MehmetCati
Hi!
I was busy developing films yesterday and was horrified to discover that one of them has a ‘dry spot’ running from top to bottom. :D
Is there anything I can do about it?
My question isn’t really about preventing this from happening next time (I think it was simply still too warm in the evening. I hadn’t wiped it down thoroughly enough and the water simply dried away too quickly. It only affects one film out of six anyway, and it was my first time).
Is there any way to get rid of it?
What about ‘damage control’ now?
Does anyone have any good tips or experience with this????
Regards
M.C.
CPD
Hello Mehmet,
Try wetting it again – you’ll see if it works.
Regarding drying: Soak the hose in demineralised water, using a wetting agent concentration slightly lower than the manufacturer’s instructions.
I don’t use a squeegee; I had a bad experience with one once.
It’s best to dry them in the bathroom; let the hot shower run for a few minutes beforehand and you’ll never have dust problems again.
AND: Stretch the films diagonally across the door frame or similar for drying. I got this tip from a book; it works perfectly – the excess water drains straight to the edge of the film.
Regards, CP
MehmetCati
Hi CPD!
Thanks so much for your advice.
I’ll water it again.
This sort of thing doesn’t usually happen to me – or at least it hasn’t happened yet.
I use Mirasol (0.5 ml per 1 litre) and wipe it off.
I don’t use distilled water for this either, just tap water.
It’s always worked so far.
I haven’t had any issues with dust either.
I was just a bit sloppy last night and didn’t wipe it down properly. Also, it was still quite warm in my ‘drying room’ – about 25 degrees – from the heat of the day. I think the water dried off too quickly.
I’m assuming this was a one-off...
AND: Stretch the film diagonally across the door frame to dry. I got this tip from a book; it works perfectly – the excess water drains straight to the edge of the film.
Wow...
I’ll give that a go next time (even though I don’t think it’s strictly necessary, as it’s working fine at the moment).
I just hope I remember when I go back into the room..... :D
(you don’t always look that closely at where you’re going...).
Many thanks and
KEEP SMILING
M.C.
Gast
Hello!
If rinsing again doesn’t help, try soaking the film in a slightly acidic solution (e.g. water with a dash of acetic acid or stop bath) to dissolve the limescale stains, then rinse and dry.
Incidentally, I haven’t used a wetting agent for some time now (as they all, even at the lowest concentrations, occasionally caused wetting agent stains; Kodak PhotoFlo was the best, but it’s hardly available anymore); my final bath is demineralised water, followed by 1 minute in a salad spinner, and then drying – since then, I’ve only heard of stains second-hand...
CPD
Hi Mehmet,
You shouldn’t go into the room while the film is drying anyway. :D
As for the water, here’s the thing: where I’m from (south-west Germany), we had rock-hard, limescale-laden water from the village wells, with dreadful limescale marks; during my studies, I used water from Lake Constance, which was a bit better; now I live in Dresden and the water is actually harmless.
I’m sticking with that water anyway; compared to thirty-five years ago, it’s so cheap that you really don’t need to worry about it.
I’ve started making one or two substances (reverse developers...) myself (though I’m still in the experimental phase), and that water has the advantage that you can do without the complexing agents that would otherwise be necessary.
I just feel safer that way – whether it’s necessary or not.
Regards, CP
MehmetCati
Hi!
Right, I think I’ll give it a go straight away with a dash of acetic acid.
I’ll probably do the whole thing in a bowl, as I’ve already cut it into streaks (I only noticed the dry patches when I was cutting it up).
Let’s see what’s the best way to handle the streaks for drying.
Citric acid should work as well, shouldn’t it?
I just didn’t know that you can ‘treat’ a film again after drying, in whatever way.
As for the water:
I do think distilled H₂O is always the better choice. Since it’s always worked out fine so far, I simply haven’t bothered to get any. As I live in the countryside, a trip to the petrol station, chemist’s etc. always feels like a journey to Mars :D and ordering it by post, like my other photographic supplies, seems a bit of a faff to me.
There’s only one photo shop nearby here anyway...
Otherwise, I always stick to the saying:
never touch a running system
As long as it works with the tried-and-tested ‘duo’ of Mirasol and wiping...
you shouldn’t enter the room anyway whilst the film is drying.
Well, I don’t have that much space available, though.
I usually conduct the development of two films at the same time in one go. Once the first two are hung up, the next batch follows.
Then I’d have to hang these two films in another room, and so on :P
KEEP GOING
M.C.
cfb_de
Hi Mehmet,
It’s not really that big a deal about the ‘No Entry’ sign. It’s just that constantly opening and closing the door isn’t very cool. Putting up a new strip every now and then should be fine (at least that works for me).
Then the next morning, before your shower, take the films down, cut them up and bag them (okay, I’m a bad example – I’ve still got three or four hanging on the door here).
I can only agree with Roman’s tip about the salad spinner. My wetting agent for baryta drying will be used up soon. I don’t need it for films anymore.
Best regards,
Franz
MehmetCati
Hi!
Sure, that bit about all the ‘drying rooms’ was just a bit of a joke.
I always leave the door open there anyway. It’s basically the laundry room down in the basement, right next to the room where I’m enlarging the photos.
There doesn’t seem to be much dust flying about in there. At any rate, I’ve never had a single speck of dust stick to the film.
I’d already found the tip about the salad spinner using the search function because of the dry spot problem.
I’ll definitely give that a go. If I’m happy with it, I might not buy any more Mirasol.
Is it actually advisable to generally mix photochemicals with distilled water?
The manufacturers of various developers etc. say that tap water isn’t a problem, but perhaps...
who knows?
KEEP GOING
M.C.
cfb_de
Hi Mehmet,
The salad spinner’s brilliant :-) But the machine you’ve got standing there anyway is actually even better suited to the job. If your washing machine lets you set it to ‘spin’ only, that’s the best way to do it. Thread a wire through the drum, wrap the film reel around it, set it to 1400 rpm and you’re done. The film will be practically dry afterwards. Maybe leave it to hang for another 30 minutes. (My stupid new machine can’t do that anymore, unfortunately. It was probably sacrificed for the sake of the ‘energy efficiency class’.)
Keep a few things in mind with the salad spinner:
- Crank mechanism. Enclosed to prevent wear and tear. A cable pull won’t do.
- The reels should fit inside. <G>
- It should look completely different from all the other salad spinners used in the household. And somehow be *clearly* marked as the “photo part”.
- Put it in the dishwasher or wash it twice before first use. Wash off the coating.
Re: distilled water: I prepare standard solutions using tap water; industrial liquid products contain so many complexing agents that pH range 3 is no longer a concern. However, this also explains my willingness to retest southern times after moving to an area with ‘different water’. Seen in this light, distilled water would be good for this. But I’m too lazy. I usually prepare a bucket at the desired temperature and work through the first three Ilford rinsing steps with that.
When making my own solution, I use distilled water because the only complexing agent I have is ‘Photocalgon’ and I don’t want to go to the trouble of buying all the other rubbish that might be listed in recipes.
Best regards,
Franz
Gast
I just didn’t know that you could ‘treat’ a film again in some way after it had dried.
So it’s not a problem. Older negatives are sometimes re-wetting and post-treated with a stabiliser bath (wetting agent and formalin 1%).
In most cases, you can prepare photochemical solutions using tap water. Only with very hard water is it better to use demineralised water, and for moderately hard water, it is advisable to carry out the final bath with the wetting agent in demineralised water.
Best regards,
Fotohuis RoVo
Robert
MehmetCati
Hi Robert, hi Franz,
Thanks for the extra info.
I haven’t got round to rinsing the film yet. I’ll probably do it sometime this week and see if it works and if I can get rid of the dry spots (or rather, the big spot).
As for the salad spinner, a silly question:
Wouldn’t it be better to place the spirals (I think I’ll use two, a.) for balance and b.) because I usually develop two films at the same time anyway) ‘vertically’ (so that the top of the film faces upwards and the water is flung out to the side)?
Is that possible, or is it stable?
Otherwise, if the spirals lie flat, the water would have to get trapped on the outer side of the film from the inner side, wouldn’t it?
Well, probably too much ‘theory’.
I’ll just give it a go and then I’ll see...
Otherwise
KEEP GOING
M.C.
Gast
Yes, the reels are placed so that the water is flung outwards, with the reel’s axis pointing towards the centre of the spinner; two are connected to counterbalance any imbalance (ideally using an ‘axis’ – in my case, a long plastic spoon).
Gast
Hi,
I went to buy a salad spinner first thing this morning: my goodness! There are some posh ones out there! Even electric ones! CP in Wonderland!
I think I saw a cheap one at Walmart a few weeks ago, though – it doesn’t have to be stainless steel, unless you’re using baby food jars and want everything to match.
Regards, CP
cfb_de
Hi CP,
Is this what you mean?
(electric)
Or the manual version (on the right, cheap at 140 euros)?
(manual)
Best regards,
Franz
Gast
Hi Franz,
No – that beats what I saw this morning! But I popped down to the cellar a while ago, as I remembered something. And what do you know? A hand-cranked spin dryer! It really belongs in a museum of technology, but I’m going to snatch it up and give it a good clean first.
Best wishes, CP
CPD
Hi Mehmet,
Do you actually wear the clothes in your avatar picture when you're coding? :D It must be pretty warm in this heat!
Regards, CP :P
MehmetCati
Hi CP!
No, it’s not a costume – I always look like this, and my name’s actually Bender.
Usually I just open that flap on the front. Pop the film in, add the developer, and you’re done.
(Do you know Bender? He’s from a series that used to be on TV called Futurama. I don’t have a telly these days, but I’ve got a few episodes on DVD).
The heat is really knackering…
At the moment, I always have to cool my chemicals down in a water bath. Somehow that’s harder than warming them up.
But seriously, there are some really ‘crazy’ salad spinners, like the one I saw at Franz’s.
That electric one looks exactly like my grandma’s spin dryer.
That was back in the days when we had electricity, but washing machines didn’t have a spin cycle yet.
The manual one (20L) might be worth it if I get the Jobozusatztank for 10 films :D
KEEP SMILING
M.C.
strokjo
Hi Mehmet,
Unfortunately, I can’t really help you with this problem now, as I’m sure it’s already been sorted. It’s been a year since that post. But I hope this email reaches you anyway (is the ‘reply agent’ activated?). Do get in touch.
Best regards, Joerg
strokjo@yahoo.de :ph34r:
piu58
I always use a wetting agent and a squeegee. I rinse it with almost boiling water before every use. This softens the rubber. I’ve never had any problems; the films dry much faster, and I never get limescale marks with my water (~15 dH).
