Help, are my tanks supposed to leak?

[wallace]

Post 2: "Re the leaky lid - push the lid on, then press on the lid in the centre while slightly lifting the edge of the lid at one point only - some air will escape - then press the edge down firmly again. This creates a slight vacuum in the tank which keeps the lid held down tight, and no leaks."

I will try that for the next rolls which I'm going to develop on the weekend.
I only do b/w and all my Jobo tanks leak a little.
BTW: I'd like to know which developer is the best concerning health risk!

Thomas (wallace)

 

[shadowfox]

My feeling is that color processing at home isn't worth the bother when you consider the health risks.

Y'know, this got me thinking, if this is true, why then are we ok holding a developed film coming back from labs?

Isn't the same hazardous chemicals still "there" in the emulsion? Sometimes I still can smell it too.

 

[BillBingham2]

I never was able to get color at home to work anywhere near as well as from a shop. Now I only tried it about ten times. Seems my ability to judge color is not good enough, not color blind, but perhaps color-challenged.

Wear gloves when ever you can. When I look back at what I used to do (living in a dark room in High School) I'm surprised I'm still able to count to ten on my fingers (and my kids don't have eleven fingers).

B2 (;->

 

[Keith]

I think there's something about the C41 chemicals that makes tanks leak that normally don't! Aside from the increased temperature the solutions seem to be able to flow through the smallest gaps around lids and seals ... almost like there's some sort of solvent quality that encourages this behaviour.

I do enjoy developing colour though and have two more C41 kits on their way to me at the moment from Freestyle. I have quite a few rolls of 220 Fuji and Kodak in the freezer that will be going through my Bronica RF645 and I figure 220 will really tax the life of the solutions heavily so I thought I'd better stock up.

I noticed the last roll of 120 colour I developed in my current chemicals seemed a little flat and I have done a lot of 120 with these so obviously it exhausts the active ingredients a lot more than 35mm. It's hard to know exactly when to give up on them though ... !

 

[Gaspar]

Ah, the Bronica, I have one too. Before I could develop c41 at home I was really avoiding using it because developing it was a big problem. Now I have bought two more lenses (50mm and 150mm) and can't wait to try it again.

I guess it is difficult to decide when to give up on the developer but since it is meant for 12 35mm I will be more than happy by the time I get to 16.

 

[D.O'K.]

ChrisN, many thanks indeed. I tried your method on my Paterson tank last night and, at a stroke, it ended 20+ years of leakage...

Regards
D.

 

[ChrisN]

D. - wonderful news! I am very glad this has helped someone.

Best wishes!

 

[wallace]

From another thread:

"Re the leaky lid - push the lid on, then press on the lid in the centre while slightly lifting the edge of the lid at one point only - some air will escape - then press the edge down firmly again. This creates a slight vacuum in the tank which keeps the lid held down tight, and no leaks."

I've had no problem with my three Paterson tanks.

followed his advice and had no more problems, absolutely no more leaks! brilliant, thank you!

Thomas

 

[maddoc]

Any tank without gas-valve / flexible lid (JOBO 15xx series) will leak when processing C41 due to the gas evolution involved in the chemical process. The bleaching process is worst regarding this.

About hazardous chemicals, C41 is less dangerous than E6 or color-printing with the latter being the worst due to the amount of chemicals used for processing. Wearing gloves and working in a vented room is for sure advisable.