Help with sudden staining on RA4 Prints?

[brbo]

My god i feel like an idiot, I've been looking for that forever cuz the bottles themselves just have 10L ratio with water and starter. I just convert it to 1L. I have some ektacolor replensisher I'll try with it. Idk if mixing brands matter

You probably meant Ektacolor Starter, but it will probably work, yes. It did in my case for Fuji RA-4 developer. But, as I said, Ektacolor RA-4 developer needed like 20ml of starter and Fuji needs about 80ml. In reality I could skip the starter altogether with Ektacolor and just add a bit more water and there was zero difference in my prints. Fuji chemistry was totally different and I would get horrible cyan/yellow (even worse than yours) whites and casts when using developer without a starter.

So why doesn't it say add starter on the bottle just water? Sorry im new to all this and I really appreciate you teaching me how this works

Because the instructions on the bottle is for mixing the replenisher not working/tank solution. Confusion probably comes from thinking that the bottle is "replenisher" when in fact it is the "replenisher concentrate".

 

[legstowalkmyself]

You probably meant Ektacolor Starter, but it will probably work, yes. It did in my case for Fuji RA-4 developer. But, as I said, Ektacolor RA-4 developer needed like 20ml of starter and Fuji needs about 80ml. In reality I could skip the starter altogether with Ektacolor and just add a bit more water and there was zero difference in my prints. Fuji chemistry was totally different and I would get horrible cyan/yellow (even worse than yours) whites and casts when using developer without a starter.



Because the instructions on the bottle is for mixing the replenisher not working/tank solution.

Thank you so much you probably just solved my issue, I'll try when im home

 

[koraks]

So why doesn't it say add starter on the bottle just water? Sorry im new to all this and I really appreciate you teaching me how this works

As @brbo says, it's because the instructions are for mixing the replenisher. I mentioned earlier that Champion targets commercial labs primarily. In their typical use, the developer is virtually always used as a replenisher. The developer-with-starter is only mixed when a machine has been drained, the developer discarded and a fresh batch is made. This doesn't happen all that often (as it's wasteful) and most of the 'maintenance' of the chemistry consists of adding replenisher. So the instructions on the label fit the typical use case - which is different from your situation.

 

[legstowalkmyself]

As @brbo says, it's because the instructions are for mixing the replenisher. I mentioned earlier that Champion targets commercial labs primarily. In their typical use, the developer is virtually always used as a replenisher. The developer-with-starter is only mixed when a machine has been drained, the developer discarded and a fresh batch is made. This doesn't happen all that often (as it's wasteful) and most of the 'maintenance' of the chemistry consists of adding replenisher. So the instructions on the label fit the typical use case - which is different from your situation.

So so according to this chart, I just follow this with my champion replenisher, Kodak ekatcolor and water basically

 

[legstowalkmyself]

And also I guess I should ask what developer should I purchase from champion [or anywhere else] to make all this as easy and simple as possible?

 

[brbo]

So so according to this chart, I just follow this with my champion replenisher, Kodak ekatcolor and water basically

Yes, I would start with:

925ml water + 50ml replenisher concentrate + 25ml Ektacolor starter = 1L of working solution (I assumed that one bottle of concentrate is 1L and that 1L of concentrate makes 10L of replenisher, which might not be true according to this... you'll have to check what you actually have)

If you get good prints, leave it at that. Otherwise you might play with how much Ektacolor starter you need or buy Champion starter so that you know 25ml is the correct amount.

And also I guess I should ask what developer should I purchase from champion [or anywhere else] to make all this as easy and simple as possible?

I'm pretty sure that you will find it easy enough when you realise how much cheaper per litre that developer is compared to Bellini and other "home-user-friendly" solutions.

 

[koraks]

So so according to this chart, I just follow this with my champion replenisher, Kodak ekatcolor and water basically

Looks good! Follow @brbo's lead.

what developer should I purchase from champion [or anywhere else] to make all this as easy and simple as possible?

Really, any developer should work. Some are marketed specifically for low-volume and low-temperature use, but frankly, I've never heard of any developer that didn't work for the kind of stuff we do (i.e. low volume printing in a private darkroom). I like to use whatever I can get my filthy mitts on!

 

[legstowalkmyself]

You guys are great i appreciate you all

 

[koraks]

Much appreciated it! Please report back how it goes; fingers crossed you'll be able to get some good prints again!

 

[legstowalkmyself]

Much appreciated it! Please report back how it goes; fingers crossed you'll be able to get some good prints again!

wait so I’m a bit confused, do I dilute the replenisher like it says on the bottle THEN add 50ml or just 50ml just from the bottle? Sorry thank you

 

[legstowalkmyself]

GUYS IT WORKED THANK YOU SO MUCHHHH LOVE YOU ALL

 

[mshchem]

Perfect