Yellow stain on Negs?

[ncd_photo]

I've just developed a roll of HP5+ in LC29 and there is a yellow stain running the length of the film on each side. The developer has been open about 6 months and is starting to colour, Stop bath and Fixer (both ilford) have done about 10 films and been bottled for 6 months.

My question - is this due to developer /stop bath age or due to low agitation?
I've been experimenting with the agitation times for HP5+ to get different tonality. This time I did 2 Agitations per minute in a 6.5 minute dev cycle for 1/19 mix of LC29.

I've got another roll to delvelop with some nice shots which I don't want to spoil.

The stain pretty much dissapears into a light shadow when converting to gray in PS but I've not had this problem before and would like to avoid it again if poss.

Attached: Scan of start of film - about 4th exposure, scanned as colour neg.

Many Thanks

Nick

 

[erikhaugsby]

Try re-fixing the film, a yellow stain is usually a sign of expired fixer.

 

[sepiareverb]

I'll agree with erik- but the way some things are going around here it might be cat pee.

 

[Ororaro]

expired fixer... or if it's an old film, it means it's badly washed. Refix and wash.

 

[ncd_photo]

Ok, I'll give that a go with some fresh fixer.

What's the average life span of fixer? Are we talking rolls or months?

I'd guess from this case its about 10 rolls in Ilford rapid fix

Thanks

Nick

 

[markinlondon]

Here comes the fixer teat routine again. Drop the leader in fresh working strength fixer in daylight and agitate. Time how long it takes to clear completely. Fix for at least twice this time with intermittent agitation (no need to be gentle). Repeat the test every few rolls. When the clearing time for a particular film has doubled it's time to make up a fresh batch. Do NOT try to squeeze another roll out of the exhausted fixer, it never works.

I usually make up a litre of 1:4 Ilford Rapid Fix. This is usually good for 20-25 rolls. I test every 5 rolls or so just in case.

 

[MartinP]

The Ilford Rapid Fixer instruction sheet (which was stuck to the container it came in and can also be found on their website) gives a life of seven days for the diluted solution, while the capacity during that week is 24 rolls.

To re-fix the negs, put the fixer in a paper tray or similar and dunk one strip at a time, to avoid them touching each other and possibly scratching. Also, don't forget to wash the negs thoroughly to get the fixer out of the emulsion.

 

[ncd_photo]

The Ilford Rapid Fixer instruction sheet (which was stuck to the container it came in and can also be found on their website) gives a life of seven days for the diluted solution, while the capacity during that week is 24 rolls.

Yep, your right,

Just read that! I'm amazed the fixer has lasted so long in 1+4 solution (6 months in a wine bottle!)

Just re-fixed in fresh 1+4 and re-washed and the roll is perfect, so thanks to all for your input 🙂

 

[MartinP]

Good news about your negs 🙂

I must admit that I have never managed to shoot up to that 24 roll limit in a week, enough to exhaust a litre of fix. I would more usually have an occasional evening film-developing session with three or four rolls maximum, using 300 or 600ml of fix at 1+4 - then I dilute it a bit more, to 1+9, and use it for fixing the prints the following weekend. Of course, this behaviour could just be me being a bit parsimonius . . .