Tmax 400 4X5 Sheet Film - Brown Stain

I have recently tried developing Tmax 400 Sheet film in the BTZS Tubes. All the chemicals are fresh and mixed in Distilled water. The temperature is 69
degrees and the rotation is steady the whole development time. The tubes were cleaned before I used them. After development the tubes with the film is placed in a deep tray of stop bath, next the film is removed and the sheet is placed in the fixer. After which it is clearing solution, fresh water bath and foto flo solution.

Each time I end up a brown stain running approxiamtely in the middle of the sheet. Have no clue what is causing this. Any suggestions?

Sounds like inadequate fixing. Fixation generally proceeds from the edges in towards the center, so it is possible that you're just not letting the sheets fix long enough. With TMax 400, the magenta dyes in the film will remain if your fixing time is short, and that can be a tell tale sign of insufficient fixing. But the sodium sulfite in the clearing bath, and/or a good wash are also very effective in removing this dye, so if you're not seeing it, that's why. The good news is that if you re-fix and re-wash your negatives, the brown stain will likely disappear and all will be ok. You have nothing to lose by trying.

Some questions:

• Are you processing one sheet of film at a time or multiple sheets?
• How long are you fixing?
• Do you use HypoClear or PermaWash?

I process up to 6 tubes at a time and place each tube in sequence in the stop bath tray. When all are in the stop, I remove the sheets and place each one in a compartment of a slosher tray in the fixer. I use TMAX film and fix in Hypam 1:4 for 5 minutes. Then I put in Permawash for about 3 minutes which helps further remove the pink. Then I wash and usually let the film sit in water for a long time before starting the water flow which also seems to help the pink.

I have never had any stains. For 8x10 tubes, I process all the way through PermWash in the tubes with no problems.

jwil6969 said:

I have recently tried developing Tmax 400 Sheet film in the BTZS Tubes. All the chemicals are fresh and mixed in Distilled water. The temperature is 69
degrees and the rotation is steady the whole development time. The tubes were cleaned before I used them. After development the tubes with the film is placed in a deep tray of stop bath, next the film is removed and the sheet is placed in the fixer.

Click to expand...

You are continuing to agitate in the fixer, yes? I ask because this sounds like inadequate fixing, and lack of agitation seems to be the primary cause for most issues like this.

Assuming it's not a fixing problem which is usually a milky appearance, I have a few questions.

What developer and dilution are you using?

When you rotate your tubes, do they always come back to rest at the same orientation?

It sounds to me like there could be some precipitate in the developer and it's working its way into the emulsion while the tubes are resting between rotations. Is it possible you made your own tubes, recently painted them black and some of the paint is dissolving into the developer?

Denis K

Along with seconding Denis' questions: developer, film, dilution?

I would like to add:

You say the stain is brown - as opposed to pink/magenta - is this correct?

Does the film have an iridescent sheen when light is reflected off its surface? If so, then the stain may be dichroic fog, especially if the sheen is yellow/green/blue.

You say the stain is in the middle of the sheet: is it a blob in the middle or a streak across the sheet? Is it well defined or is it like a misty cloud? If it is a streak is in the direction of tube rolling or in the direction of the tube axis?

Can you scan and post an image of the negative? Scan it as a 'color transparency'.

Thank you all for the responses. The developer is DDX 1:5, the fixer is Arista 1:9, The Hypo clearing agent is Zone Pro and the flo solution is Ilford. It sits in each of these for about 5 minutes and is in the water bath for 15 minutes,The rotation is continuous and as the tubes reach their respective development time I uncap them and place in the stop bath. When all the tubes are developed I remove the sheets and place them in fixer where I leave them for 10 minutes. The stain is not a blob and you have look very carefully at the negative to see it. The stain runs along the long axis of the film. Color is definitely brown, it is not the protective layer that is put on the film. I do not have a scanner and can't post the negatives.
I know that with 120 and 35mm if the Tmax wasn't fixed long enough you were left with a pink/magenta cast covering the whole negative. Not in this case. No sheen, just the damn brown stain. The negatives otherwise look fine, the densities are fine and where the stain "ain't" everything is great. Tubes are kept in the same orientation and are removed in order of processing. Once in the fixer the negatives are very carefully "shuffled" through the fixer. The only thing I can think of is that the fixer may have expired or I will have to try a longer time. The same process that I use for roll film is used for the sheet film. At the end of a series of 4 sheets everything is dumped and I start over again with new chemicals. I do not save anything. Darkroom is a bathroom and I am cramped for space, also would rather spend the money on chemicals than ruin negatives with bad chemistry. Plan to shoot a couple of negatives over the weekend and try again leaving the negatives in the fixer longer.

I think I answered everyone's questions. Thank you all.

Wonder if it might not be dichroic fog. This is caused by silver replating onto the negative during processing. It's most often discussed when it happens with TMAX sheet films and TMAX developer; the TMAX-RS developer is formulated to prevent it.

Could this be happening also with DD-X?

I would adjust your fixer dilution to 1:4 with TMAX films. Agitation in fixer should be continuous also.

How are you cleaning your BTZS tubes? I use a dowel rod to insert a flour sack towel and twist. When I first started doing that I would get a small amount of brown residue that has disappeared with subsequent use.

We should also think about exhausted developer. With DD-X I've heard you need 16ml concentrate per 4x5 sheet. This means that with a dilution of 1+5 you would need at least 96ml of working solution in each tube. Does this check out? I could have heard incorrectly about the 16ml.

Denis K

I once got brown stains on Acros, with the stains having distinct edges but corresponding very approximately with the denser parts of the negatives. Fixing for longer cured it.