Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/02/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 08:54 PM 2/18/1999 -0500, Bill Welch, you wrote... >At 11:16 AM 2/18/99 -0500, you wrote: >>How do people put their film through the photoflo once it is off the reels. >>I find it difficult to handle. > > >I don't have any trouble dipping the Hewes reels in the photoflow and then >rinsing them later with hot water. But if I'm using plastic jobo reels, I >pop them open and let the film fall gently into a sheet-film developing >tank filled with distilled water and Edwal wetting agent. Out after a few >seconds. > >Bill > It's not really that hard. Mix your photoflo into a deep container: the cutoff bottom of a gallon plastic water jug, a two or more cup measuring cup or whatever. Take the film off the reel and drop it into the container for at most 30 seconds. Take it out and squeegee it or else not (I can do it without scratching, others cannot) and hangi it to dry. You can reuse the photoflo for multiple rolls, but as it ages, acquires dirt, gets dilute from water carried in from the film, you will get spotting problems. Mix fresh solution frequently, keep the dilution low (I've always found Kodaks recommendation to be too high). I use distilled water, but, frankly, if your water hardness is moderate to low, go ahead and use it. There is a difference between spotting and streaking here. Spotting generally means not enough "wetting", not enough action from the photoflo due to overuse or over dilution. Streaking is usually a result of too high concentration, or early drying before good flow from the wetting action. I ran a hanger (dip 'n' dunk) E6 line for several years, and this was a chronic problem. Fortunately (or not, for a commercial operation, since this costs time), the end solution was easy: wipe the scum off the back; it is never a problem on the emulsion side, and it wipes off easily. Mike "Sing whatever is well made..." - -W. B. Yeats