TR
Hello everyone,
I’ve had a Kaiser photo washer since yesterday: at the top there’s a rod with small holes through which the water reaches the paper. At the bottom is the drain, through which the water and any remaining chemicals can run off. A similar device is also available from Impex (though it’s shaped like a tray – mine is semi-circular, like a gutter). However, the washer is advertised here for ‘PE paper’. This suggests that the ‘washing performance’ is rather low and insufficient for baryta papers. What do you think? I would also use such a device to wash my baryta paper – with a corresponding extension of the washing time, of course, and with a pre-treatment bath to accelerate the washing process.
Thomas
MirkoBoeddecker
Hello Thomas,
We don’t mean to imply anything negative ;-)
The bowl-shaped unit is different from the semi-circular one. The semi-circular one is a baryta washer, which we used to sell but which is no longer manufactured.
Why is one a baryta washer and the other a PE washer?
This is because PE papers need to be and can be washed quickly and under high pressure.
Afterwards, they are sufficiently washed and the process is quick enough that no water penetrates from the sides and causes ripples.
Baryta paper, on the other hand, needs to be washed for a long time. Although this could also be done under pressure in the bowl, it would consume a disproportionate amount of water.
That is why trough washers are built for baryta (or, nowadays, those made of Plexiglas). It is important that the drain is positioned at the lowest point of the trough and, as with your washer, is routed via an overflow so that the washer does not run dry even with a low water supply.
A low flow rate is sufficient to drain away the water saturated with fixing salt, whilst the salt continues to diffuse slowly out of the paper base of the baryta paper.
Best regards,
Mirko
