weeks on end. There was heat in the building, but not in the darkroom or the adjacent room. Water bath trays kept my chemsitry at temp- I'd run a hose into the jacket trays and turn it on every few prints. Air temperature was certainly not 70° tho my chemistry was. Tempered water was a must however.

 

[RichL]

I used to use an electric blanket covered with a heavy plastic tarp.

 

[MartinP]

Try and reduce the volume of air you are heating, as suggested above with the tarpaulin comment - basically just make temporary and floppy 'walls'.

For keeping the trays, including the holding tray after the chemistry, to a useable temperature look for animal-husbandry heating mats. These are the sort of things that go under piglets or other young animals. The mats are made like rubber electric-blankets and seem to be proof against some pretty unpleasant fluids . . .

 

[healyzh]

Thanks for the great info and advice. I hadn't thought about tarps, this should actually be easier to accomplish than it might sound. The corner is already pretty much closed in with with boxes of books that go nearly to the ceiling and some shelves of antique computer gear. The easiest thing to do might be to see about getting it better walled off with boxes at the one opening and a tarp for a 'door' at the other. Realistically there are only two door sized openings that aren't "walls" that go nearly to the ceiling. I've already been considering putting up real walls, and this is likely to help encourage me to make that happen.

 

[Rick Olson]

I am in Colorado and it's 55-58 degrees in my basement now. I am using EMAKS FB graded paper and extending all processing times to account for the low temps. I am just doing some tests, but the images look pretty good. Will be doing the serious printing in the spring when the basment is back up to 65-68 degrees.

 

[Landshark]

local farm supply joint. You're looking for a heating mat for new born little piggies. They're waterproof and little piggy proof.

 

[Freakscene]

I have used the agricultural mat heaters made for baby animals Landshark mentions. You can get undertray heaters made for photography from FotoImpex (you can order from them online), but they tend to be more expensive. These work well because the heat is applied indirectly to the solution and over a large area.

I recommend against using an aquarium heater because unless you have a pump to move the liquid around you end up with a hotspot around the heater which can accelerate oxidation.

Marty