Water spots on HIE

I've got water spots on a roll of HIE I just processed, and am

wondering if anyone has any ideas as to why, or how to avoid it on

this film.

 

PanF also gives me this trouble time to time, but no other films I

process dry with any marks!

 

 

Here's what I do after fixing & washing:

 

1 drop of LFN to every 250-300ml of distilled water, agitate for 30

seconds, then let it sit for another minute or so, totaling 1:30-2:00

in LFN solution. Film is then removed from reel and hung directly in

a closet. There are very few problems in my procedure aside from the

occasional water spot - and this often happens to me with HIE.

 

 

So far (in additon to the usual) I've tried:

 

2:00 in 500ml distilled water with ONE drop LFN - water spots.

 

1:00 in plain distilled water, then spray film lightly on both sides

with 1 drop LFN to 500ml distilled water solution - water spots.

 

If I can't solve the water spots, I'll quit processing HIE I suppose..

 

Thanks in advance!

As a Photo-flo user, I'm not familiar with the specifics of LFN, but I'm guessing Edwal's the equivalent. Just some idea's to throw out there... Do they recommend the soak? If it's happening primarily with HIE it may have something to do with the emusion being soaked - just a thought. Using P-Flo with HIE (or any film for that matter) I just give it a very breif rinse in solution, wipe off excess water, and hang to dry. Good luck.

I've also had trouble getting certain films - Pan F+, Maco 50 - to dry completely free of water spots. I use distilled water and Photo-Flo. Sometimes adjusting the rate of wetting agent helps a bit.

 

Also, I don't squeegee. I hang film at an angle and let gravity draw water off along the lowest edge. And I leave the HEPA filter running on low or medium. Works for me.

 

I've heard some folks recommend various aids to assist in wiping off water spots (Kim Wipes?). Might be worth trying.

Hanging the film at an angle is indeed something I want to try, I just haven't figured out the logistics of it yet.

 

Photo-Flo gave me endless headaches, also it seemed to stick to the tank, so I switched to Edwal LFN - I think trying Formulary's FormaFlo is in order soon. I just can't wipe film down anymore, not even with my fingers, as it ALWAYS gets scratched.. Pretty dry here..

 

Think I read that PanF is on a (slightly) different base than other Ilford films, and for that one, they recommend LESS wetting agent, which is what led me to reduce the amount of LFN. The instructions do say 1:30 to 2:00 in the solution - or I got that from The Film Developing Cookbook.

J, have you tried just plain distilled water without any LFN at all? You mention water with one drop and water with a light spray of LFN, but I wonder if you have ever tried taking LFN out of the equation completely?

 

I mention this because I was using the recommended amount of LFN before and still getting waterspots, I cut back to 1/2 the recommended amt of LFN, and no more spots. So I wonder if in your case, you might try just eliminating it altogether and see what happens.

 

I also think it's necessary to eliminate anything that will cause the film to dry too quickly -- i.e. if I leave the air conditioning running in my apartment, that usually results in spotty negatives for me. Sometimes I turn on hot water in the bathroom to get some moisture in the air too in order to combat my dry climate.

 

One final thought, are the spots bad enough that they show up when you print the negs?

Well I haven't had a chance to print any yet, but I did try a plain distilled water soak before hanging them up at an angle. No spots at all, now!

 

Really, it seems like it would be worth trying to figure out a way to be able to hang all my films at an angle; the water doesn't sit at the sprocket holes nearly so much.

 

Thanks again, all!

I always mix my wetting agent (Photo-Flo or Tween-20) rinse at least 10 min. before use in order to let the foam / bubbles die down. After soaking my negs for 1 to 5 min. and hanging the strip I pour the rinse solution onto the film on both sides, catching the flow in a tray placed below the weighted tag end of the film.

 

I used filtered New York City drinking water and have never been troubled with drying marks.

I use Paterson wetting-agent at the rate of 2 drops per 100ml water. I put about 50 ml water in a jug, add 14 drops and then agitate to mix. Then I add the remainder of the water up to 700ml. I immerse the reel in this for about 1 minute then remove the film ffrom the reel and hang it in the dryer. From experience I have found it preferable to allow the film to drain for about 15 minutes before turning on the dryer. But on occasions I have just allowed the film to hang overnight until dry.

I've had A LOT of trouble getting HIE to dry without water spots. It could be the climate here (dry) but I believe it to be problematic due to the film base -- in HIE it's called ESTAR by Kodak (I believe a kind of polyester). In other films I use the film base is acetate and I've never had any problems with water spots.

 

The last time I used HIE I had to rewet and hang it back up three separate times before I finally got it to dry with relatively few water spots. The best method I found is to add four or five drops from an eyedropper full of Photo-flo to 500ml of water, let the film sit in the solution for a minute, then I squeegee the excess solution off before I hang the film to dry.

OK, I'm going to try mixing the LFN a while before using it. Bubbles can't be a good thing, right? Of course that's one reason I switched to LFN, was Low Foam (I guess the LFN stands for Low Foam Non-Ionic)..

 

Anyway, thanks all! This thread should be a useful reference for anyone with similar problem - it seems to me a bit inconclusive, but in drying film, what works perfectly for someone might not for someone else, yes? Hm.

 

Regards,

 

Josiah