Jobo 3010 Processing Problem

[Jim Cole]

I have been processing my 4x5 in a Jobo 3010 drum for about three months and in that time I have ruined 5 negatives, the last two today.

I have attached a scan of one of today's negs to see if anyone can suggest what is happening.

The first 2 or 3 times this happened, I thought that I had not gotten all the water out of the lid and some leaked down on the emulsion and sat there while the drum sat in a water bath for 10 minutes or so before processing.

However, my first batch today, the drum had been dry and unused for two weeks. I thought maybe that I had pushed the sheet down too far into the chamber where the bottom gets conical and I interupted the flow of water and chemicals. One sheet was ruined out of five in the drum.

I noted that the problem occurred in chamber #2 so I avoided that one on my next batch of three sheets and made sure I didn't push the sheets down too far. All three sheets came out fine.

Then I processed a single sheet (avoiding chamber #2 again and loading the sheet carefully) and thought I made sure the drum lid was dry. This last sheet was ruined.

All 5 sheets have a similar milky white blotch on the end of the sheet that goes into the bottom of the drum. This blotch shows up as black on the scan. You can see the exposure detail through the blotch. I looks to me as if water has sat on the film and caused the coating to go mushy or something (those are technical terms).

Can anybody guess what I'm doing wrong?

This is Fuji Acros film processed in 1:49 Rodinal at 68 degrees using a 5 minute pre-wash. Stop, fixer and washed as normal.

Thanks in advance,

Jim

[Robert A. Zeichner]

Forgive me if this is obvious to you, but are you loading the film with the emulsion away from the walls of the cylinders? (facing in)

[Jim Cole]

Robert,

Yes I am, and it was a good question that I forgot to address in my initial post.

Jim

[Clueless Winddancing]

Work flow details might help. Level in both directioins, lift assist, aggitation direction(s), pre-rinse duration, duration of development, etc.....

[Jim Cole]

Work flow details might help.

Thanks for helping.

The two runs that I had issues today were N-2 and N-1 runs. N-2 = 4 min 10 sec and N-1 = 5 min 30 sec using the 3010 on a Unicolor motor base. I do not reverse the motor base but let it turn consistently and the base is level. The drum is level at all times except when I dump out solution for about 10 seconds on each changeout. All solutions more than the required 210 ml for the 3010 and all have the required amount of chemical mix per sheet of film in the drum.

Workflow on the turning 3010 drum for Acros and Rodinal is:

5 min. prewash
Developer for required time
1 min. Kodak Stop Bath
30 sec. wash
3 minutes with Ilford Rapid Fixer 1:4 (today, I made fresh fixer for each batch instead of reusing a larger volume which had been my normal method)
5 - Two minute fresh water washes
Final wash with PhotoFlo

Thanks,
Jim

[Fred L]

My guess would be the anti halation hasn't fully cleared. Rewash may help ?

[Jim Cole]

Fred,

Thanks for the suggestion. I am going to try a re-fix and re-wash and see it it clears a bit. I'll report back.

[Eric Brody]

How much chemistry are you using? With a highly dilute developer like Rodinal, you can be generous. I use Xtol 1:2 and use 900ml in my 3010. My 2 cents.

Eric

[Jim Cole]

After re-fixing and re-washing one of the negatives in question, the opaque milky white area was reduced to a slight orange stain with all details in the neg visible that may let me get a good scan out of it.

So, is my three minute Ilford Rapid Fix not long enough, or is 10 minutes of washing with five 2 minute 500ml washes not enough...or both?

Eric, I don't think it's the developer volume since the negs develop perfectly except for this occasional issue. I do use at least 300ml for a single sheet and up to 900ml for 5 or 6 sheets.

Thanks for everyone's continued help,

Jim

[Ron Marshall]

I would fix for at least 5 minutes, you wash time should be sufficient.

I don't do a pre-wet, I fix for five min. in TF4 and wash for five min.; that always clears the anti-halation layer from Acros.