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So, I just bought a used ATL-1, and am looking for a water regulator. (The ATL-1 is basically a CPP-2 base with a motorized lift and control box.) I figure for B&W I could use tap water manually adjusted to 65-70ish, but I really want to be able to do my own E6. I have hot and cold and a drain, and will pay a plumber for a professional up-to-code installation with flexible lines (this is the Earthquake State). The heater isn't very close and draining standing water out of the pipe takes about 20 sec. I don't mind doing this manually in advance, but there needs to be a way to do it.
How about the Arkay Econos? At ~$300 they seem right. I don't feel too excited about pauing $600 for a Jobo panel. I figure installation will cost about $200 on top of that.
Anyone out there using a cheap alternative to the Jobo panels you can recommend?
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Jan, don't know if it would apply to your setup, but you might check into one of the 'on demand' hot water heaters. They can provide pretty much unlimited hot water at a constant temp, they are basicly hot water heaters without a tank. Friend of mine has one in his barn and says it works great. Wish I had one for our guest bathroom, like the idea of not heating water all the time, just when you need it. Keep us posted on what you end up doing.
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A way to deal with the standing water in your lines is to install a circulation loop in your hot water line.
This involves taking your hot water line near to the Jobo installing a tee and running a line back to the bottom of your hot water heater. Normally the drain fitting in the bottom of the heater is removed and reinstalled in a tee that is placed in the drain opening. The circulating return line is then plumbed into the other opening in the tee.
Depending on the distance, sometimes these work very well through convection without the addition of a circulating pump and sometimes a circulating pump is required. Again distance is the important consideration.
For precise temp control at a reasonable cost, I would look for one of the older Arkay tempering units to show up on Ebay...possibly check with Midwest Photo or any of your used photo dealers locally. With a lot of labs going digital this equipment is probably being pulled and thrown away.
Good luck.
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Unfortunately the water heater is in the basement and we're on the second story. Even worse, we just recently had the heater moved down to the basement to make room in the laundry room and fit a larger unit!!! :bag:
I'll definitely look for used gear, good idea! If I end up having to buy something new I'm currently leaning towards a Leedal WCP-25, a simple mixer with a 30micron filter and thermostat. That way if my wife flushes the toilet the wash won't go scalding hot.  It has a garden hose outlet, I'll Y split that and connect one end to the ATL-1 permanently, and use the other for tray washing, flushing the pipes, etc. Anything with a location heater looks like it'll run well over $1000, which is a little beyond what I'd like to spend on this...
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Jan,
I use a thermostatic shower valve on my ATL-2 and it works fine.
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I got a Wing Lynch water mixer for a very reasonable price from Ebay and it works very well after startup fluctuations. I replaced the the valve on my old Powers panel with it after I determined the Powers was junk. Seems the thermostatic slug in the valve goes bad after a time and costs more than the unit is worth to replace. The Wing Lynch overhaul kits is very reasonable and a good idea when buying a used unit.
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Someone is selling a Kodak PX-7 on ebay right now, but the seller doesn't seem to know whether it has a thermostat. (Or rather what a thermostat is.) And I can't find any info on the model either. But at $35...
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If you run E6--you'll probably need an electronic panel. The Wing Lynch panels are great--but you may want to check out a Hass Intellifaucet. For one thing, they're cheaper new--a basic model runs about $500. More importantly--the WL won't handle as wide a variation in water pressure as an Intellifaucet will.
If you look at manual panels--check out the flow rates needed for the unit to be accurate. Also--plan to have your plumber install hot & cold water filters PRIOR to the panel, and if you're fussy, after the panel as well. You usually set them up with check valves & vaccuum breakers as well as couplings so you can get the panel out for maintenance. I'd recommend a 5 micron filter--this may seem like overkill, but don;t go any larger than 25 micron. we use 25 micron on our paper processor water panel--and 5 micron on the film processor(s).
otoh--I thought some of those Jobos would temper the wash water internally & could be set up without external water hookups? It may be worth asking Jobo about what it takes to set up an ATL for location processing--you might be able to forego the expense of the water-panel if this is the case.
Sorry I can't be of much more help on this--but I do use a Hass Intellifaucet with a Wing-Lynch....and use 3 other manual water panels, including the Leedal you mention.
BTW--plan on rebuilding a water panel from time to time. If you use them enough, you'll probably have to do it about once a year.
KT
my opinions only/not my employers.
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Interesting, I found your note on photo.net regarding the D250 and it gumming up from hard water -- but how you're otherwise happy with it. I guess it's a good sign you still like it a year later! Paul Butzi also seems to have only good things to say about it. I may actually spring for one of these... While expensive it does seem like an excellent investment. He mentions a low-flow option, I bet I will need this for the ATL-1.
Pardon a dumb question, but what's CLR? Chlorine?
I was planning on putting a filter after it, but I guess putting two before will keep sediment out of the valves. Good idea. I was planning on two feed valves on the lines before it so I can take it off if necessary (I just assumed the plumber would do this automatically); will I also need vacuum breakers to remove the mixer?
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BTW, http://www.hassmfg.com/ seems to have some good info on this topic in general.
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