Developing 7X17 in JOBO with pyrocat

[jerry brodkey]

I've got some 7X17 negatives to develop and everything needed to develop them in a JOBO

tank except the plastic inserts which JOBO is having trouble supplying. Their supplier of the

plastic is out and they are having trouble finding a replacement. In any case my question is:

can one just put the film in the large JOBO 3063 tank with nothing holding it in place. The tank has ribs

that are about 1 1/2 inches apart so presumbably the film will be held away from the side of the tank. I wonder if the film would just float on top of the developer. I could weight the ends with some clips but I don't know what other problems that would cause. Has anyone ever done this?

Many Thanks,

Jerry

[Nick_3536]

Isn't the 3063 a big print tank? If it is you'll find plenty of threads on using Jobo print tanks with film. Seems to work for most of us.

[jerry brodkey]

Nick,
Thanks for the reply. I was wondering that without the plastic insert
I wouldn't know how to keep the film from moving inside the drum. I have looked at the threads
and don't see the question addressed. Do you think that might be a problem?

Thanks,

Jerry

[Michael Mutmansky]

Jerald,

I don't know about the larger drum you have, but I regularly do two 7x17 sheets in the Jobo 2850 (I think that's the correct number) drum. It was designed for up to 16x20 sheets of paper.

The only trick is to pull it off the drum occasionally and slosh it back and fourth while rotating it to avoid uneven development at the center point where the seam is. You may not have that issue with the larger drum, as I think it is a single piece.

I recommend you consider using 3:2:100 or 2:1:100 or a similar dilution. The increased 'A' will help keep B+F down and make the stain nice and mostly proportional.

---Michael

[jerry brodkey]

Thanks Michael,

Just so I understand, you put the film in with the tank upright, curl the film with the 7 inch ends almost touching.

Then put the film in the bottom of the tank and another film above it. There is nothing really that holds the film in place except its tendency to straighten out flat. They don't move about or slide together.

Is that the way?

Jerry

[Michael Mutmansky]

Jerald,

The sheets go into the drum vertically. The ribs on the drum I use are set up to hold a sheet of paper in position so it doesn't move around. So one goes in curved into a 'C' with the emulsion facing in on one side, and the other goes in the same way on the other side. There are ribs that seperate the sheets and keep them from overlapping. I rarely get one that will pop out of the ribs.

---Michael