Two part question about the Jobo 2509n 4x5 reel

[David R Munson]

I'd rather not get into the embarrassing specifics of it, but you know those two black plastic pieces that you snap onto the reel after you load your film but before you put the whole thing into the tank?

Yeah....

1. Can you process without them?
2. Does anyone have a spare set they might be able to send my way?

I'm an idiot. I made a big doofus move and mine are no more. Please, please, please help me out - I want to shoot more 4x5 right now and reeeeeally can't afford a new reel.

[David R Munson]

OK, tentatively answered the first question for myself. I decided to face the music and ran another set of negs without the black wedge things. Initial inspection shows nothing out of the ordinary - they look just like the last set of negatives. So maybe I didn't totally screw myself...

[Joseph O'Neil]

Hi
I use these reels, but not sure of what you mean. Are you talking about the "centre post" that goes down through the middle the reel?

joe

[Salty]

I've developed a few thousand sheets using the reel and have never used the black pieces.

[Nick_3536]

The black inserts were designed to improve the flow of developer. If you aren't seeing any problems without it then you don't need them. If you do have any problems then you need them.

Jobo used to sell spares I think. Who knows today.

[Sal Santamaura]

The black inserts were designed to improve the flow of developer...Actually, they were designed to prevent the film from sliding out during rotation. More even rotary development was a positive unintended consequence.

[merlo.luca1961@libero.it]

David,

As Sal proprely indicated, the two black plastic pieces are designed to prevent the film from sliding during the rotation of the tank. My impression is that you really need them when you rotate manually the tank (for in this case the rotation is less even compared with the machine rotation and the movement of liquid inside the tank is more "brusque"). Obviously the situation is even worse when you process more than 1 reel with a larger tank or in a combination of tanks. In this case more liquid is requested. For example I process 3 reels in one combination of tanks with 1.200 ml of liquid which is far more than the minimum indicated by the manufaturer in such a case. This is pratical and possible since I use as developer the APH 09 (i.e. the older version of Rodinal) that is a very cheap developer here in Europe. With this system I can process 18 sheets in one run. Actually I prepare 2 combination of tanks loaded in this way and use the same fixer for both the tanks. In such a way in one session I can develop 36 sheets of film in two runs using the same fixer that will be then discarded at the end of the process. I have the feeling also that one definitely needs the two plastic pieces when developing the film by inversion (the flowing of the liquid inside the tank is even more "brusque". In any case if you get consistant results without the insertion of the plastic pieces proceed in such a way.

[Nick_3536]

One thing I've never had problem with is the film moving. Getting it out some times is a challenge but keeping it in never.

[Bobf]

Odd - I accidentally left them off just once - the film slipped out and ruined 3 negs. There are two versions however: the 2509 (note no "n") did not have the plastic caps whereas the newer 2509n do have them.

I was using a CPE2 on it's fast speed.

Cheers, Bob.

[David R Munson]

I've now developed two batches without the black plastic pieces with no perceived ill-result. The film has stayed put just fine and development appears as even as ever. For what it's worth, I roll the tank by hand on rollers at about 40 RPM.