Chemical fog using Nova tank

Hi All, I've run into problems while printing tonight. The prints I've made in my Nova slot processor have very noticeable chemical fogging. I believe this because I'm pretty certain the paper hasn't been anywhere near light. It's a graying of the paper which has been under the developer. The paper is noticeably whiter along the edge that hasn't been under the developer. (As an aside... should this tell me I have too little solution? Does the paper need to be fully covered? I imagine so) It leads me to think that my stop bath is depleted. The dev is pretty fresh and is topped up, perhaps not as regularly as I should However. I've checked the fix and it hasn't reached 2g silver yet, plus I'm fixing in a separate bath too. I'm pretty new to using these processors. When using trays solutions would be discarded a lot more frequently. Maybe I need to be a lot more regimented with topping up. Any advice here would be greatly appreciated! Cheers

Hi,
All the chemical slots on your Nova need to be kept topped up so that the solutions cover the paper. If you use the Nova lids in the slots when the Nova is not in use the chems will keep for a reasonable time (depending on what chems used two to three weeks should be OK). If you suspect the developer is exhausted or contaminated it should be replaced immediately. Your safe light may also be suspect - do a safe light test. It is best once you have a print in the processer (dev slot) to keep under the safe light until it has been in the fix for a minute or so. Even operating a light box or the enlarger may fog the paper through the white plastic side of the Nova. Going from what you say the problem sounds more like light fogging than a chemical issue to me. But I could be wrong!

Cheers,

Neil.