How Critical is Wash Temperature?

[Bob Kerner]

I have the original Stearman tank, so it's had somewhere around 6 years of usage.

I've been washing my negatives exclusively in the tank since new, never once thought of putting the film in a specialised film washing apparatus.

Washing without running water is easy, a 1 litre kettle (or saucepan) of hot water then mix with tap water to around 23ºC as I use 23/24ºC for film developing. I need approximately 3 litres of water for washing over a 5 minute wash period. The Stearman takes around 465ml of water to cover the film, combined with a slow continuous inversion regime of ever lengthening wash periods, 30 seconds for the first wash, 1 minute for the second wash, and so on.

After the washing is over, I remove the film and using a 5x7" paper tray, I soak in a wetting agent for 30 seconds then hang up to dry.

An easy removal of the film from the film holders, is to have some water in a dish/tray, place the loaded and developed film, still in the holder onto the water, then removal of the top sheet is as easy as anything. Immediately after removing the first sheet, turn the film holder over so the remaining film is on the top. It only remains there until I have finished the wetting bath of the first sheet.

This sounds like a longer version of the Ilford method. Fill tank. Invert 5 times, dump, the 10x, then 20x then drop of wetting agent. Remove and hang. I have been using distilled water for the last two steps. Never a problem in the Patterson tank with 6x6 reels but noticed marks on the last batch from the Stearman. I have to go back and look at other runs’ negatives. Maybe it was just a fluke but all 6 had a line of dots that more or less align with the plastic on the film holders.

[Tin Can]

All water in my DR is

Filtered and 68 F

Waste water is filtered by coal mine

[Mal Paso]

AKA, "Dump it in the creek"

That's Rude! Insult first, check facts later?

[Mick Fagan]

Hmmm, using a wetting agent in the film tanks......

Is it possible that there has been a very slight build up of material on the film holders due to using a wetting agent in the tank?

Perhaps a thorough clean of the film holders, under the tabs and/or anything else that restrains the sheets of film, may fix the issue. As I understand it, the tank worked correctly, but after some usage, the issue appeared.

[Bob Kerner]

Hmmm, using a wetting agent in the film tanks......

Is it possible that there has been a very slight build up of material on the film holders due to using a wetting agent in the tank?

Perhaps a thorough clean of the film holders, under the tabs and/or anything else that restrains the sheets of film, may fix the issue. As I understand it, the tank worked correctly, but after some usage, the issue appeared.

Thought of that. Everything gets a thorough wash and scrub after each session.

[Mick Fagan]

Any chance of seeing a picture of an affected negative?

With a close look at the faults in the negative(s) it may trigger something in one of our collective brains.

[Mal Paso]

If you are processing B&W 68 degree wash is perfect, a few degrees off processing temp is fine. Really cold wash may cause grain clumping.

Color should have a tempered wash.

Doesn't sound like a temperature issue. Kodak stainless hangers would leave hyper agitation marks on film if you weren't careful.

[jnantz]

That's Rude! Insult first, check facts later?

Hi Mal Paso

that's what some folks do .. I remember watching Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt in IDK 1991, when I was stranded in a motel for a few days
because of a blizzard .. they did a long format Sunday morning story on a photographer who lived off the beaten path, in a rural area. he was just known by his neighbors as "the picture making guy" ...
he didn't wash his glass plates in the sink with running water, instead he put them in the creek behind his house. Getting back to the OP's question .. the creek was cold . the picture making guy made some of the most beautiful mundane images of where he lived .. I wish I could buy a collection of his work ...

[xkaes]

Something tells me that's not the only thing "the picture making guy" put in the creek. Let's just hope he didn't have any apprentices.

[Mal Paso]

Hi Mal Paso

that's what some folks do .. I remember watching Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt in IDK 1991, when I was stranded in a motel for a few days
because of a blizzard .. they did a long format Sunday morning story on a photographer who lived off the beaten path, in a rural area. he was just known by his neighbors as "the picture making guy" ...
he didn't wash his glass plates in the sink with running water, instead he put them in the creek behind his house. Getting back to the OP's question .. the creek was cold . the picture making guy made some of the most beautiful mundane images of where he lived .. I wish I could buy a collection of his work ...

City folk must stay up nights imagining what people do in the country. I've lived in the forest almost 40 years and never dumped anything in a creek. Environmentholes are like nuns, everything they fail to understand is a Sin. Decades after lead bullets were banned Condor lead poisoning is still going UP. Someone finally posted a photo of Condors eating Lead Paint off an old Forestry Fire Watchtower. Like the Romans, they think it tastes good. Has anything been done to clean up those toxic sites? Probably not as everyone "knows" the cause is bullets and anyone who says different isn't "sensitive". I live here because I love the environment and I think that's the reason most live in the country.
This guy stopped by for a visit and posed for pictures for almost 2 hours a month ago.