Third party Jobo tanks on eBay.

[David Aimone]

The Good, the Not So Good, and the Ugly

I'm not giving up quite yet on this tank and reel, but the negatives show a problem. This problem may be heightened by the use of Pyrocat-MC in glycol, but it's a problem.

The good: The development went without a hitch, easy fill and empty, no leaking, no shifting of film.

The not so good: I really like use of the reel, loading, solid enough, and fits nicely onto the spindle and into the tank. The tank itself works as advertised, but the top doesn't fit snugly on the tank. It doesn't leak, but you have to double check to make sure it's on straight and then handle gingerly to make sure you don't accidentally loosen it. Not like the JOBO tank, when the top is on it's ON. That said, it did stay on for me fine through the entire process and I'm guessing it would pretty much every time if vigilant.

The ugly: Hanging up the negatives look lovely. Scanning, the negatives look lovely..........except..... for the two streaks of underdevelopment across the 5" dimension of the negative corresponding to where the two supports are spaced slightly apart halfway across the long side of the negative. So for example (and I'll post examples later), in a portrait mode image, the underdevelopment streaks would be horizontal across the middle of the portrait near the center.



I may try another film/developer combination to see if this effect persists. Other than that, open to suggestions. This was promising, but maybe not the holy grail for rotary 5x7 processing....

By the way, 700ml developer, continuous rotary agitation for 11 minutes; Pyrocat-MC 1:2:100 at 72F

[David Aimone]

Ok, so I contacted the seller on eBay and sent him pictures of the scanned negatives and detailed my development process.

Here is one of the photos that I sent to him:



His reply was that he would gladly refund my purchase, but thought a slower, more gentle rotation would work. So I tried it. It's slightly better, but still prominent. New scan:



So, I think I'll contact him and return it. It's a shame, it would've been nice.

Here's a really annoying video of me gently turning it on a manual roller base (as opposed to my bi-directional motor base):

[hporter]

David,

Will a 5x7 sheet fit the long way into the grooves if you take the rear center support out? My CL-81 doesn't have that rear center clip that is causing the issue. I am curious if I buy the reel only, if I could "adjust" the reel to be a 3 sheet proposition by moving the ends towards one another. and loading them the long way. I would be fine with the reduced capacity. I am just not sure if the sheets would stick out of the ends - or if they would fit too short for the retainer clip to work?

Thanks again for reporting your experience with this item.

Harold

[David Aimone]

Well, in theory that would work. The 5x7 sheets could be loaded all the way through the long way (there's nothing to block it halfway around), but...

There is a second spindle that the reels fit on and then the center "jobo" type spindle goes through that. So, it's a slightly wider diameter and this is what the reel ends attach to. There is also a notch in that second spindle which lines up with a notch on the reel ends. On top of that, inside the second spindle at each end, there is a metal piece that goes about one inch into the inside of each end with a matching notch to the outer plastic spindle.

[David Aimone]

I contacted the seller and asked to return them and shared the images and video. Here's the answer I received:

Thank you for you test.
And sorry for this
So please send me you PayPal account.
I will transfer to you.
And the product you can still keep it.
The problem we must solve in the future. Then we will send the parts to you.
Thanks.

[hporter]

That is great he stood behind his product.

Now you can experiment. Maybe modify the rear clip to change the flow characteristics over it?

[Fred L]

I wonder if a 5x7 sized 2509 reel with retaining wings would be better ? Also wonder if the Poilot designers considered that design as well. Hopefully they'll figure out how to eliminate the streaking and send you a beta reel

I'm presuming that it was simpler to let you keep it vs paying for return shipping. That's good will to be sure on their part which is very heartening.

[David Aimone]

eBay items refunded.

[williaty]

David, did you ever get better results with a different developer or agitation scheme?

[David Aimone]

Well, the only agitation scheme I'd use it for would be constant on the Beseler roller base, and I've only done constant with Pyrocat MC. I should try another developer.

I DID successfully do two sheets only, modifying how I loaded them to minimize the impact of the clips on the circulation and that worked fairly well. This was the result.

David, did you ever get better results with a different developer or agitation scheme?