Glad the Woman isn't home.....Unicolor Mess

**Steve H** · 6-Jan-2006, 15:24

All,
So today I dove into trying out my Unicolor roller. I went out and shot 2 rolls of HP5 in 120 format, and planned on trying out the unicolor film drum. So I set it up to do a 1:50 Rodinal Development, @ 9:15 @ 20c. Get everything loaded up to discover that my drum is leaking at about 70ml/min, all over the counter, and onto the kitchen floor. I quickly hang the edge of the drum over the sink, and use my beaker as a catch basin. I figured that the roller needed a min of 360ml to cover the 2 rolls, so I put 460ml of solution in. Therefore, every 1.5mins or so, I would dump the developer back into the drum.....What a mess.
Luckly 1:50 Rodinal isn't strong enough to stain too quickly, so I wipped everything up and hoped for the best....Believe it or not, the negs did come out - rather well too. I'm shocked. I honestly didn't think that they would come out at all.
My mistake was this. When I first got the drum, I washed it out with hot water and darkroom cleaner. I suppose (in hindsight), that this swelled up the plastic seal, and made it leak-proof. Not the case with 20c water in it however.....I guess I'll be making an O-ring this eve.

Regards,
Steve

**ronald moravec** · 6-Jan-2006, 15:49

Now you know why I bought a Jobo for 4x5 and still use all stainless for roll and 35mm.

**windpointphoto** · 6-Jan-2006, 16:04

Told you to keep those gaskets. Hot water shouln't cause any real problems. You dev e6 at 105-110 degrees. More than likely it's just a bad seal or top. You also do not want to put more than half the capacity of fluid in the drum. Make sure the end section is down tight. Try it again with water over the sink. There will always be a little leakage.