darkroom without running water

david1701

david1701

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Hi Guys,


looking at locations for a more established darkroom (long term with printing) and a very attractive option is the workshop which has no running water. Has anyone run a darkroom without?

Lemme know thoughts
 
While it would be nice, I manage fine without. How far away would a tap be for washing prints?
 
How big is the room? Can't you get one of those big platic containers with the little tap on the front (can't think of the word for them now!!!)
 
Put a beer brewing barrel one with a tap on some wall brackets, go to your local caravaning centre and buy a little round caravan sink and sit it on top of another beer brewing barrel.

Water from the top one into the bottom one, you have running water.

Thats the way I did my old loft darkroom.

Both barrels could also be obtained from a large camping outlet.
 
In my teens I converted the garden shed into a darkroom without running water, I used 20L water containers from a camping shop. One full of water running into the print wash and the other used for the print wash to drain in to. I progressed to a hose pipe direct from the outside tap but these froze in winter. In my twenties I rented a small room above a shop for £10 a month and lost days in there not knowing whether it was night or day. There's always a way :D
 
cowasaki said:
Beer keg ? :)
Click to expand...

:LOL: (y)

ChrisH said:
Put a beer brewing barrel one with a tap on some wall brackets, go to your local caravaning centre and buy a little round caravan sink and sit it on top of another beer brewing barrel.

Water from the top one into the bottom one, you have running water.

Thats the way I did my old loft darkroom.

Both barrels could also be obtained from a large camping outlet.
Click to expand...

That's the kind of thing I was thinking about!
 
It is allegedly good practise to pour all your chemicals, from say, film development, into a bucket and then dilute them before you pour down the drain anyway. I think the theory is that the chems. tend to neutralise each other and so do less harm to the drains.

The only time you really need running water (apart from the convenience factor) is when print washing and you could transport all your prints to the bath at the end of the darkroom session.
 
I have a garden tap like 100m away and theres drainage attached to a draining corral next to workshop so long term might run water

Really I'm working out if I want to set up in the utility room with convenient water and in the house but limited storage and have to not use when people are washing. Or use the workshop where I have run of it but need to do loads of tidying and have no water / drainage atm
 
chatting to the management I'm reckoning to set up in the house as atm I'm only really doing slides and if I'm in the way move to the workshop and do it properly, be nice to have a little studio space down there too so might be a more substantial tart up:D
 
I don't have running water in my darkroom either. I use a 6pint milk carton to carry water from the kitchen to the garage. It would be nice to have running water for print washing but it's not strictly necessary (or for me it isn't because I can't see any of my photos being on the walls in 20 years). I just fill a tray with water, leave the print to soak for a couple of minutes and rub the face of it down with my hand or a jay cloth if I've got one handy. Resin coated papers start to delaminate if you leave them in water for more than a couple of minutes, fibre based papers need more washing but actually stand up to soaking better than RC papers from what I've been told. You can always set up two trays for washing and use a print finisher in the second one.

I use 16x12 trays and I can empty all three chemical trays and the rinse water into a big bucket from a diy store to get it to the drain. As for the disposal of the chemicals I was told by the kindly woman at Fotospeed that the only one the water authority don't really like you pouring down the drain is the developer due to the silver content in it, apparently the heavy metals collect and cause blockages. Everything else is pretty much a type of bleach, which you've then diluted anyway so it's not really any worse than the household cleaning product you use anyway.
 
cheers mate, a plan is forming in 2/3 stages with the final one being a workshop darkroom/mini studio/office with running water heating and internet
 
When I said beer keg I wasn't actually joking :)

I have a couple of 30 litre fermenting containers which would be ideal. You can pick them up quite cheaply....
 
aaaaah, seriously if I'm bothering to go to that much effort I'll plumb it in

doesn't need much work, in fact I intend to have it done by the end of the summer, but have a short term and middle term bodges worked out to let me work before then :D
 
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