4 Reel 120film tank Inversion

<p>I have 80 rolls of 120 Tri-X to process and so far I've been using 2-reel Kindermann tanks. Easy to control inverted agitation and I can process in my kitchen. I'm thinking of going to a larger 4-reel tank but don't think I'll be able to invert during agitation and will have to use the rod to agitate in a dark room.<br /> Does anyone have any experience with this regards being able to invert a large 4-reel 120 tank during agitation?</p>

<h1>Thanks!</h1>

<p>It's not something I do often but I don't find it a problem. I just pause at each inversion to allow the bubbles to rise to the top. The results seem consistent enough for me.<br>

I also put two films into each of the spirals which would allow processing 8 rolls at a time.</p>

 

<p>I have a four reel (120) tank made by Patterson. I invert it with no problem. I just make sure I have a firm grip on the top and I do the inversion a bit slower than when doing smaller tanks.<br>

You could also double up the film on the rolls. Most 120 reels are made to handle 220 film, which is twice s long as 120 film. In the dark, fully load the first roll all the way on the reel, until it touches the center of the reel and can't go any farther. Then load the second roll until the end just slips into the reel. This way, your 2 reel tank becomes a 4 roll tank and the 4 reel tank becomes an 8 roll tank. I do this regularly. You may want to practice loading a couple of spare rolls rather than risk exposed film. Once you get the hang of it, loading two rolls on one reel becomes pretty rote. <br>

</p>

<p>Ditto never a problem.</p>

What Allen said except I've never

doubled up as he describes. Too risky

for me. I have one tank that holds six

120 rolls, requires 2 hands but isn't a

problem.

 

Rick H.

<p>I've done the Q30 (two 120 reels) and "4x5 cut film" Nikor tanks, and agitation by inversion is fine, but it's definitely a "two hands" process. Particularly the 4x5 one is quite heavy when full.<br>

You're looking at two liters of water in the 8-reel 120 tank, so that's about 2 kilos or 4 pounds.</p>

<p>Rick...when you're agitating the tank that holds 6 reels of 120, are you doing a full 180 degree inversion? or just rolling the tank around 90 degrees? and how fast are you inverting them?<br>

Peter</p>

<p>I have Nikor 220 wde spaced tank/reel sets. They take a lot of chemistry. Multi-reel tanks show up al the time on eBay and do not cost that much. You can invert a large tank as long as the cap is attached properly (still a 2 hands job). It's a little easier with a Paterson tank because the top screws on securely and the cap fits snugly too. There are two things to look out for: You may tap the side of the patersin tank with the palm of your hand but do not bang the bottom of the tamk on your table or sink. This will crack the tank. The second thing is to make sure you are using a dilution and temperature that allows for a longer developing time. Something like 10-12 minutes is about right. Why? There is a long pour-in and pour-out time. If your developing time is too short, the developing of the rolls may be uneven. Pour-in time is much longer with a SS tank than with a Paterson tank. I did not have a very long tank in High Scool so I mixed up all of the chemistry first, put the tanks in a row and kept them two minutes apart. This allowed me the pour-in and pour-out times I needed. I put an index card in front of each tank so I could mark off the minutes and note each chemical which was used. I would not recommend using a Paterson reel to develop two rolls of 120 on each reel. If your paterson reels are not perfectly dry when you load them and if you don't round off the corners of the leading edge of the film then just using those reels for one roll of 120 each can be a nightmare. As a general proposition I don't like loading 120 film onto Paterson reels. Loading 220 is even worse. In your situation I would look for either one or two additional 2-reel tanks and use my old High School method. </p>

<p>I run masking tape around the cover to hold it onto the tank "just in case" and invert it like the smaller tanks. And HOLD ON to the cover. Just a bit slower because of the length. And as Jeff said, it takes a while to fill with chemicals.<br>

If you are comfortable with dipping tanks, that is not a bad way to go for doing a LOT of film. I did that and thought it was easier than reels into the usual SS cylinder tanks. No hassle with pouring chemicals, you just lift out of one tank, let it drip a bit, then dunk it into the next tank...EASY. You just had to do everything in the dark.<br>

I did try multi-tank processing in high school, as Jeff did. But you really had to pay attention to which tank is which, so you get the timing of that tank correct. it is too easy to mess up if you don't use something like the cards like Jeff did. The other thing is you have to consider ALL the tanks and ALL the chemicals, and when they need to be dumped and filled. You don't want a situation where 2 tanks need to be dumped and filled at the same time. Personally I would do only 2 tanks at the same time, to keep from getting confused. Then if you are comfortable with multi-tank processing, then go to 3 tanks.</p>

<p>I've inverted a 4-reel tank with no problems. I just use my standard inversion technique which is ' invert-two-three-and-return'. This gives a fairly accurate 5-second inversion cycle. I do that once every 30 seconds.</p>

<p>As others have said the tank gets quite heavy and is a good workout.<br>

I have a Jobo 2500 and extension so I can process 18 sheets of 4x5 sheet film at one time, 5 -120 rolls.</p>

<p>Manual rotary processing works very well and you can use a smaller volume of chemicals in the tank. You must use enough developer to fully develop the amount of film in the tank. With the tank on its side you only need 35% to 45% of the chemical volume in the tank so that the center most piece of film that is on the down side is submerged in the chemical making the tank and pour times easier to manage.</p>

<p>I used a Beseler motor base for a while and found it runs at 60 rpm.<br>

A manual rotary base is easy to build if you cannot find a Jobo manual base. Go the the hardware store and get 4 fixed plate casters with a 1 inch wheel, a pack of machine screws with nuts that will just fit the mount holes in the casters plate, and a piece of plywood, 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut the plywood to 3/4 the length of the tank from the base of the cap to the bottom of the tank and the width equal to the diameter of the tank. Mount the casters on the plywood with the wheels pointing outward so that the tank sits on the wheels with the wheels making contact with the tank so that the tank is about 1/4 to 3/8 inch above the plywood base and does not touch any part of the caster other than the wheel. Varnish the plywood once assembled to seal it from splashes.</p>

<p>The only requirement for rotary process other than the amount of developer is to have equal number of turns in each direction at the end of the development time. <br>

I start with the tips of my fingers of one hand at the center of the tank and push until the base of the palm is at the center then switch to the other hand. I do this for 1 minute then switch to pulling the tank from base of the palm to tip of the finger for the next minute. This calculates into 50 rpm to 60 rpm. 30 rpm works also. Rotation cycles can be as short as 15 seconds if desired but longer ones are easier to manage, consistency is all that is critical. Put a piece of masking tape on the side of the tank perpendicular to the base and monitor the time it takes for you to comfortably make a revolution to determine your speed. Rotating for 30 seconds per direction has no effect on outcome using development times of 10 to 15 minutes or longer. The tank can be turned so that the cap end is opposite what it was the previous cycle to achieve the change of direction in rotation if desired.<br>

Change of direction in rotation is not necessary for fixing or stop baths.<br>

</p>

<p>I have four and six (120) reel tanks. They are HEAVY, but can be inverted using two hands. I use the four reel tanks fairly often--the six reel one is just too much of a handful to be pleasant to use. I don't think either size is really intended for use with a daylight-filling top, but Kindermann-type plastic tops work fine IMO.</p>

<p>An alternative to a developer with a long development time is to use a two bath developer that develops to completion in the second solution. I use a two bath version of D23, where the second bath is a borax solution.</p>

<p>BTW, before I had a four reel tank I frequently used two two reel tanks simultaneously to save time. </p>