Proper Agitation for Dip and Dunk hangers

[Amfooty]

Good afternoon all,

What is the best method for agitating with hangers in a tank? I have some 8x10 that I want to develop, and I have 8x10 hangers and a 2L tank. The past few trys have been with x-ray film which worked, but there were still some issues--namely the shape of the hanger showing up on the negative.

I'm going to be developing Foma 400@400 in Sprint Systems 1:9 (D76), so the time is going to be around 11min instead of the 6 with the x-ray.

Thanks for the help!

[Ian Gordon Bilson]

Kodaks recommendation has always worked for me.
Lift hanger clear of solution. Tilt to left,allow to drain (a couple of seconds). Immerse holder. Lift and drain,tilted to right.
Immerse. A lift slightly and drop to avoid airbells, if you are so inclined. Hanger stays vertical throughout.

[Duolab123]

Kodaks recommendation has always worked for me.
Lift hanger clear of solution. Tilt to left,allow to drain (a couple of seconds). Immerse holder. Lift and drain,tilted to right.
Immerse. A lift slightly and drop to avoid airbells, if you are so inclined. Hanger stays vertical throughout.

This is how I've done it for years, HC-110 Dil B replenished. Also XTOL replenished. Mostly 4x5 and 5x7 but works the same. 1 minute intervals

[Amfooty]

Tilt to left,allow to drain (a couple of seconds). Immerse holder. Lift and drain,tilted to right.
Immerse. A lift slightly and drop to avoid airbells, if you are so inclined. Hanger stays vertical throughout.

Agitate like that every minute, with 1 full minute initially?

[Duolab123]

Agitate like that every minute, with 1 full minute initially?

I always just agitated for the first 30 seconds, first 60 seconds would be OK too. When you get to the Fix the more you agitate the faster it goes.

[Randy]

Amfooty, good luck. I have yet to get what I consider an acceptable negative using 2ltr tanks, hangers for 8X10 X-ray film. I have done very, very slow and infrequent agitation, moderate, faster and more frequent (which gave me the best results) yet still can not get even negs with normal density at the edges. I have given up on processing with hangers, given up on multiple sheets in tray's due to scratching. My next attempt will be single sheets in trays agitating with a hake brush, then striping the back side.

[BetterSense]

I tried hangers but I sometimes got uneven development. Sometimes is too much, so I switched back to trays. If I am careful, I can avoid scratches in trays. Even when I was careful, sometimes I got uneven development with hangers. An astrophotographer once told me that brush development was the only way to ensure totally even development. I have heard good things about nitrogen burst as well.

[dsphotog]

Is it possible that the "imprint" of the hanger on your x-ray film isn't an agitation issue, but fogging from a not-so-safe safelight?
I've had that happen.
Just to eliminate the possibility, maybe try developing in dark.

[Andrew O'Neill]

For me, gentle agitation was key, and not pulling the hanging completely out of solution. If you're still getting surge marks, use trays. A lot of chemistry is required for tanks.

[Amfooty]

I'm going to be using normal film now, so it's going to be in the complete dark. Definitely going to try gentler agitation.