Processing Problems

[nray]

I just started working in my homemade darkroom in the basement developing 4x5 T-Max 400. Using HC-110 and TF-4 Archival Fix.

- Water bath 2 min.
- Develop time:have tried 5.5 -7 min. @72 degrees.
- Water stop bath.
- Fixer 5 minutes.

Most all have come out REALLY thin. Not until I scan do I see something is there. Film expiration on box is 6/2012. HC-110 is about 2 years old now.

Just frustrated. I tried extra developing time today with little difference.

I keep thinking it has to be something simple I am not doing or neglecting. I am a novice at this, just trying to get into black and white. Last year I developed successfully at a rented out darkroom using the same chemicals.

My homemade darkroom consists of a plastic tub about 3' long. In it I have a holder for 4 plastic trays. At the bottom of the tub I bought a 50w fish tank heater. Works well keeping the temps all the same. Just the developing that sucks.

There was one exception. When I first started doing this a few weeks ago, I had two that came out great. Ever since then, crap.

Just venting. Any help or suggestions appreciated.

Norm

[Ari]

Your developer may be getting exhausted.
Get a new bottle and compare the results before you toss the old one.

[photobymike]

Yepper Ari is right i use a rodinal clone and some d76 occasionally .. maybe you are over fixing/bleaching your negs in the fixer... I have found Tmax likes very diluted stop ... also check to make sure your film is in the holder right.... sounds like you maybe shooting thru the anti-halation backing of the film... boy that would do it....emulsion up in the holder... in your right hand hold film with notches in the right hand part of the film....learn emulsion up.... or towards the lens... sorry for being so basic, but it sounds like you are having newbee problems ..... we were all film virgins at one time. oh try 5 minutes for first water wash.... it is very important to bring film to dev temp and wash the anti-halation barrier off ... this is the part of the film that stops light from reflecting off the back plate of the holder ......

[nray]

Yepper Ari is right i use a rodinal clone and some d76 occasionally .. maybe you are over fixing/bleaching your negs in the fixer... I have found Tmax likes very diluted stop ... also check to make sure your film is in the holder right.... sounds like you maybe shooting thru the anti-halation backing of the film... boy that would do it....emulsion up in the holder... in your right hand hold film with notches in the right hand part of the film....learn emulsion up.... or towards the lens... sorry for being so basic, but it sounds like you are having newbee problems ..... we were all film virgins at one time. oh try 5 minutes for first water wash.... it is very important to bring film to dev temp and wash the anti-halation barrier off ... this is the part of the film that stops light from reflecting off the back plate of the holder ......

Haha...yeah...I was wondering the same thing. But I know I had the notches top right. Thanks for the other suggestions. I will keep at it until I figure it out.

[nray]

Your developer may be getting exhausted.
Get a new bottle and compare the results before you toss the old one.

I could test that by increasing the concentration?

[Jim Jones]

If there is no shadow detail, they might be underexposed rather than underdeveloped. Concentrated HC-110 keeps very well. I usually dilute it directly from concentrate to working solution instead of first diluting it to the stock solution and then dilute again to the working solution when ready to develope film.

[sully75]

You are mixing fresh fixer, yes?

I would buy all new chemicals. Worked for me. Maybe you don't need to with HC-110 but in general now if something is borderline old, I dump it. You can also do a fixer test by putting a piece of film into the fixer and seeing if it clears in a few minutes (it should).

Also...XTOL solved most of my problems. I know that's not smart advice, but when I went from D76 to XTOL everything was better. For no good reason.

[photobymike]

I would mix new new chemicals like sully75 said but i would use distilled water. The tap water where i live has chorine in it at high concentrations. So hi of a concentration that it will kill your pets.... and give you gas. You might have some minerals in your water that could "kill" your developer

[nray]

Success! After a lot of frustration and some trial and error....it turns out the distilled water I had bought (cheap), was not too clean and affected the chemicals. New distilled water now and a decent negative. Thanks for the help.

[photobymike]

I am having trouble finding real distilled water. I have an instrument that measures disolved solids ... The stuff i get from walmart mesures 100 ... tap water mesures 400 bottled water 250 ... true distilled water 0 .... I checked with walmart about there distilled water and said they add minerals for taste.... so how come they sell it as distilled water? because there are no rules or laws that govern water sales. not in florida.... so i am in the search for real distilled water.... Real distilled water dissolves anything... and fast.... for now i have been using the walmart water... 10 - 15 gallons a week.

Make d76 with real distilled water and the chemical dissolves almost as fast as you pour it in..... use tap water and it may never get completely dissolved.
Make sure you use distilled water for the final rinse with photoflo ... very important it stops the crud from forming on the negs...

[nray]

I am having trouble finding real distilled water. I have an instrument that measures disolved solids ... The stuff i get from walmart mesures 100 ... tap water mesures 400 bottled water 250 ... true distilled water 0 .... I checked with walmart about there distilled water and said they add minerals for taste.... so how come they sell it as distilled water? because there are no rules or laws that govern water sales. not in florida.... so i am in the search for real distilled water.... Real distilled water dissolves anything... and fast.... for now i have been using the walmart water... 10 - 15 gallons a week.

Make d76 with real distilled water and the chemical dissolves almost as fast as you pour it in..... use tap water and it may never get completely dissolved.
Make sure you use distilled water for the final rinse with photoflo ... very important it stops the crud from forming on the negs...

Hah....thanks for that. Yeah.... my last negative was good, but had smears on it. Using tap water at the end and a bit of some dish soap in the water for final rinse.

[jk0592]

I buy distilled or demineralized water at the local pharmacy, in gallon size. I think it is more to prevent scale formation in some appliances. Anyway it works well.
You should not use soap for final rinse of your negatives. Instead, use photoflo or similar product meant for this specific purpose.

[cyrus]

There really should be no need for distilled water for mixing regular chemicals like fixer and D76

[Pete Watkins]

I know that I'm in a different country and another continent but I use de-ionised water from the local auto spares shop, it's a lot cheaper than distilled over here.
Pete.

[photobymike]

There really should be no need for distilled water for mixing regular chemicals like fixer and D76

Depends on where you live and whats in the water when it comes out of the tap. Some city water is so high with minerals disolved solids that it will not mix anything including instant coffe or cool aid... Our county water registers about 350 on my disolved solids meter... and it has what are called chorimines disolved gas in the water. I is so bad the county does not recommend that your pets drink it. LOL LOL my bird and cats get bottled water... now thats a hoot... anyway.... mixing D76 in distilled water is easy and fast takes less than 5 minutes in room temp water.... that was in distilled water... then when you finish developing your film treat in photoflo but use distilled water because it is clean and will not leave a sludge on your film.... distilled water is one of the most important when developing film. I would bet you have sludge of un mixed chemical on the bottom of your D76 container. If you mix D76 in hot water and cool down ... if it forms crystals on the cap ... your water is to "heavy" with other things disolved in it..... Yea Cyrus i wish there was no need for distilled water, but its his tap water that is at fault here.

Ebay has what is called a TDS (total disolved solids) pen ... its 22 bucks.... there cheap... but well worth the money...... by the way some distilled water sometimes minerals for taste because it is used for baby food formula ect... tru distilled water is hard to find.... i use walmart water ....cheap and has 80 TDS reading....real distilled water has a TDS under 20.....