Paterson tank agitation using supplied "spin" agitator

ymc226 · Mar 6, 2011

In trying to simplify development of simultaneous tanks (3), I am looking into several options including using the little plastic piece that allows turning of the reels with the cap off instead of the usual inversion.

If this works, give I have use of both hands I could at least have 2 tanks spun at once.

What has been the experience of this type of agitation and how many rotations would one use?

Neal · Mar 6, 2011

Dear ymc226,

I have used the Samigon/Arista/whatever brand tank using only the agitator that you turn. The product works very well. I don't count turns but seconds and I like to agitate aggressively when I do, agitating for 5 seconds of every 30.

Neal Wydra

Vilk · Mar 6, 2011

never inverted my patersons, always spin the spindle, as per film manufacturer's instructions

are these small tanks? get the single big one for better consistency. sooner or later you will make a mistake with all this multitasking

Jon Shiu · Mar 6, 2011

Given that you can't fill or empty 3 tanks at once, why not just stagger the starting times by 10 seconds? The little spinner is only supposed to be used for the initial agitation. Inversion is a more effective way of agitating.

Jon

ymc226 · Mar 6, 2011

Thanks, I do stagger but with 3 tanks, filling/emptying and filling with stop/water bath, the times may overlap some. My tanks are the largest Paterson tanks, each holds up to 5 120 reels so I can run 15 120 reels as a batch. I usually have 50+ rolls to develop at each setting.

Jon Shiu · Mar 6, 2011

If I have a lot of 120, I put two rolls on each reel. Load one roll and push it to the center. Then load the other. Oh, and I fold the tapes over the end of each film and load so that the tapes butt up against each other so the two films don't overlap.

Jon

TimmyMac · Mar 6, 2011

ymc226 said:
Thanks, I do stagger but with 3 tanks, filling/emptying and filling with stop/water bath, the times may overlap some. My tanks are the largest Paterson tanks, each holds up to 5 120 reels so I can run 15 120 reels as a batch. I usually have 50+ rolls to develop at each setting.

If you use the tape that sticks the film to the paper backing to join 2 120 films together, you can develop 10 rolls in your paterson tanks.

Oh, and I use the stick because my lid leaks a little. Much easier than getting brown developer stains everywhere.

ymc226 · Mar 6, 2011

Jon Shiu said:
If I have a lot of 120, I put two rolls on each reel. Load one roll and push it to the center. Then load the other. Oh, and I fold the tapes over the end of each film and load so that the tapes butt up against each other so the two films don't overlap.

Jon

Thanks Jon,

Never would have thought of that. Given I have double the film, do I need to use higher concentration developer? I use Rodinal 1+50 or Xtol 1+1

ymc226 · Mar 6, 2011

TimmyMac said:
If you use the tape that sticks the film to the paper backing to join 2 120 films together, you can develop 10 rolls in your paterson tanks.

Oh, and I use the stick because my lid leaks a little. Much easier than getting brown developer stains everywhere.

Thanks TimmyMac,

I agree that since the lids leak a little, I'd rather not invert anymore.

How fast, many times and how vigorously do you spin the agitator stick to get the equivalent of 3 inversions over 10 seconds.

bobwysiwyg · Mar 6, 2011

For what it might be worth, when I "twirl" I do three, not too fast (to get some inertia going in the liquid but not introduce bubbles) in one direction, then the same number in the opposite direction.

TimmyMac · Mar 7, 2011

ymc226 said:
Thanks TimmyMac,

I agree that since the lids leak a little, I'd rather not invert anymore.

How fast, many times and how vigorously do you spin the agitator stick to get the equivalent of 3 inversions over 10 seconds.

If you twist it really fast, you'll feel the reels slip on the core. I agitate it just at the point where it stops slipping. 5 to-and-fro motions is normally one 'agitation' for me, although I'm not very scientific about it.

Paterson tank agitation using supplied "spin" agitator

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