8x10 BTZS tube film scratches

[Ethan]

Hello,

I recently acquired a set of 8x10 BTZS tubes (the black variant, not the heavier gray ones) and got a lot of scratches on the first two sheets of film I processed. While I was shaking the tubes just after switching caps to the developer, I heard the sheets sliding back and forth inside the tubes, which I'm guessing is when they got scratched. A few months ago I used a set of the gray tubes, I didn't have that issue. With these tubes, should I not shake the tubes after switching to developer, or is there some other trick I should know about?

Thanks,
Ethan

[revdoc]

Try rolling, rather than shaking.

[Ethan]

Try rolling, rather than shaking.

I roll most of the time... the guide I was following said to shake for 10 seconds after switching to developer. For the next sheets I'll try without that I think

[jim_jm]

I've been using BTZS tubes for 4x5, and my own homemade tubes for 5x7 and 8x10 for a few years now, and haven't had any problems with scratches yet. I do shake the tubes for the first 30 sec (as recommended by the Mfr) before rolling them in the water bath. Especially with the 8x10 tubes, I can hear the sheets sliding a bit while shaking.
Have you been able to inspect the inside of the tubes for any rough edges, hard water deposits, etc.?

[Alan9940]

I have the old gray ones, but I've read of scratching problems with the newer black ones. As already suggested, I would try just rolling from the start.

[Kirk Gittings]

I use homemade PVC tubes for my 5x7s and BTZS tubes for my 4x5s. I buff out the inside of my tubes every couple of years with the fine steel wool in a setup on my drill like this in the picture. I do this because I was getting some kind of stain build up that I could not easily remove otherwise (Pyrocat?) and thought that eventually the buildup might begin scratching the film. It also worked well to allay my fears about anything untoward inside the homemade tubes. The buffing works a charm on both tube sets. Oops gotta go to another computer to upload the picture.
It's just a simple looped coat hanger wire with 0000 steel wool pinched in the crook. It should smooth out pretty much any potential problem in whatever system you use, I would think.

[wager123]

i had that problem also I solved it by using window nylon screen cut to size of film no problem since
Mitch

[Edward Pierce]

I got scratches using the 4x5 black tubes. I think they were caused by sliding the film into and out of the tubes. Although I never found that these scratches affected print quality, it made me nervous enough to go back to good ole tray processing.

[Jim Noel]

I use homemade PVC tubes for my 5x7s and BTZS tubes for my 4x5s. I buff out the inside of my tubes every couple of years with the fine steel wool in a setup on my drill like this in the picture. I do this because I was getting some kind of stain build up that I could not easily remove otherwise (Pyrocat?) and thought that eventually the buildup might begin scratching the film. It also worked well to allay my fears about anything untoward inside the homemade tubes. The buffing works a charm on both tube sets. Oops gotta go to another computer to upload the picture.
It's just a simple looped coat hanger wire with 0000 steel wool pinched in the crook. It should smooth out pretty much any potential problem in whatever system you use, I would think.

If you use Photo-flo in the tube, that may be the stain, or contributing to it.