Advice for color darkroom at university lab? (C-41 and RA-4)

[Amanda B]

Hello all!

I teach a darkroom Color Photography class every other year, using Jobo units for C-41 processing and a vintage Kreonite Promote II print processor to make prints. We always struggle with keeping the chemistry fresh and getting bright whites (prints are generally pinkish - even when the chemistry is fresh). Do you have any suggestions about operating or chemistry that might give us better results?

I've been using Fuji chemistry and Fuji paper.

Also looking for help here or a technician in Texas who can repair Beseler Dichro 45s enlarger heads (I have 2 that blow bulbs).

Thanks in advance!

 

[mshchem]

First question on the colorheads, are the cooling fans operating properly?

Trying to maintain an antique roller transport processor is kinda nearly impossible.

Students should probably learn to use something like a tray or a tube. Problem is no one makes print tubes today.

 

[koraks]

prints are generally pinkish

How do you wash them? The wash that the Kreonite provides will probably not be sufficient to remove all of the blix. This leaves an orange stain in the whites. It also negatively affects the archivalness of the prints.

 

[DREW WILEY]

You also need a stabilizer additive in roller-transport processing. Once the print comes out, wash it longer in a large tray of water with a Kodak tray siphon or something like that. Better yet, teach drum processing, since that is a far more accessible option to students going forward, potentially doing their own RA4 processing affordably. Multiple final rinses can be done within a drum itself. ... yes, a little longer overall time that way; but being in a hurry is a habit worth breaking.

My objection to tray-developing color is that there is more risk or sensitization to the chemicals. The Dev and Blix components aren't as benign as typical black and white developer ingredients.

 

[Paul Howell]

As you teach as a University is any one on campus that could 3d print a Beseler or Cibachrome tube and caps?

 

[DREW WILEY]

Those things have to fit together precisely. But unless you need especially large drums, there are still plenty of used ones around. They can also be improvised out of black ABS DWV pipe and caps - much easier than 3d printing them.

 

[koraks]

3d print a Beseler or Cibachrome tube

3D printing is not a very sensible manufacturing mode for this kind of item for several reasons.

 

[Amanda B]

How do you wash them? The wash that the Kreonite provides will probably not be sufficient to remove all of the blix. This leaves an orange stain in the whites. It also negatively affects the archivalness of the prints.

Thank you for that suggestion! The processor has two water wash tanks, which is all we have used to this point. Do you think I should add stabilizer or something else to the wash? Typically, I drain and refill the wash each day that we print.

 

[Amanda B]

You also need a stabilizer additive in roller-transport processing. Once the print comes out, wash it longer in a large tray of water with a Kodak tray siphon or something like that. Better yet, teach drum processing, since that is a far more accessible option to students going forward, potentially doing their own RA4 processing affordably. Multiple final rinses can be done within a drum itself. ... yes, a little longer overall time that way; but being in a hurry is a habit worth breaking.

My objection to tray-developing color is that there is more risk or sensitization to the chemicals. The Dev and Blix components aren't as benign as typical black and white developer ingredients.

Thank you for that idea! Does it matter that the prints will have been dried before that wash? Should I add stabilizer to one of the washes in the processor, or is that not long enough?
We do have two Jobo processors, but drum processing does not seem very practical in a class of 15 students. Tray processing, as you said, is too toxic. I know that they probably won't have access to a print processor after they graduate, but the class helps them see color in a different way and to gain an appreciation of the look and feel of color film. We also have many digital classes and others using emerging technologies - trying to give them a very broad understanding of photography.

 

[Amanda B]

First question on the colorheads, are the cooling fans operating properly?

Trying to maintain an antique roller transport processor is kinda nearly impossible.

Students should probably learn to use something like a tray or a tube. Problem is no one makes print tubes today.

Thank you for your question about the enlargers. Yes, the fans are working. Someone in another thread just suggested it might be the vacutrol, which I've read causes other problems like a print delay, so I will try replacing those (if I can find a replacement part) and see if it solves the issue.

 

[mshchem]

Thank you for your question about the enlargers. Yes, the fans are working. Someone in another thread just suggested it might be the vacutrol, which I've read causes other problems like a print delay, so I will try replacing those (if I can find a replacement part) and see if it solves the issue.

If you have delay in the original Dichro S colorhead it almost always a Vactrol optical isolator. Original looks like a tiny aluminum can. Easy to replace, 4 leads soldered to the circuit board. I've replaced it in at least 4 colorheads.

There's a lot of information if you search this forum. I will look in my records see what I can find. It's an Easy fix.

 

[mshchem]

Beseler Dichro 45s color head repair

Hi!. I´m having the Vactrol problem on my Dichro 45s color head. Founded some posts about the issue, but I cant figure out the actual modification needed to replace those vactrols nor their replacements. Any help would be very appreciated.

www.photrio.com

 

[Amanda B]

If you have delay in the original Dichro S colorhead it almost always a Vactrol optical isolator. Original looks like a tiny aluminum can. Easy to replace, 4 leads soldered to the circuit board. I've replaced it in at least 4 colorheads.

There's a lot of information if you search this forum. I will look in my records see what I can find. It's an Easy fix.

Great! Thank you. If you don't mind sharing a link to the replacement you have used, that would be wonderful.

 

[koraks]

Do you think I should add stabilizer or something else to the wash?

No, I would recommend washing the prints instead. The double wash bath of your processor just isn't adequate. Collect finished prints in a holding tray filled with water, then at the end of a session (or periodically) wash them by alternating them between two trays of water while you dump and fill the trays as soon as all prints are in the other tray. Go back and forth 3 or 4 times at least, ensuring that each print spends a few minutes soaking in each tray.

If you do this you'll notice how red-brown the water in the holding tray gets; this is all blix that otherwise would be left in the emulsion. Stabilizer does nothing to prevent this. Stabilizer is also not necessary if you wash the prints well. Stabilizer is intended for minilabs that produce prints that people stick to the fridge at home and discard after a year or so.

 

[mshchem]

The original is obsolete, I found a few of the original 25 years ago. There's a modern led design that will drop in, someone here has the info, it's been discussed. No reason to rewire the colorhead just need the right little cheap part.

 

[mshchem]

Beseler 45 computer controlled color head alignment issue

Hello, I recently got hold of a Beseler 45 Dichromatic computer controlled color head. Everything works more or less fine with the exception that I can't dial in the Yellow filter to 0. The lowest I can adjust it to using the adjustment screws at the underside of the head is 32. The...

www.photrio.com

Here's another thread, if you scroll down you'll see a photo of the offending part. 3 of them next to a half dollar for scale.

Someone here can chirp up but this thread shows an example of a modern replacement part.

 

[koraks]

Someone in another thread just suggested it might be the vacutrol

Staining/discoloration in the white print margins that are masked by the easel blades are never associated with the enlarger.

 

[MattKing]

Staining/discoloration in the white print margins that are masked by the easel blades are never associated with the enlarger.

I agree, with one exception.
Watch out for enlargers which have fog creating filtration display results. This might happen if the light sources for those displays are out of spec.

 

[koraks]

Watch out for enlargers which have fog creating filtration display results.

I know what you mean as I've dealt with this as well, but even those will not expose the masked borders. They will fog any paper that sticks from underneath the blades. In this case the shadow of the masking blades is easy to see and the image tends to be surrounded with clean, white borders and then some discoloration towards the very edges of the paper. This is generally yellow to orange since yellow is the fastest layer in the paper, so the first one to fog (unless the fogging light is monochromatic and not blue).

 

[MattKing]

I know what you mean as I've dealt with this as well, but even those will not expose the masked borders.

Sometimes one only easily sees the effects of fog in the masked borders - otherwise they are concealed by the image itself.
As I'm sure we all agree, all of this applies to any unwanted source of light fog - not just some misbehaving enlarger filtration dial lights.

 

[koraks]

Sometimes one only easily sees the effects of fog in the masked borders - otherwise they are concealed by the image itself.

Yes, sometimes, although not always. Fog due to low light levels tends to act as a pre/post flash exposure and may leave unexposed whites unaffected, but still significantly twist color balance in the actual image area. But usually this isn't easily noticed since it often affects the entire image - in this case, it's hidden in plain view!

 

[mshchem]

Timer/Enlarger...delay with activating light

Just adding on to this thread because it's been extremely helpful: I've completed this repair on my Dual Dichro S head, replacing the old VTL9B8 with a VTL5C3. I made no other changes. Seems to be working perfectly now and there's no longer a delay when switching on the light with a timer. The...

www.photrio.com

 

[mshchem]

These look like they should work. I've only used the original ones not these. The circuit board is marked "iso 2'

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[DREW WILEY]

Sometimes old heavily used colorheads have a variety of issues. The dichroic filters tend to get smudged or even spall off some of the coating, affecting the quality of the color. It's tricky to clean them, but doable. Replacement colorheads and controllers aren't all that expensive.

An overall pinkish cast is typically a developer step issue. The symptom of old paper is more often slightly yellowish borders.

But you can also get a color cast if exposures are especially short, due to the warmup and fade down periods of the bulb itself being too long in relation to the cumulative exposure. Aim for at least 10 sec or more per print exposure. The actual handling and exposure of color paper should be done in total darkness - no safelight (Yeah, another challenge with students. Sometimes little luminous glow dots can be applied to specific places to help with directional orientation; I just use an ordinary paper punch to make them).

 

[Samu]

It there is a magenta cast that cannot be corrected by filtration, I would suspect the developer. It is too active. Either the temperature is much too high (broken thermostat in roller developer, etc.) or maybe you have not added starter when making the tank solution of developer.