Hanger Surge Marks put to rest... THE CURE

I don't know who started the idea of slow agitation with hangers but this is the cause of surge marks at the holes. It has caused me a bunch of ruined 8x10 film. It doesn't have to be that way. I'd like to pass this on so anyone wanting to use hangers can avoid this dreaded problem.

You must agitate quickly ie, out of the tank in 1 second, tip to 45 degrees, in the tank in one second. Next repeat the same sequence only tip to the opposite side. This should take about 10 seconds for the 2 pull outs to be completed. Apply this to you're initial and periodic agitation schemes. An additional tip to dislodge bubbles... After initial agitation when returning film to tank, drop them in from about 2 or 3 inches above.


That's it! No more surge marks.

I hope this saves some a few headaches.

I'm just beginnng to develop 4x5 after doing it a little a few decades ago. Do you agitate one hanger at a time, or all together? If all together, do you have some kind of rack to help?

You can do as many as you can handle. I use my hands as I can only do 5 at a time in the 1 gallon 8x10 tank. The secret is not to be afraid of pulling them babies out, tipping, and putting them back in. I, luckily, found a thread on another site where a gentleman whose been using hangers for 50 years described this method. The hangers make it so much easier for me to process a lot of film.

I suggest you try it first with one sheet. Just go for it. Once you see it works you'll have confidence to try it with a bunch.

The technique you describe is the offical Kodak info on agitation that I learned in school 1973. Never had problem with surge. As well the 1st 15 seconds of development , stop , and fix are the most critical.

Bobby, you're correct. More agitation, not less, is the solution to getting rid of surge marks. You want as much random turbulence in the developer as you can get, within reason of course - calm, regular movement of the developer is what causes surge marks....like you, I found out the hard way when I started with tanks and hangers.