Robert has sent along the following update on the Optical Disc Lab project. Thanks again to all who have generously donated! We still have a ways to go funding-wise, so if you’d like to help, please reach out to us! Also, don’t forget that 100% of our cut from merch sales goes toward this project!
All of the major pieces of equipment have been acquired and are in the lab.
The film processor installation requires four major pieces of infrastructure:
- Electrical: Complete
- Water connection: Mostly complete
- Drain connection: Needs a pump
- Venting: Needs some work
The electrical portion is complete. The film processor runs on 200 to 240 VAC, 13 amps. It required breakers in the panel, an electrical line run through the ceiling into the lab, and a special wall outlet with matching power cord/plug.
The water connection is mostly complete. This required some plumbing (tapping into a nearby kitchen supply and drain). A utility sink was installed for cleaning/maintenance of the processor rollers. A cold water line was run into a wall-mount filter and monitoring unit. All that’s required is to run a hose from the wall-mount unit to the processor.
The processor drains its used chemicals into buckets for special waste processing. However, the cooling water drains to the sewer. I will be using the sink drain for this. The machine’s outlet is lower than the sink, so I will need a pump with a storage tank. There is a type of pump for draining air conditioning condensate that should work well for this. I just need to select one with the right capacity and flow rate.
Venting is the next big thing. I will need to run a duct from the machine through a duct fan, and then through the ceiling. From there it will travel to an outside wall (concrete). I just received the duct fan today (December 13), and it works great! I have a contractor lined up that is going to run the duct through the ceiling and drill through the outer wall. He’s really busy, but he’s trying to find an opening in his schedule (early next year?)
After the film processor is taken care of, I’ll start into building the darkroom enclosure.