Unexposed color paper comes out w deep yellow tint

[annika_sundvik]

I am using a colex, w kodak ra chemistry and both kodak and fuji papers. I get deep rich blacks on fully

exposed paper (room exposure/no enlarger), but unexposed paper comes out with a murky yellow gray

tint. Have run through a bunch of sheets, thought i was seeing a difference by the by, but difference is

negligible copmpared to 'white' on back of paper. Process time is set for '006' (=6 min) which is where it's

been at for years. Mixed new chemistry, paper does fine when processed in same chemicals outside of the

machine. Is the paper in the developer too long? Rinse shouldn't really affect anything like this, right? Also

checked water replenishment etc, seems to be working fine. PLEASE HELP before I go out of my mind,

Annika

[doug_axford1]

What temp is your developer? What is the exact time from start of devloper to start of blix? One of these is too high or long. The only other possibility is that you've got very old paper or your rinse is shot, but you've tested that and it should be OK.

 

Yes, rinse that is not replenished enough will make the whites go creamy. If your final rinse tank is not clear enough to see the bottom, then that could be the problem. You should have either 2 or 3 rinse tanks, depending upon age of Colex. I would assume 2 if you have a water rinse. I converted my old one to rinse from water wash to save money on water and paper should have rinse at the last tank, not water for longevity.

 

Pop the cover off and measure temp and time and PM me back with the results and I'll let you know. RA4 should be 4 1/2 min, but could be longer in an older machine for the rinse only. I THINK dev is 90 deg @ 1 min 40 sec., but my new processor is digital and I don't bother checking either anymore, so I've forgotten exact numbers. Ran with a Colex until 6 years ago.

 

Doug

[robert himmelright]

as paper ages dmin rises, whites become off whites then yellows. Is your paper expired or has it been subjected to heat/xray? Also, maybe your blix is weak.

[rowland_mowrey]

I use RA-RT developer replenisher as-is at 100 deg F for 45" with a prewet or at 68 deg F for 2'. Neither of these gives a high dmin.

 

I have processed paper that is nearly 10 years old, and kept at room temperature with no dmin problem. I have seen a red speed loss which yielded reddish prints. This was easily corrected by changing the filter pack.

 

Older EP2 and EP3 papers would yellow on keeping. The newer Supra and Endura papers from Kodak are much improved.

 

A weak blix will still fix unexposed paper and give clean whites.

 

Ron Mowrey

[doug_axford1]

I don't want to start a fight, but I toss any paper that's more than 1 yr. old because the whites are off-white. Maybe I am just picky.

 

This is not the problem with the O/P because it comes out fine outside the machine. Problem is still high temp and/or long dev. Could also be contaminated tanks or chems.

 

Doug

[annika_sundvik]

thanks for all the answers. Well, I ran a bunch of tests as machine was starting up (still 'cold)

and got perfect whites at 27 degrees on and up to 32, after that they started to get mushy,

grey and yellowish. I measured developer independently and it was at 90 when machine was

fully heated. The cycle, however, seems out of whack - from dry to dry it's over ten minutes,

and as far as i could see print spent about 2 1/2 mins in developer. I think kodak sais it

should be 45 secs? My recommended setting is 006 (6 mins) so I tried to lower that, but it

didn't make a difference. Could it be a control panel issue? Or could it be something w engine

that makes it run too slow? Annika

[annika_sundvik]

Just spoke to colex, we checked all the settings over the phone, but apparently there is a

speed control issue, they're sending out a technician today, again, thank you for trying to

help me! Annika