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  #11  
Old 15th September 2021, 02:29 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Hi Ian,
Thanks for the insight. Some good advice there. I had never considered adding wetting agent to developers. Some of my homebrew D76 gave me bubbles, even in the relatively moderate-hardness water at home in Ontario. It caused the bubbles to show up as uneven development on the top edges of the negs where they were trapped by the reels. My fix was rather aggressive banging of the tank after each inversion cycle, but I'd rather not have to do that as it's chipped the bottoms of my Patterson tanks...I fear that a tank will explode on my one day, that's how hard I have to whack it. A drop or two of Photoflo is a great idea. Thanks for the tip.

Re. filter jug - do you mean the Brita type? That's what we can get here...not sure if you know that brand in the UK. They are available everywhere, so can easily pick one up. Good option to a big 5 gallon jug of DM water. Would you recommend using it for mixing stock solutions too, or only diluting?
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  #12  
Old 15th September 2021, 02:52 PM
Lostlabours Lostlabours is offline
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Yes Brita or equivalent, I only use my Brita to mix stock not final dilution.

I did some tests years ago in Turkey and without a tiny amount of wetting agent there was no way I could dislodge air bells in my dev tanks using Pyrocat HD.

Ian
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  #13  
Old 15th September 2021, 03:03 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Good to know on both counts, Ian. Thanks again. Not sure if I will go with a Brita now, or just get a 5 gallon jug of DM water. I will pick up one or the other soon, as a select few of my film cameras and many rolls of 120 and 135 have been shipped and should be here by week's end. Really looking forward to shooting film again after more than a year of digital-only.
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  #14  
Old 15th September 2021, 06:45 PM
Nat Polton Nat Polton is offline
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I have been pondering getting a Brita myself.

According to the adverts, the filters in a couple of the jug types have indicators telling you four weeks have elapsed, and it is time to change the filter.

Does the filter cartridge degrade and cease to work after four weeks?
If so it may not be so economical filtering a few gallons as the need arises in the darkroom.
Or is it just a reminder for normal domestic use?

Cheers.
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  #15  
Old 15th September 2021, 08:19 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Nat, we have a Brita at home (the one in Ontario; not my house in BC where I work), and it has a "counter" of sorts in the lid which keeps track of how many times one has poured a glass out of it. After a certain volume (number of tips) it flashes red telling you it's time to change the filter. I find this more useful than the 4-week type, which has nothing to do with how much water you've passed through it. Filter life is more related to volume of water run through than elapsed time, as far as I can see.
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  #16  
Old 16th September 2021, 11:02 AM
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Martin Aislabie Martin Aislabie is offline
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I think pretty much all developer manufacturers recommend a couple of sharp taps of the tank into a hard surface after the developer has been poured in the first set of inversions carried out.

Personally, I always do them after every set of inversions - just on the off chance.

I recently developed some roll film for the first time in ages (most of my film is 5x4) and missed tapped the tank on to dry hard surface but rather tried to tap the tank on to the bottom of a sink that had perhaps 6 mm of water in. The water acted like a cushion/shock absorber and I suffered air bell marks on my film for the first time in over 40 years. The subsequent inversions were tapped against a hard dry surface but it seems the damage was done.

Martin
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  #17  
Old 16th September 2021, 02:02 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Aislabie View Post
I think pretty much all developer manufacturers recommend a couple of sharp taps of the tank into a hard surface after the developer has been poured in the first set of inversions carried out.

Personally, I always do them after every set of inversions - just on the off chance.

Martin
For sure Martin. I have always done the taps after every inversion cycle, but using homebrew D76 caused a lot more bubbles that I hadn't experienced before. This needed a significant increase in the violence of the bangs just to dislodge them from the tops of the reels, where they would accumulate when the tank was at rest. I will try Ian's idea of adding a couple of drops of wetting agent to the developer to get around this, at least when I use the home-mixed formulas. With packaged brews I should be OK.
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  #18  
Old 17th September 2021, 11:00 AM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Svend View Post
For sure Martin. I have always done the taps after every inversion cycle, but using homebrew D76 caused a lot more bubbles that I hadn't experienced before. This needed a significant increase in the violence of the bangs just to dislodge them from the tops of the reels, where they would accumulate when the tank was at rest.
I too do taps of the tank onto my free hand after every set of inversions at the end of each minute.

But it's interesting to read that you have a lot more bubbles Svend, when using your own brewed mixes. For I too have been using home-brewed D76 / ID11 for a while now with no problems. How have you managed to notice this, with the tank being closed to light? Have you had 'bubble' markings on the film for instance?

Terry S
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  #19  
Old 17th September 2021, 12:46 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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I too am a hard tapper after every set of inversions while I am "putting on the top hat and tying up my tails at the same time"

Mike
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  #20  
Old 17th September 2021, 02:54 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry S View Post
I too do taps of the tank onto my free hand after every set of inversions at the end of each minute.

But it's interesting to read that you have a lot more bubbles Svend, when using your own brewed mixes. For I too have been using home-brewed D76 / ID11 for a while now with no problems. How have you managed to notice this, with the tank being closed to light? Have you had 'bubble' markings on the film for instance?

Terry S
Hi Terry,

Yes, one of the first times I used homebrew D76 I got the bubble marks along the upper edge of the film as it sat in the reel. I'm thinking it was some sort of reaction with the tap water at home. On tipping the developer out at the end, it was pretty frothy, far more so than I'd seen before. I just checked the hardness value for that water (Lake Ontario source) and it turns out it is a lot harder than I thought - 120 to 130 mg/L CaCO3, which is considered "hard" on the scale. I had no idea it was that hard. It will be interesting to see how it goes in BC at my house here once I start using demineralized or filtered water. I plan to keep using homebrew D76 and Perceptol as my standard developers. It wouldn't surprise me if I got less bubbles and froth. I will let you know.
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