Re: Water heater advice

I've trod (or did I trodden?) that path many times.

Aquarium heaters work fine. Buy a good one, though. They have cheapo
versions that aren't very accurate, but others which can hold +/- 1/2
degree. A kitty litter pan works for the bath container, too, unless
you need something deeper. And don't worry about pumps to circulate
the water around as someone else mentioned. Convection current works
fine. The Jobo tempering baths work without pumps.

I also have a couple 5 gallon drums with aquarium heaters for
pre-soak and rinses and washes for high temp processes, ie 85 degrees
for Pt/Pd and higher for color. With really deep tanks like that
there's not as efficient a convection than in shallow tubs so you'll
have to play around with the temperature setting to insure what's at
the bottom of the tank near the spigot is at the correct temp. But,
again, shallow tubs hold temp evenly throughout.

>Hello all,
>
>I'm looking at making a cheapo heated water bath, for color negative
>processing...our local labs are too careless with their machinery.
>
>Looking at alternative to Jobo, I find a submersible water heater at
>Adorama, but out of stock. I've started to look at hydroponic and fish
>tank heaters as alternatives. They are cheaper and the specifications
>seem in order, but I wonder if anyone else has trodden this path
>before.
>
>ideas, suggestions, ???
>
>thanks
>
>Darryl
Received on Fri Apr 9 09:29:26 2004