Tetenal E6 kit and tank smell post development

[dmtnkl]

I have been processing E6 slides for about a year now using jobo tanks (1510 + 1520). I rinse thoroughly between the various development stages, giving about half to one minute extra wash time with respect to the reference times provided in Tetenal's instruction manual. After development i wash all the tank parts throughly with warm water.

I notice that my tanks emit a very unpleasant, foul odor when i open their cap. Has anyone else noticed this?

 

[Rudeofus]

Is it the same smell as the final rinse? Or something indicating the decay of organic material?

 

[dmtnkl]

FD and CD are fairly odorless. Blix and Stab both have characteristic odors, with blix having a certain annoying edge to it. I think it is closer to the blix, or it could be a combination of both. I can't say for sure.

My first impression was that it smelled like certain body fluids we expel when we drink too much beer for example . A friend suggested that ammonia could have formed somewhere in the whole process.

I rubbed all parts with a sponge and dish washing soap, dried them and closed the tanks. I will wait a bit and check if it is gone.

 

[BAC1967]

I develop black and white film in Beerenol, plastic containers that I mix it up in usually retain a slight beer odor. I develop in stainless steel tanks so the odor doesn’t linger in them.

 

[thuggins]

I've never noticed any odor with any of the chemicals. CD will discolor some plastics, but that's about it.

 

[dmtnkl]

Maybe i was not washing well enough.

I got a jobo cascade tube to improve washing. Post development i also wash now for a couple of minutes with really hot running water. I think it is already better but i will wait and give the tank some time to stay closed and check if the odor develops again.

 

[AgX]

Some plastics are more succeptible to retaining an odor. Strongest on this characteristic is LD-PE, acting like a sponge on this matter.

To my experience with a lot of materials heat (e.g. a heat gun) can drive out such odors. But then there is the risk of misforming the plastic in case of thermoplasts and thus care must be taken concerning the applied temperature.