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Darkroom Accessories: Jobo Processor

I tried processing color using room temperature color processing chemicals (10 years ago now) with mixed results. I'd guess that about 1 print in 4 was a keeper, and that was after I had spent a long time figuring out the filter pack, since the results were not consistent. I don't know if I was just doing something wrong, or what.

I moved to the chemicals that have to be maintained within a half a degree, at 104 degrees F, and had slightly better results. I was rolling a paper drum in a pan of water that was close to the right temperature for most of the time. I was running water through my in-line thermometer into the pan.

Mixed results, and a preference for Black and White anyway, caused me to not do very much color in the darkroom. But my wife was constantly asking me to 'blow up' pictures of the kids. So I told her I'd have to have a JOBO processor (after doing some research into the available options at the time) before I could do any color with consistency.

Guess what I got for Christmas one year?

Color is much easier with it. I got one with the lift, which is a nice feature.

The processing sequence is as follows
  1. Put the processor in a counter, or in the sink
  2. Fill the water bath tank to the fill line
  3. Turn the power on, and set the temperature to the pen mark I made on the dial after the first time I adjusted it
  4. Prepare the chemicals, put them in the JOBO bottles, and put the bottles into the tank
  5. Put the paper drum to use on the lift and into the water, so it will be at the right temperature when I start
  6. Check the temperature every few minutes (or just go away for a while and come back) until the temperature stops rising
  7. Make minor changes to the thermostat position until the temperature is where I want it, and stabilizes there, then I'm ready to start
  8. Expose a sheet of paper (I won't go into filter packs, or any of that here)
  9. Put the paper into a dry drum, put the lid on the drum
  10. Raise the JOBO lift, put the drum on the lift, lower the lift
  11. Turn the ratator motor on
  12. Wait a couple minutes for the drum to reach the processing temperature
  13. Pour in the right amount of developer, let the machine run for the right amount of time
  14. Raise the lift (the tube is directed into a large beaker - I collect all the color chemicals in this beaker before pouring any of them into the drain, so they can neutralize each other)
  15. Lower the lift, put in the next chemical, run for the right time
  16. Repeat for all the required chemicals, plus one rinse
  17. Remove the drum, take out the paper, and rinse

My JOBO was purchased from B&H Photo. It had a problem with the thermostat at one point, that I didn't know about, but I got a letter from JOBO, asking me to return the unit for repair. They paid the postage, and returned it quite quickly. I've been very happy with my JOBO processor.

As I've written on other pages, the purpose of this site is to help others build darkrooms and accessories. It's a way to reduce the cost of a darkroom, to make it possible for more people to enjoy the hobby. There are some things you can't make as well, or as inexpensively, as for what you can buy them. This is one of those items. Save up, don't waste your time or money on other drums, or small rotator machines, (in fact, if you really want to try the 'cheap' stuff, e-mail me, and for the price of postage, I'll send you that old rotator and drum, if you promise to send it back once you see how futile it is)

Now I'll probably get a bunch of e-mail about how people are doing color without a JOBO, or any other temperature tank processor, and that's great, I couldn't do it. Maybe they could send me all the details, and I'll put it on this site.

Visitor Comments

The comments stated below are not necessarily the opinions of Andy Hughes or DarkroomSource

I've used Jobo processors for years aand have a lot of anecdotes to add but will save you the tedium.... For a long time, I was dissatisfied with commercial labs doing E6 processing of my transparencies. I hated when they came back blue because of old badly replenished chemicals. I tried professional labs who process lots of transparencies and did good work on them, but, took too long. So I ventured into E6 in my Jobo CPA2. Much to my surprise, I got excellent quality and consistent results. I guess I am a walking testimonial for Jobo Processors. Darkroom lab is a much better place to be because of Jobo.
Contributed by   on 2001-10-07 00:00:00

I built a tempering bath. The bath started out with a 50litre picnic cooler. The cooler is insulated. Comes with a lid and a drain. To that I added a 350 watt fish heater. My bath was inspired by design shown on

http://www.dunnamphoto.com/

His uses just a tray but I figured the picnic cooler would work better overall. Intially I rolled a drum in the cooler. Worked well but was work. I then decided to pull out my Unicolor rollerbase and the Gralab 300 timer. For RA-4 the pre-rinse heats the tank and each successive step is short enough that the drum doesn't cool down. The Jobo 2800 drums I use work great with this setup. To start I add warm water to the cooler. The heater can only raise the water in the tank about 3degrees F every 5 minutes so getting close to the starting temp speeds things up. Once the bath is up to temperture the heater rarely runs. Switching to using the motorbase instead of rolling the drum in the tank reduced the on time for the heater. The fact the heater doesn't run much lets me avoid the need for a pump to move the water around.

Total cost for everything [new cooler,heater,motorbase and timer] was likely quite a bit less then $100. The same motorbase and timer get used for developing film. I'm hoping to use the same setup for C-41. The tempering bath can temper a large amount of chemicals. The only thing I might change is drilling a couple of holes into the side of the cooler so that I can slip the wires in that way. Right now the wires keep the lid open.
Contributed by   on 2004-05-17 18:11:01

I have used Jobo for several years. I was in need for additional bottles compatable with jobo processors. Amazon directed me to Adorama who offered a kit? More information \'A KIT\'? How many kits do I need, for the quantity of bottles I require? How many bobbles are in the \'KIT \' they offer. Jobo has four and six bottle kits, or they did in years past.
Anonymously contributed on 2005-11-27 14:45:03

I worked as a printer and darkroom manager for a commercial photographer for 10 years. for the first 5 years we used a film processor that used solenoids to dump chemistry down into the processing tank. Eveything began to rust, dropping rust flakes onto the films. We could never completly clean the flakes off. Then connection began to go, ruining film by not dumping chemistry.
We finally pitched the heap and go a JOBO- it was like when you stop hitting yourself in the head with a hammer. Darkroom work became a pleasure to do again. The machine was quiet, reliable and if not idiot PROOF at least idiot reisitant.
Contributed by   on 2006-06-22 11:13:35

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