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David Karp
28-May-2008, 10:54
Hi all,

I have read that some of you who use a Jobo Expert Drum on a roller base (I use a 3005 on a Beseler base) wash the film in the drum.

For those who do this, do you fill the drum with water, let it roll for a while, drain, refill, etc.?

Or do you follow a different process?

Thanks in advance.

Bruce Watson
28-May-2008, 11:33
I've been doing this for a while. It seem to work for me, but discussions of washing film nearly always devolve into religious arguments. So you have to read, study, test, and make your own choice.

I typically use five wash steps for 5x4 Tri-X. I haven't tested any other films. Times go up, 1, 1, 2, 4, 8 minutes. The first water rinse could be just 30 seconds but that's sort of painful with a 3010 drum and a CPP-2 lift. And the extra time doesn't hurt. It probably doesn't help either.

The theory here is that the primary mechanism for getting the fixer out is diffusion. People argue like crazy over the actual mechanisms of course. But this theory says that the first rinse is just taking out the liquid fixer that was left in the drum when you dumped the fixer -- hardly any comes from the film. The second wash pulls most of the fixer from the film to the point where the dilution of fixer in the wash water is the same as the dilution of fixer in the film. Since there is so much in the film this doesn't take long at all. The third rinse pulls most of the fixer that's left out of the film, but this time it takes longer to reach equilibrium with the wash water because you are migrating fixer from deep in the emulsion. Same with the forth wash. The fifth wash is more of a safety thing and it might not have any real effect since there is so little fixer left in the film at that point.

You can research this method over on APUG and see the screaming and shouting, the body blows and the slams. It's entertaining for sure, but I'm not so sure it's enlightening. The best enlightenment probably comes from a Kodak Hypo Test Kit. ;)

Ron Marshall
28-May-2008, 12:58
After fixing the film in the Expert drum, I remove the top fill with water and dump, twice, then transfer the negs to a Combi-plan tank for an extended wash.

I also like the dish rack that Ken Lee uses: see his website.

Jan Pedersen
28-May-2008, 13:14
Wash mine in the 3005 on a Beseler base 7 or 8 change of water over a 20 minute period. Same amount of water as my dev and fix.
Final rinse in distiled water with a couple of drops of Edwals LFN in a tray.
Seems to work well.

Vaughn
28-May-2008, 13:15
I do a quick rinse after the fix, maybe a few turns (8x10s in 3005), then another rinse for about a minute, then into a tray of HCA, then wash on hangers.

I guess I am too impatient to wait and see the prints by washing them in the drum. Plus, whether the worry is justified or not, I prefer to get lots of water on both sides of the neg -- I've had problems with the back of the negs before in the 3005 (going to a non-hardening fix seemed to help that).

Vaughn

David Karp
28-May-2008, 14:59
Thanks for the answers. I appreciate it.

Bruce: Do you roll the drum while washing, or do you take off the lid and fill the drum for the soaks.

I can do the hangers for my 4x5 negs, but not for my WP negs. I am going to go on the lookout for a rack I can use with the bigger negs, and use Ken Lee's method.

Thanks again all.

Bruce Watson
28-May-2008, 15:27
Bruce: Do you roll the drum while washing, or do you take off the lid and fill the drum for the soaks.

I let it roll just like development and fixing. The constant agitation doesn't hurt anything and does speed up the diffusion process some by keeping the wash water in turbulent flow, which is, IMHO, a good thing.

David Karp
28-May-2008, 15:36
Thanks Bruce.

This beats using my Versalab print washer to wash the negs. It just uses too much water for this size negatives.

On the other hand, if I wash in a separate vessel, I can develop another 5 negatives sooner!