Failure to Develop

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Originally Posted by Francesco

What is the most common mistake that results in the development of a completely blank piece of film? It has just happened to me for the first time and I cant figure out what went wrong. Holder light leakage? Would that not result in some but not all of the film being clear? Developer exhaustion or weak solution? My stock solution of PYROCAT HD was mixed 17 days ago and I keep it tightly capped and in an ideal location. Any ideas?

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You might have mixed the working solution using only either Part A or Part B. If you did the result would be a piece of blank film.

Francesco,

It happened with me more than once. I got confused with the white/black labes of the slide. So during my development session (I normally develop 4 negatives at once) I thought the film holder had 2 exposed negatives. It had only one.

Sandy,

It is possible that I did as you say. It has been a tiring day. Hiked more than 5 km with my pack (20 kilos) and the exhaustion extended itself all the way to my brain. I will never know for sure. I can only try once more with a bit more care.

At least I am comforted by the fact that because it is not black I can be confident that my equipment (holders, bellows, changing tent, tubes) is defective in some way that light leaks in.

That is supposed to read: "I can be confident that my equipment is NOT defective in some way...."

[quote="Jorge Oliveira"]Or a dead developer.
That has happened with Xtol (and with a crazy mix I made...) - sudden death.


I have heard of this happening with Xtol. And when it happens you apparently have no clue because there is no discoloration of the developer.

Pyrocat-HD (and PMK) are not subject to this kind of sudden death. Whe Pyrocat-HD goes bad the clear Stock A solution turns dark brown (Stock B has an indefinite life). This has only happened to me once and when it did the developer was over 2.5 years old and was being stored in a 250ml bottle that was less than 1/2 full. In fact, it was a test stock that I deliberately left just to see how long it would last.

Francesco

Just get a small piece of unexposed film or paper and develop it in a tray in roomlight.
If it gets black in your normal dev time, the dev is OK and you made some mistake.

Jorge O

Sandy

I was trying to make a longer lasting Xtol equivalent (the standard formula works quite well).
I split it in two solutions - dev and alkali, and added (a lot) of boric acid to the dev so it would become slightly acid.

So far, so good.

In the same week;
- did a black leader test - OK
- did a short strip test - OK
- shot half a 35mm roll - Ok
- shot the rest of the roll - almost clear...:evil:

Recheked with a leader test - clear.

My conclusion - there is somenting (impurities) in boric acid that kills ascorbic acid.

Jorge O

Thanks for the replies. I will be developing tonight and will try your suggestions. I will also pay extra attention to the A and B markings on the bottles (they still have a clear colour).