Problems With Bulk Film

[richiedcruz]

I have been having an unusual problem with the last couple of rolls of films that I have developed. They have showed signs that the part of the roll that was near the center of the spiral were not properly developed and ended up with the first 7 or so shots having various vertical black streaks and splash shaped marks. When I was loading up my tank I noticed that the reel felt a little tight, as I finished getting the entire roll loaded.

I know I should have taken that as a sign, because I have never had that problem before. At first, I thought it was problems with the shutters of my cameras or the something about the way that I was loading the reels. But how would that cause splash shaped marks?

Then I thought that my rolls might have been too long, but I have never had problems loading preloaded 36 shot rolls. And I have heard that reels can take a bulk loaded rolls of film that have 40 shots. Have I heard wrong? How long are the rolls that the rest of you are bulk loading?

The bulk loaded rolls that I have been using recently, in my estimation, are shorter than the preloaded rolls that I used before. I am getting 36 shots out of them and I am making sure to trim the leader about as close to the first shot as possible, something I did not bother to do with the preloaded rolls that I had been using. And, when I pulled the film from the tank, the end of the roll had not been pulled deep into the reel. It was near the mouth, just like every other roll that I have developed. Has anyone else had this problem? Could my film just be getting stuck in the reel?

I know that I could just make shorter rolls, but I have never heard of anyone having this sort of problem with 36 shot bulk loaded rolls. In case it matters, I use a Patterson tank. Any thoughts are appreciated, because I still have a couple of dozen 36 shot rolls, and it feels kind of silly to be getting less than 30 usable shots per roll.

Thanks,
Richie

 

[Ralf]

The first paragraph sounds like a light leak inthe tank to me. This happened to me once when I left the blacl plastic spool thingie out of the paterson tank (not realising it is part of the internal light baffle.

When I had the problem, (it was in 120 film) the first 4 frames were basicaly ruined, with the remainder being useable.

The rest I'm not sure of.

 

[Poptart]

I think the problem may be that you're winding the film too tightly on the reel, and so causing it to touch film-to-film, which is where the streaks appear.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I'd go for light leak. If the film were touching it would be creamy-to-brownish opaque undeveloped/unfixed emulsion, not black. If you can get hold of a copy of 'Darkroom Basics' (ISBN 1-84340-048-0, Collins & Brown, look at pages 44/45 'Troubleshooting Negatives'.

Cheers,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

 

[FrankS]

The problem is due either to a light leak or an uneven development. Try loading shorter rolls, say 25 shots and see if you have a problem. I'm guessing the rolls are too long and the film is touching itself during developing.

Just try a shorter roll to see what happens. If it is a light leak, you should see it on the shorter roll too.

I just finished bulk loading a long roll of HP5+ and I noticed that the film got really tight in the black plastic film cassettes when I was trying for 36 useable frames, and that those cassettes are a bit smaller in diameter than the reuseable metal Ilford cassettes. (This has nothing to do with your problem, just an observation on bulk loading.)

 

[richiedcruz]

I'll try a shorter roll. But, if it is a light leak, should I get a new tank, new inner lid, the plastic center tube that holds the reel, or can I bang something back into alignment?

Thanks,
Richie

 

[RayPA]

I say light leak. Don't rule out that it may be a particular bulk load cannister. If you only have a few cannisters it should be easy to find the offender. I've gotten similar artifacts to the one you're describing, but I have a bunch of cannisters, so I've been trying to narrow down which one has a leak.

 

[Ralf]

I used the black plastic cannisters for a while and 36 shots did get tight in the cannister. So much so that my camera (Pentax MZ5n) would not be able to pull it thru when rewnding. The camera would just stop. So I started bulk loading at 30 frames which solved the problem (and also became more convenient anyway, as I tended to do contact sheets with the film still in the sleeves, and 30 shots filled an 8 X 10)