Figured this might be a good place to ask since I'd imagine some fellow LF folks might be using XTOL replenished since dev'ing sheets can require a lot of chemicals. In fact that's the very reason I started down the path of using XTOL-R. The problem I'm having is I'm getting foam which I haven't quite figured out how to mitigate/remove so I can pour most of the solution back into my replenishment bottle. It wasn't as much of an issue when using an accordion bottle but is a problem with glass.
I went with a glass bottle since it has a narrow neck to make pouring easier and also I don't have to fiddle as much with the accordion. Instead my plan was to just put in my 75ml of stock then top it off with the used developer all the way up to the top to avoid an air gap. Trouble is, because of that foam, I'm left with foam at the top. It settles down after about 24 hours but then to fully remove the air gap I have to go back and add a tiny bit more developer.
I tried using my funnels that have a screen on the bottom, but the bubbles seem to either go right through or get created by pouring the dev in. I thought about maybe using a coffee filter but wasn't sure if that was pulling out any chemicals I want in the solution?
I suspect this would be less of a problem with hand inversions over rotary processing which I'm now doing. I know I can hand process with a 2500 but my rotary setup along with XTOL-R has been pretty consistent and it also lets me be a little lazy :P
Long story short, anyone have suggestions on how to tame XTOL foam?
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