Who can tell me something about it

Rolf-Werner · 2014-02-09T19:36:02+00:00

Hallo Leute, dieses Teil fliegt bei mir herum, und ich suche einige nähere Infos dazu. Es ist ein Zu- und Ablauf zum Bilderwässern, soviel ist mir klar. Abe...

Rolf-Werner

Hi everyone, I’ve got this bit lying about and I’m looking for some more information about it. It’s an inlet and outlet for rinsing prints, that much I know. But do I need a special tray for it? Does anyone know the company, or perhaps even the right tray? Here’s a quick photo, [ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND] I’d appreciate your comments :) Best regards, Rolf

SayCheese

This is a Kodak Automatic Tray Syphon. There’s a picture of it in action on page 144 of Gene Nocon’s book *Photographic Printing*, but I’ve never actually used one myself. I suppose you hang it over the rim of a standard laboratory tray, which is positioned slightly higher. A second tray is placed beneath the outlet. I imagine you move the prints one by one from the lower tray to the upper one to wash them. Best regards, Klaus

ThomasPauly

It looks like a tube with a clamp, doesn’t it? If that’s the case, I’ve got a variation on that theory: if you hang the top end of the tube into a full bowl, keep the bottom end below the water level, and then draw the liquid in*, the bowl will empty itself automatically thanks to the principle of communicating vessels. This way, for example, you can water plants in the bowl, with the water always being drawn from the bottom of the bowl whilst fresh water flows in from above. However, I haven’t actually seen this in real life or used it myself yet. ? (*) or fill the hose before hanging it up and then seal it with your finger so that it doesn’t run empty whilst you’re handling it) ? tepe

Rolf-Werner

I’ve missed the replies again :spudnikserious: Sorry about that! ? Well, I haven’t quite got the hang of the two bowls yet; I’ll have a go at experimenting with that. The idea of communicating tubes crossed my mind too, but I thought it couldn’t really start flowing over the edge on its own, so maybe it needs a special bowl with a recess for the part. ? OK, I’ll probably just have to have a go... ? I’ll keep at it! And thanks for the replies! ? Rolf

SayCheese

No special tray: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/23821714/katr_1.jpg € He notes that he places the prints in the lower tray for 30 minutes first, and then in the upper tray for a further 30 minutes. I think these times are without a washing aid or similar, but the principle is clear. The water must then be able to drain from the lower tray into a sink. Hope this helps, Regards, K

Rolf-Werner

Thanks for the scan – I think the idea of having a third bowl underneath is brilliant. I’ll have to give that a go in the kitchen, but first I need to make a suitable hose connection. The hose on this thing is also pretty worn; I’d replace it if I were to use it regularly. But I’ll stick with it for the first test run. € Is there anything else about how the water comes over the edge the first time? Let it spill over? Because it won’t suck in... € Rolf

SayCheese

No, he doesn’t say anything about that. I reckon that, based on the principle of communicating vessels, the top basin will fill up first. Once the water level has reached the rim of the basin (= the height of the siphon), water will flow continuously from the bottom of the top basin into the bottom basin. When that’s full, it’ll just overflow into the sink. Something like that, just give it a go. As I said, I’ve never seen it in action. Let me know how it actually works, OK? I’ve been curious about this thing for ages! K

Rolf-Werner

So, I gave it a go, and of course it went wrong at first... :) € At any rate, I now know how to replicate a kitchen! € Then I found an old thread on an American forum: http://www.apug.org/forums/forum43/44875-kodak-tray-siphon-2.html € And that’s how it worked: turn the tap on full so that a lot of water flows out. Use your fingers to cover the suction holes on the sides until the water gurgles out of the spout, then let go. Then it sucks up as much water as flows in, which means the bowl doesn’t drain properly if you hang the thing too low. Carefully turn the tap back down so that there’s still a flow, but the vacuum doesn’t break. And then it just carries on. It just keeps slurping away. € A deeper tray would therefore be useful, or you can just water 1 or 2 sheets. With PE it doesn’t really matter, as it’s only for a few minutes anyway. € With baryta, I’d perhaps use a circulation pump; otherwise, you do end up using quite a lot of water. € I still need to tinker with the hose connection – it wasn’t properly sealed, which is why the kitchen got wet.