OK, what have I done this time?

[n_dhananjay3]

I'm stumped. I was developing a bunch of negatives yesterday (FP4 in HC110 - Unicolor drum on motor). Finished processing, turned on the lights and looked at them and they were fine. I was processing them in batches. So I took the first ones out of the wash and tossed the next lot in. I set the first lot on the edge of the sink so that I could do a final wash of all the negatives and then run them through the wetting agent. Here's the wierd part. The first set (the ones leaning against the edge of the sink) have these strange, well, splotches is thee only way to deescribe them. I picked them and saw the blotches and it actually looked like parts of the emulsion had lost water i.e. had started drying. So I tossed them back into the water but they never went away. They're still there after the final drying. Its not water quality - I've never had this problem before. Its not airbells, the negs looked fine when I first took them out of the fix. Any guesses? DJ

[sean_yates]

Presumably you haven't had a chance to print them yet? It would be

interesting to see what if any results the blotches have on the print.

 

<p>

 

Could it be soap residue or oil? Is the sink used for anything

besides developing film?

 

<p>

 

Is it possible that something came in contact with the inside of the

Unicolor drum and was washed off after coming in contact with the

first batch of negs so that it didn't show up on subsequent passes?

Do you use the same drum for all your runs?

 

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There are at least two film cleaners on the market - PEC 12 and

something Edwal makes that evaporates very quickly. Try a little

from column A and a little from column B and see which works best.

[dan_smith]

Your description sounds as if you set them on the edge of the sink in

contact with each other. Is this correct? If so, you didn't rinse all

the fix out of them and the direct contact allowed residual fixer to

stay on the film and bleach out the area a touch. Or, it and/or the

water stuck on them while some areas dried a touch. Both can happen

if you let negs stick together for a bit. If so, you won't get it off

even by re-fixing though you just might be able to reduce the effect

a bit.