Jobo 2840 for B&W prints

It's freezing in my darkroom, but I want to make some 11x14 contact prints, so I'm having another go at B&W printing using a Jobo Drum. Normally I use trays, which is easy. I'd tried with some 5x7 prints a couple years ago, and didn't have much luck then either. In doing some research it sounds like the problem might be having water drip from the drum onto the print, before developer gets to it. Can anyone confirm/explain this, and does anyone have a working process for doing this?

Attachment 172739

Bad white "blotch"
Attachment 172740

Lesser defect
Attachment 172741

Thanks,
Zane

You have to dry the drum before inserting the paper. Looking at the mark I wonder if there is a trace of fix involved? I use a big tank on manual rollers sometimes for 20x16 when I don't want to set up big trays.

I make sure to run two or three water rinses through the tank before moving the print to the main washer. Then I disassemble the lid and cup and rinse those. Dry everything with lint-free paper shop towel.

Something smaller goes on the CPE2 - like doing 8x10 film in a print drum - but the same rules apply - rinse and dry before reuse.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Graham Patterson

You have to dry the drum before inserting the paper. Looking at the mark I wonder if there is a trace of fix involved? I use a big tank on manual rollers sometimes for 20x16 when I don't want to set up big trays.

I make sure to run two or three water rinses through the tank before moving the print to the main washer. Then I disassemble the lid and cup and rinse those. Dry everything with lint-free paper shop towel.

Something smaller goes on the CPE2 - like doing 8x10 film in a print drum - but the same rules apply - rinse and dry before reuse.

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Thanks! I have a couple roller bases that I'm using for developing 8x10 and 11x14 sheets, I prefer that to dealing with my CPE2. I've decided to limit its usage to colour.

It looks like my print problem was needing to get everything dry. That was a very surprising lesson. However, I'm pretty happy with this afternoons results. I managed to produce my first prints from my first 5 11x14 negatives. This camera is pushing me in new directions, including being able to handle printing when it's too cold in the darkroom to do tray development.

Thanks,
Zane

What helped me is to insert the dry paper in the dry tank, and pre-wet the paper for 1-3 minutes with 500 ml water, pour off the water and than pour in the developer..

Good luck,

Cor

Like Cor noted, and so long as the tank is cleaned after previous fixing, use a prewet to get the paper equally wet all over (hence no more drips showing up).

Agree with pre wet. Also use plenty of solution and reuse. You can put 500 ml in for each bath. Just save and reuse.

Looks like something a drop of fixer-laden water could accomplish.