I assume you're using a plastic tank+reels (eg Paterson, AP, Keiser).
If so, add 20% more chemistry when developing.
Eg do you use 500ml of mixed solution for 1 roll? Try 600ml.
Agree with @albireo this is from not enough liquid and the top of the film is not getting even development.
That was my first thought but unfortunately it also happens on rolls submerged in the bottom or middle when processing with multi-roll tanks.
In that case, a very similar effect is from bubbles sticking to the reels. Do you give it a hard rap on the table after inversion? If using the swizzle stick instead, you should also give it a hard rap on the table after putting in the fluids.
Yep, I bang the hell out of it and knock it a few times with a stick just for good measure.
No idea for you then. In my experience those are the two things that cause that.
Those are bubbles. The bain of plastic reels. Doesn't matter how much you bang on the tank, they just won't dislodge since there is no where for them to go. I moved to steel reels for 120. Plastic works fine for rotary processing.
You might try a drop of LFN in your developer if you want to stick with plastic. You could also try filling the tank on an angle. Another thing to do is to use really aggressive agitation, but then you could also create surge problems.
Bubbles could be from dried, residual photoflo on the plastic reels. Rinse them very well after use, or don't immerse the reels in photoflo, take the film off the reel and dip it into a small tray of water with a drop or two of photoflo.
Banging hard really shouldn’t be necessary, and you risk cracking the tank. I suggest scrubbing your reels in hand-hot water using a toothbrush, and subsequently use the twiddle stick to twiddle reels back and forth for the first 10 sec every time you add chemical.
There are enough problems attributed to PhotoFlo in threads here to make me suspicious of it. So if you use it, you might try using Tetenal Mirasol instead, which has extra anti-static, anti-fungal properties too.
This occurred to me as well. I'm soaking all my reels overnight in Dawn and going to give them all a good scrub tomorrow.
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