Tetenal Colortec E6 - CD absorption by plastic?

[Kevin Caulfield]

I've just bought my first Tetenal E6 kit as my Agfa kits are probably too old to use. There is an intersting warning in the instructions that "certain types of plastic absorb traces of the colour developer strongly and permanently". I use a Paterson Auto Colortherm and never had CD absorption problems with the Agfa kits. The plastic cups in the Paterson are made of a pretty rugged plastic. Has anybody here experienced this with the Tetenal kits?

 

[tim_walls]

I remember seeing this warning too; never seen it on any of the other chemistry I use (I use Kodak 6-bath these days, as I actually find it less hassle than 3-bath - fewer temperature-critical wash steps.)

Anyway, I used the Tetenal kit with a Paterson absolutely fine. I do remember reading somewhere in the Paterson literature words to the effect of "Paterson tanks and reels are made with plastics and resins suitable for colour and black and white chemistry," so I guess the problem must have been genuine at some point...

 

[Photo Engineer]

It is possible with cheap plastic as I have tested it. It is not entirely permanent, in that the bottle can be treated with sulfite + acid solution after the developer is poured out, to leach the color developer out of the bottle walls, but if it does happen, the developer is ruined.

PE

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

Thanks, Tim and Ron. That is helpful.

 

[Raphael]

very interesting...

Hello all,

I have just met a problem with a Tetenal E6 kit, yesterday, I found that the two rolls I had just processed, had somewhat burnt highlights and above all, have a ugly greenish color shift. I am in no way an expert of E6 processing - I beginned last year - but I never had such problems before.

The chemical was prepared from concentrates, and was a bit old, I know, but still in the usability period, acccording Tetenal specs.

I noticed the bottle containing Color Developper, was marked (tinted) at the liquid level. The bottle was partially filled, but CD was covered by Protectan.
The CD itself seems also to have turned brownish than usual.

The bottle is made of polyethylen plastic (HDPE), and came from a chemical lab provider.

Mr PhotoEngineer, do you think HDPE plastic can ruin the color developper, and it was the cause of my dias color shift problem ?

What is exactly the formula of product to clean it, you 'd refered above ?
Should I use glass bottle, at least for the CD, in the futur ?

Sorry for the question flood, in advance thanks you.

Regards,

Raphael

 

[tim_walls]

Raphael -

In no way preempting Ron's response, but do you still have the instruction booklet that came with the Tetenal kit? As I recall from when I last used one, there was a 'troubleshooting' section in there which may be worth looking at (it had a list of various symptoms, e.g. "green cast", followed by possible causes/corrective actions.)

 

[Photo Engineer]

Looks like the color developer was bad. The bottle should not be dark. Developer darker like coffee is not good. The reversal bath might be bad as well. IDK if your kit used one, or used light reversal, but that often causes green shifts.

PE

 

[tim_walls]

The reversal bath might be bad as well. IDK if your kit used one, or used light reversal, but that often causes green shifts.

The Tetenal E6 kits that I've used have used a reversal bath.

Looks like the color developer was bad. The bottle should not be dark. Developer darker like coffee is not good.

As an aside, I love mixing E6 developer (from the Kodak kits, at any rate) - the gorgeous purpley colour that it turns when you add part B never fails to impress; for a brief moment you can pretend you're a chemist (or a mad scientist .)

 

[Raphael]

thanks

Tim, I still have the booklet, but to my memory, I found only the most common processing errors (magenta or yellow cast, etc), but maybe I miss something. Instead, I used the Jobo E6 processing handbook, and see several cause for greenish cast. I think this cast is mainly on shadows, but I should do a scan to be sure (in fact, there is mainly landscape and plants on these dias ).

Looks like the color developer was bad. The bottle should not be dark. Developer darker like coffee is not good. The reversal bath might be bad as well. IDK if your kit used one, or used light reversal, but that often causes green shifts.

PE, I forgot to precise I am using 3 baths Tetenal kit, so I presume Reversal bath and color dev are in the same bath. And yes, the CD was actually coffee colored (a "light" coffee ).

And you had confirmed what I found in the Jobo handbook :
For the greenish cast on shadow, for Fuji film, I found (among other errors) :

* Color developer: time too short, solution too old or too strongly diluted
* Reversal bath too strongly diluted, too old or used up

For the overall greenish cast, for Agfa or Fuji :
* Reversal bath: time too short, solution too strongly diluted or too old

So, I think my problems came mainly from a too aged color developer, much more than from the plastic container.

Thanks to you all for your valuable answers.

regards,

Raphael