Cleaning a patterson tank

bjorke said:

Ed, the spindle isn't for agitation (took me a while to learn this). .

Click to expand...

Oh. What *IS* its purpose??? :?

Ed, the spindle, as I understand, is just for bubble shakeoff. I *think* (can't remember) that it was Lex that told me this (truth is, I haven't used the spindle for a long time anyway -- it's easier to keep the lid on and do the inversions while walking around the house doing chores every 30 seconds, heh).

Anyway, looking at the OTHER thread, Cheryl says the stripes are PERPENDICULAR to the roll. This argues (to me) that it's in the camera. A test would be to shoot a dummy roll in the darkroom (that is, shot through the camera with the lights off) and see if the problem persists. If yes, then it's processing -- if no, it's in the camera/exposure process.

Might not be a light leak per se -- dunno the camera (Bronica?) -- but it might be a particular lens with a chip, or dirt, or maybe the internal black flecking in the chamber is chipped and there's an internal reflection.

---

One other possibility -- are all affected rolls in the same batch? From the same bin at the same dealer? They could have been polluted by an environmental factor before exposure -- xrays, or maybe lying on a radiator somewhere.

There's no light leak in the camera or lens -- I've tested that. It's only one roll per maybe 10 I develop that has any issue, and it's typically on 1 or 2 frames on an affected roll. It's happened intermittently over the past maybe four months?

Ed Sukach said:

bjorke said:

Ed, the spindle isn't for agitation (took me a while to learn this). .

Click to expand...

Oh. What *IS* its purpose??? :?

Click to expand...

Actually its the rest of the tank assembly. The reels slide onto it and then the spindle kinda holds them in place. If it's left out if I'm not mistaken, you have more of a chance of light leaking in through the pour hole. It does make a complete conduit from the inlet to the bottom of the tank.

There's the central core spindle, which is part of the tank assembly and essential to lihgt-tightness. Then there's the "twirly stick" which is frequently lost because nobody uses it. But it is for agitaton, and I have used it, and it works. Somewhat less spillage when doing constant agitation for 90 minutes (don't ask, it was a bad idea anyway to push-process in Beutler).

Ole said:

Then there's the "twirly stick" which is frequently lost because nobody uses it. But it is for agitaton, and I have used it, and it works. Somewhat less spillage when doing constant agitation for 90 minutes

Click to expand...

True about its being lost - I really surprised myself when I found mine - I haven't seen that thing for *years*.

I've been giving the "twirly" idea some thought. Certainly a different way to agitate, but it might just be useful - a sort of milder form of agitation - somewhere between inversion and stand development.

The idea is to get fresh developer to the film periodically without creating bubbles by too vigourous shaking ..."twirling" might not be bad idea.

ok this may seem crazy, but soak it in coke cola over night. The cola will dissolve a nail in a matter of days, it may be enough to break up that gunk. It also works to leave old flat coke in the toilet as tolet bowl cleaner FYI. The sugar residue is a whole lot easier to clean out than that gunk.

Click to expand...

Annie, Annie, Annie! Tsk,Tsk,Tsk! :lol:

http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/acid.asp
http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/tooth.asp
http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/sperm.asp

..

Cheryl, do you load this film in the darkroom, or in a changing bag?

Just thinking of light-leak vulnerabilities.....

are you 100% sure the film is spooling correctly in the camera before you remove the roll?

I load the film in my darkroom -- no light leaks at all. Yes, the film is completed spooled before I remove the roll -- and I almost always unload it in the darkroom. I'm stumped.

Are you sure it's not your electric personality shining in the dark? :lol: