Brown tinge or staining on Delta 400

[Jeff L]

I developed a roll of 120 Delta 400 in DDX and noticed when it dried there was some very light brown staining down the middle of the frames in the centre of the roll. The first few frames and last few frames are fine. I have never seen this before. My chemical choices have not changed. Ilford DDX, Kodak stop, Ilford rapid fix. Is my fixer more tired than I thought? The very light brown tinge does not seem to affect using the neg, it just threw me. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Jeff

 

[psvensson]

I would suspect fixer exhaustion. You could refix and wash again.

 

[Jeff L]

Yup... Re-fixed in fresh stuff. All good now.
Thanks.
Jeff

 

[psvensson]

A happy ending.

 

[George Collier]

I always use a 2 bath fixer system now, even for film. This never happens. I don't think it costs more, either, since you are essentially removing a certain amount of unexposed/developed silver salts, so if you get it all with the first one, no harm to the second, and if you didn't, then the 2nd was needed.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Or just test your fixer. Easy to do with film. Dunk a piece of undeveloped film into the fixer and see how fast it clears. Ilford Hypam at 1+4 clears it in 25 seconds if fresh. If it goes over a minute, I discard and mix fresh. And I do this simple test every time I fix film. Save 35mm film leaders, sacrifice some old film, or a sheet or two cut to pieces.

 

[VaryaV]

Very helpful information.

I always use a 2 bath fixer system now, even for film. This never happens. I don't think it costs more, either, since you are essentially removing a certain amount of unexposed/developed silver salts, so if you get it all with the first one, no harm to the second, and if you didn't, then the 2nd was needed.

George - I am curious about a 2 fixer bath for film, always use it for paper and I like the idea. Do you rinse in between and is the 2nd bath the same time as the 1st? Can you post your process? Thanks.