film processing

[ianman]

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I use a syringe to add a couple of drops as a final wash in the Rondinax. Before that, I just let tap water trickle in the tank for a few minutes, turning the wheel from time to time. It seems to work. I'm not it would be appreciated if I start putting chemicals in the KitchenAid bowl ;-)

[wlaidlaw]

Ian, 

 

I bought my own Pyrex bowl  . It is marked with a Dremel: "Been used for poisonous photochemicals", to stop it being half inched for cooking. My water in France is so hard and has so much suspended chalk in it, it is useless for even washing a car let alone a film. It does taste nice though with no chlorine in it. 

 

Wilson

[ianman]

In Belgium I have both chalk and chlorine...      The inside of the kettle looks like the white cliffs of Dover every couple of weeks.

[pico]

In Belgium I have both chalk and chlorine...      The inside of the kettle looks like the white cliffs of Dover every couple of weeks.

 

Funny, but hard water washes best. The minerals bind with the chemistry to carry it away. I use a final rinse in Photoflow 1:200 in distilled water. A lesser dilution of Photoflow is self defeating.

 

Distilled water - we have dehumidifiers which I keep clean and run their collection of water through a home electric distiller. Very clean results for photo stuff - lousy for coffee.

Edited July 18, 2018 by pico

[sblitz]

Funny, but hard water washes best. The minerals bind with the chemistry to carry it away. I use a final rinse in Photoflow 1:200 in distilled water. A lesser dilution of Photoflow is self defeating.

 

Distilled water - we have dehumidifiers which I keep clean and run their collection of water through a home electric distiller. Very clean results for photo stuff - lousy for coffee.

But great for steam irons  :-)

[pico]

But great for steam irons  :-)

 

OMG, don't get me started. I love ironed heavy white cotton shirts! Washing them is a religious thing. No starch, thank you.

Edited July 18, 2018 by pico

[sblitz]

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As kid this is how I knew about distilled water, its what mom bought for the iron ...... love the warmth when putting on the just-ironed shirt .... okay, back to my day job ..

[pico]

As kid this is how I knew about distilled water, its what mom bought for the iron ...... love the warmth when putting on the just-ironed shirt .... okay, back to my day job ..

 

Me, too but soon I was ironing my own clothes, many of which were hand-made by Mom, and it was a family  honor. Those times have fallen to where talent sleeps. God bless Mom, Venita A. Jalbert, RIP.

Edited July 18, 2018 by pico

[wlaidlaw]

I wonder why distilled or reverse osmosis water (like you get from a water maker on a boat), makes horrible tea or coffee. You would think the purer the better. 

[sblitz]

I wonder why distilled or reverse osmosis water (like you get from a water maker on a boat), makes horrible tea or coffee. You would think the purer the better.

 

Probably something about the minerals in the water. Cities with soft water, like NYC, tend to make better breads, coffees, etc vs cities with hard water.

[jmahto]

Me, too but soon I was ironing my own clothes, many of which were hand-made by Mom, and it was a family  honor. Those times have fallen to where talent sleeps. God bless Mom, Venita A. Jalbert, RIP.

OH.. didn't know there were others like me. I wore Mom's made shirts/pants/everything till middle school. After that Mom decided that she had better things to do and taught me sewing. I never stitched my own cloths but my skills were handy for doing repairs. I stitched a case for my Leica recently out of my old 501 jeans.   God Bless my Mom too. RIP (5 years ago).

 

OK.. back to film.

Edited July 18, 2018 by jmahto

[Martin B]

Distilled water should never be used for drinking in any form of beverage - it is de-ionized, and it will mess up several ionic pump systems in your body, for example the sodium/potassium pump. Results are cramps or worse. Believe the chemist here!

 

Soft water is indeed better for tea etc - but it still has ions in there but less hard CaCO3. Soft water is not distilled water!!!

 

But distilled water works best for me as final wash for the film. I totally gave up using wetting agent - distilled water is much better. Just my 2 Cents.

Edited July 19, 2018 by Martin B

[Doug A]

But distilled water works best for me as final wash for the film. I totally gave up using wetting agent - distilled water is much better. Just my 2 Cents.

That has been my experience too. I remove the film from a final distilled water wash, hold the two ends and snap the film to remove most of the water, and hang it to dry in the shower stall. No wetting agent, no squeegee, no water spots and virtually no dust.

[chrism]

I'm still very happy with my motorised base for the Rondinax tanks (it fits the 35u, and I made an adaptor so it can also drive the 60). As long as the chemicals start out at the right temperature, I don't worry about them cooling during the development and I don't get any issues with C-41 or E6. It's so easy I have lost all desire to waste money I don't have on one of the numerous (semi-)automated designs that seem to be springing up like mad in Germany.

 

Oh, and since monobaths have been mentioned, in my experiments with Qualls' recipe (HC-110, ammonia, Ilford Rapid Fixer) the Rondinax and Rondix tanks were the only ones that didn't give me streaks emanating from the sprocket holes - presumably the streaks went lengthways along the sprocketed edge of the film with the waterwheel type reels, where they wouldn't impinge on the image.