Removing film from Jobo Expert Drum 3005

[dvoort]

After a lot of trial and error I am now able to consistently develop 8x10 sheets of Fomapan with my Jobo CPP2 and Expert Drum. I have to admit it took me longer than I expected, my negatives suffered from uneven development, mysterious pinholes, scratching etc. But leveling the processor, making sure that the lid of the drum is on perfectly straight, using plain water instead of stopbath and adding a 5m pre-wash seems to have done the trick. (Recording this here so people that might run into the same problems that I have might benefit from it.)

No my actual question; the only thing I haven’t figured out is what the best way is to remove the wet developed film from the drums without causing scratches. As stated before I’m using Fomapan that seems to be extremely delicate when wet, much more so than films from Ilford and Kodak. I have tried bare hands, gloves, pincers, but none of them guarantee scratch free removal. Any suggestions?

[cowanw]

The emulsion is not touching the walls, which helps. I leave the drums full of water and grasp the two top corners, pull them together to decrease the diameter of the rolled up film and pull out.
And welcome to LFPF

[ic-racer]

I usually grab the film in the middle with the snap I use to hang for drying. I pull straight up to get the film out of the chamber.
196679

[tgtaylor]

DON'T push the sheet down deep into the slot! When I load I load with the notch up and to the right so that I know the emulsion side is lacing inward as it should and I leave a little (the rebate) protruding from the slot so that I will know that slot has film in it (especially important when loading 10 sheets into a 3010 drum). When all sheets are loaded you can feel the rebates sticking up from the slots with you thumb. Then, and only then, gently push the rebates down just inside the drum so that you can easily extract them with your thumbs touching only the rebate. If you push the sheets all the way down into the drum you're going to have a hard time extracting them. Leaving the tank full with water is probably a good idea as the water acts as a lubricant but I never had a scratch using Kodak, Fuji, and Ilford film.

Thomas

[BradS]

I remove the lid, flood the tank with fresh water and grab the film with fingers....and of course, as Thomas points out, it is imperative that the film is loaded with the emulsion side facing in.

[Alan9940]

I've processed all kinds of 8x10 film in an Expert Drum and never have any scratches upon removal of the film. That said, I use the same removal technique as Bill, but I don't flood the drum with water. Foma film of all sizes is very soft when wet. I would suggest, as others have, to fill the drum with water, and use Bill's technique of pinching each side inward, then pull straight up. Be careful you don't gouge the emulsion with a corner, though.

[Chauncey Walden]

I load and remove the film from a drum full of water. And for the record, JOBO instructions say "When loading the Drum with films of sizes 8 1/2 x12", 8x10" or 5x7", push the material to the bottom of the Drum cylinder."

[Bernice Loui]

Fill the Jobo film drum cylinders for each sheet of film full of water, then very carefully lift the sheet of film into the cylinder full of water by using the edge seam of the cylinder to aid moving the sheet of film into the cylinder full of water, then roll the sheet of film into a smaller diameter than the diameter of the cylinder. Be really careful rolling the sheet of film as wet emulsions are VERY FRAGILE and prone to damage. If the non-emulsion side is scratched, this will cause a different set of problems. Once there is enough water between the rolled up sheet of film and cylinder wall, the sheet of film can be easily floated out of the cylinder scratch free without sticking to the cylinder walls by a gentle lift out.

Note on loading film into the cylinders. Do not push the sheet of film fully into each individual cylinder until the entire drum is loaded. Allow the edge of the sheet film to stick up. This is an effective way to keep track of which cylinders have film and which cylinders do not. Once all the sheets of film are in. Gently push the sheet of film to the bottom the cylinder. If this is not done, the sheet of film will migrate to bump the top of the drum causing development problems.


Bernice

[Jim Noel]

I load my Expert drums dry, and unload after filling with water. never a scratch, even with double sided X-Ray film.

[Jim Galli]

Each cell space has a small gap that goes all the way down to the bottom. I use an ice pick and that slot to get the pick behind the sheet, maybe an 8th inch and then I carefully travel around until I can lift a corner from behind. Once the corner is lifted, the clothespin that it will hang to dry on is clamped on the unexposed rebate on the edge and I pull it out.

[Jeroen]

I gave up on Fomapan for all the reasons you mention. Adox film is in the same price range and as easy to develop as Ilford and Kodak.

[dvoort]

Hi, thank you all for your tips. I am going to try each and every one of them! I might also switch to Ilford film, although I like the tonality of the Foma film and its price.