Archival Print Washers - Current Options?

[Michael Hiles]

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Oh gosh, it IS so much more compliant to spotting, and mounting. I dearly miss the old Agfa DW paper.

 

Agreed. Ilford's new-ish Multigrade Classic is exceptional, and I think it is as good as any paper I have used.

[semi-ambivalent]

The Patterson washer arrived yesterday. It's a pretty basic unit and Michael's warning is apt. In Patterson's defense it appears the cradle is intentionally "lightweight" because it almost floats in the full tank. This allows the rocking mechanism to actually work. I don't think it would be powerful enough with a heavier, sturdier cradle.

 

It ships with the hoses tucked into the side of the tub and this has caused two of the outer cradle partitions to acquire a set (see image). I have it filled with hot water right now to see if they will relax to their original, straight condition. The intake hose has a bell-shaped push-on fitting, which itself caused the set, that won't fit on the utility tub's faucet in the basement, which has a US-typical hose bib thread on its end. The kitchen faucet does not so I'll use it there until I decide to alter things. I'll quote my wife now to save time: "What is this doing up here?! How are we supposed to...".

 

To be honest I wasn't even aware it "rocked" in use and that's nice but this is not a heavy duty design. Someday I'll have the Versalab hooked up full time to a digital Hass Intellifaucet but seeing that I've never had running water actually in my darkrooms , ever, I won't hold my breath.

 

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[logan2z]

The Patterson looks interesting.  I just received a Versalab that I've yet to setup and use, but it looks pretty indestructable.  Very thick plastic tub that looks well made.  We'll see how it goes once I actually put it to use.

Edited April 15, 2018 by logan2z

[semi-ambivalent]

The Patterson washer arrived yesterday. It's a pretty basic unit and Michael's warning is apt. In Patterson's defense it appears the cradle is intentionally "lightweight" because it almost floats in the full tank. This allows the rocking mechanism to actually work. I don't think it would be powerful enough with a heavier, sturdier cradle.

 

It ships with the hoses tucked into the side of the tub and this has caused two of the outer cradle partitions to acquire a set (see image). I have it filled with hot water right now to see if they will relax to their original, straight condition. The intake hose has a bell-shaped push-on fitting, which itself caused the set, that won't fit on the utility tub's faucet in the basement, which has a US-typical hose bib thread on its end. The kitchen faucet does not so I'll use it there until I decide to alter things. I'll quote my wife now to save time: "What is this doing up here?! How are we supposed to...".

 

To be honest I wasn't even aware it "rocked" in use and that's nice but this is not a heavy duty design. Someday I'll have the Versalab hooked up full time to a digital Hass Intellifaucet but seeing that I've never had running water actually in my darkrooms , ever, I won't hold my breath.

 

cradle_1024.jpg

I want to append to this thread that I was in contact with Adorama and they immediately sent me email with an RMA and a printable UPS return shipping label. Fast and professional support of a product the "condition" of which is not their fault. My treatment with hot water has corrected most of the warp and I've decided to just keep the unit as the path of least resistance since it does work and appears to be on the mend.

 

I wanted to let everyone know about the great response from Adorama in this matter since I referenced this thread and image in my initial correspondence with them.

 

s-a