Now no negs pop out of combitank carrier

[Tom Stanworth]

If you have had 5x4 negs occassionally popping out of the runners in your combitank carrier and coming into contact and therefore not allowing the solutions to act evenly, this is what I have done to solve the problem 100%.

1. Glued the carrier so that there is no play in the joints at all (I only use mine for 5x4). Everything is now square all the time.

2. When placing the retainer on to put pressure on the top of the sheets, I only push it until it makes contact and NOT exerting any pressure as such. There is therefore no bowing of the negs at this stage. This was undoubtedly a major reason why the negs sometimes hopped out of the runners. I found even a a click too many when pushing it down could give problems.

3. Ensure agitation is smooth so that solutions do not crash about inside.

4. Use a min of 1100 Ml fluid (1200 mls is reccommended by instructions). You can cover with less, but the less you use, the more point 3. comes into play.

Now I am confident that I will get 6 even sheets every time. My carriers were so wobbly I am amazed anything stayed in the grooves.

Hope this helps anyone who has had the odd irritating wrecked neg or two.

Tom

 

[L Gebhardt]

Good advice. Also make sure when you invert the tank you turn it over around the short axis. This keeps the solution from pushing on the flat sides of the film.