GX680
Hello,
After a long break, I’ve started processing PE paper again. I used to prefer Agfa paper, which is why I ended up choosing the ADOX MCP310 for PE.
As far as the emulsion is concerned, the ADOX seems to be extremely similar to the old Agfa paper. I haven’t noticed any visible difference.
However, I now have the problem that the ADOX MCP310 doesn’t lie flat after air-drying (on a washing line). The paper bulges at the corners towards the emulsion side. With an 18x24 cm sheet, the corners stick up by about 2–3 cm.
After noticing the problem for the first time, I paid very close attention to the times and rinsed at the lower limit (2.5 minutes). Unfortunately, there was no improvement.
None of the other PE papers I still have here exhibit this behaviour during processing in exactly the same way, even with a 5-minute washing.
Does anyone recognise this problem? Might a tunnel dryer help?
Many thanks for any advice on how to resolve this!
MirkoBoeddecker
Since, with the exception of Fomaspeed, all PE papers are cast onto an identical backing, I’m a bit surprised that ‘all other papers’ are said to behave differently. Could it be that they’re simply older?
The problem itself is well known, and the usual ‘complaints’ come flooding in every winter without fail (across all brands) when the air becomes dry.
PE papers curl when the humidity in the room is low. When it rises, they flatten out again. Sometimes it is enough (to try it out, of course) to lay the prints out.
In principle, a tunnel dryer shouldn’t make any difference.
Problems with washing and warping are more likely to be caused by water penetrating the paper backing from the sides.
In that case, the backing bulges up and down at the edges. This cannot be repaired, but it hardly ever happens with the Schöller backing used today.
Best regards,
Mirko
GX680
Thank you very much for the quick reply!
Yes, the others are mostly much older – Ilford MGIV and Agfa MCP310 from 1997–2003. And larger: 30x40. Back then, I didn’t experience this behaviour even in the dry winter air.
As a current comparison, I had Tetenal Work, which I use in 24x30 for contact prints. Processed two days ago, that doesn’t show the effect either
– until just now...
Problem identified! The others are stored in such a way that they are either exposed to very little ambient air (drawer), or that the ambient air can reach them evenly from both sides (well-ventilated negative folder).
When I take a ‘flat’ sheet like this out of the negative folder and place it on the tabletop, I can see the corners curling up.
This is much more pronounced on a plastic tabletop than on a wooden one.
However, this effect seems to be particularly pronounced with the ADOX MCP310 in 18x24. Unfortunately, I don’t have any other formats to test this on.
I’ve just dug out an old (approx. 1998) MGIV. At first it’s absolutely flat, but on the tabletop you can also see it warping. However, it warps around the ‘longitudinal centre axis’, whereas the ADOX warps around the centre point, which looks significantly ‘more flawed’ for the same degree of warping.
If I remember correctly, the papers used to be ‘pre-curved’ in the opposite direction around this ‘longitudinal centre axis’, whereas the new papers lie fairly flat on the enlarger during exposure.
Perhaps there is also a sort of grain direction in the paper substrate, resulting in some favourable and many unfavourable cutting directions during manufacturing?
Best regards,
Stefan
thomas_l
It’s not Fomaspeed’s fault either. Here in my office, leaning against the bookshelf, is a photo that I enlarged using Fomaspeed V. Since winter set in and the central heating’s been blasting away, it’s started to warp. Today it almost looks like a half-pipe. But it’ll sort itself out again in no time.
Best wishes, Thomas
