Butane

[Lismoreian]

Would Butane (superser heater) have an affect on developer?

[Bob-D659]

Not really, the output is heat, water vapour and CO2. Now in a room where it depletes the oxygen, and the oxygen depletion monitor in the heater stops working, the carbon monoxide wouldn't be good for you but shouldn't effect your developer.

Edit: I'd guess the low temps in the room will have a big effect. Do you have an accurate thermometer?

[Lismoreian]

The darkroom is cold. The developer is at a temp lower than it really should be. I do sit the dev. tray in a bath of 20C to bring it up to temp. this is an ilford multigrade dev. and a multgrad 5k fiber paper. I am not getting black. and i am getting really warm tone almost as if it were Ilford warmtone paper. so i run test strips which look good. I make a print and it looks like i dont know how print. not sharp, nor clean.

[Leon]

the warm tone is becuase of under-development. As long as your developer is close enough to 20 degrees, it should be fine. mix some fresh and see what happens. Maybe the dev is exhausted, or you got some stop in there by mistake?

[Bob-D659]

Your dev is probably still cold. It cools off due to evaporation when it's in an open tray. It can easily drop 3C pretty quickly if there is not a lot of volume compared to the surface area. Your water bath would have to be kept warmer than 20C to keep the dev at 20C. In winter I have an electric warming pad under the trays to keep them at 20C, this is with a room temp of 22C.

[Lismoreian]

I guess what I am really up against is temperature. Heat borders on luxury here so, i must rely off of Butane for the time being.Or I limit printing to Summer. It is very frustrating trying to acheive 20C without a) spending a furtune and b) gassing myself. I have ventilation but, the space is cement blocks-a refridgerator was warmer this winter. I will look into heat warming trays. IF anyone has a make-shift warming trya device/idea, please pass on. Thank you for you input.

[fotch]

This may sound silly but it’s an idea anyway.
How about making a large wood box, say about 24x24x72 inches, preferable insulated or at least the base) with the front opening 48x18 inches and a sliding door 96 inches with a Plexiglas viewing window and two holes for your arms. This sliding door would travel on a top and bottom track and be wider than the box so as you slide from one tray to the next on, part of the sliding door is always closing the opening. Or you could have multiple doors, with the one you use having the window and armholes, and just reposition the doors so the solid doors cover the part you are not using. Have a plug or cover for the arm holes when your arm is not in them so you don’t lose the heat through them.
This box then could have a small electric heat and maintain 20 or 22 C in the box.

Sort of like a changing bag or one of those things you see in the movies where the scientist are handling radio active materiel.
OK, move it to the Joke area if you wish.

[polyglot]

I hear that piglet-warming pads (being waterproof and all) are the go for really cold darkrooms.
Edit: anywhere between 20C and 28C is fine for paper development (Ilford Multigrade dev), so don't be afraid to put some nice warm (32C) water under your dev tray.

[mike c]

I don't know how big your dark room is ,and if its insulated .The one I have is about 9ft x10ft x9ft and is fully insulated I use a oil fulled electric space heater and it stays around 20 deg C,so the chems also stay that temp,although it rarely gets below 10 degs C here it would be a lot more safer and maybe cheaper to run.

[ricksplace]

No electricity? If you can't get a small electric heater to warm you up, you could always consider a small wood burner. Cheaper than a butane heater to run, and you get that wonderful smell of woodsmoke.