I'd like to find a way to control the hot/cold balance of my wash water to maintain about a 68 to 72 degree range (say, +/- 2 degrees) without spending hundreds. In the winter, my water temp keeps drifting ever downward. I can start out at 70 and find it at 50 ten minutes later. I was thinking about a Moen temperature controlled shower valve, for example.

And in the summer, the water comes out of the ground at 80 already, if not 84. How to maintain a supply of 68 or 70 degree running water in summer? I think about mounting a 5 gallon tank above the counter and filling it with water and some ice cubes. Or, put the tank in a small refrigerator set to 68 degrees and mount the whole thing close to the ceiling for gravity-feed.

Any experience, ideas, opinions, or comments?

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), January 02, 2002

Answers

I'm using a Delta 1 "Econo Temp" (I paid $60.00 US about 5 years ago). This is a large dial type themometer that screws into a standard male garden hose thread common on utility faucets. You can control the water temperature by adjusting the hot & cold and stopping the water flow with the valve built into the thermometer housing. As long as no one else is using water in the house the temperature stays constant with minimum (if any) adjustment. BTW I live alone :-). In the summer my water temp is 70 - 75 degrees so I just use cold water for printing. I have resorted to chilling my solutions with an ice cube & water bath for film development with a gradual increase in temp for the wash to prevent reticulation. 75 is not 80 however so... setting up your water chilling contraption sounds like a good idea. I would be curious to find out how things turn out. Good Luck, RO.

-- robert Orofino (minotaur1949@iopener.net), January 02, 2002.

Greetings,

I'm not aware of any inexpensive water control devices that will work automatically. When you first turn the water on, the temperature will vary until your pipes heat or cool and reach a balance with the supply, pipe and ambient temperatures. If you let both the hot and cold water run for several minutes that should equalize the temperatures and then you can balance them to achieve the desired temperature.

In your case it appears that you want a colder temperature than is available from your supply. That requires a more elaborate setup. The easiest, but most costly method is to install a water chiller. A homemade solution might be several coils of copper pipe which are then placed in a bucket of ice. Before you jump through hoops to chill you water, if you're just using this for print washing, then you're better off with warmer water. Prints wash by means of osmosis and that exchange will occur faster as the temperature rises. Though I process at 68 or 75 F., I wash my prints at 85-90F.

Regards,

-- Pete Caluori (pcaluori@hotmail.com), January 04, 2002.

I just run water into a large vessle, like a 1 gal beaker, and dip out of that. If I need water that's cooler than the cold water tap I bring some ice cubes down from the kitchen and drop those in a couple at a time.

-- Tim Brown (brownt@flash.net), January 07, 2002.

I have the thermometer fixture described by Robert. However this is just a passive device, it doesn't control the temperature. I have a Moen pressure regulating valve in my shower which keeps the temperature fairly constant by regulating out any water pressure changes, once the hot and cold incoming lines have stabilized. I was wondering if anyone has tried this type of unit in the darkroom. They're not very expensive. I only need a loosely regulated wash temp of about 68 to 75 for prints.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), January 11, 2002.