Grey stain on Tri-X film...

[Pragmatist]

Donald, do you bang your tank a few times after agitation? I do to dislodge bubbles and have never had a reel creep.

[fschifano]

Even more pragmatic. Wrap a rubber band around the core above the reel. Guaranteed, the reel won't move.

[Donald Qualls]

Pragmatist, I do in fact bang the tank on the (paper towel padded) counter after each inversion series. No help. What I suspect is happening (since it started when I changed my loading) is that loading 2x120 films on the 220 length reel is increasing the resistance of the loaded reel to the liquid flow as the tank fills from the bottom after each inversion cycle; that allowed the reel to climb up the core and there isn't enough density difference between loaded reel and developer solution for the slam on the counter to have much effect toward bringing it back down.

If yours doesn't slip, it's just that little bit tighter than mine.

I need to remember to put some rubber bands in my darkroom and install the reel the other way up on the core (inside end up instead of inside end down, which I've been doing to ensure complete drainage when pouring out) so the rubber bands or o-rings can hold. Or just tape the core to provide a diameter increase for the spring bows in the reel to grip on, as I suggested originally. Got some film to process tomorrow, I'll try that first (because I know where the tape is, and can apply it in the light).

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I always fill the tank with developer, stop, and fixer. No such problems. I also rap the tank pretty hard on my sink top to dislodge air bubbles that might be trapped in the reel. In my mind, that's what happened.

I've had problems with having those opaque undeveloped, unfixed areas on the film as well, but only where the film edge might touch the film reel. If that occurs, then back in the fixer it goes, off the reel. When the affected areas clear, I start the wasing procedure.

To me, adding extra chemistry to completely fill the tank takes all the guess work out of it. If you use one-shot developers, they're cheap. It'll be cents more. If you're using replenished developers, you're still just putting one roll through, if you fill the tank, it's not going to use more developer capacity.

For loading 2 rolls of 120 films on to one spool, I use the tape at the end of one film strip. Careful to get the film edges parallel, but with some practice, it works great.

My 2 cents.

[Donald Qualls]

Well, since I had some film to process today, I tried my own idea from above -- I wrapped two turns of 1/2 inch wide masking tape onto my Paterson Super System 4 tank core (I arrived at two turns because 4 and 3 wouldn't fit into the center of the reel), positioned so the nubs on the friction spring bits would be just below the tape when the reel was on the core. Loaded two rolls and processed as normal, and when I opened the tank, was gratified to see the reel still at the bottom of the core.

Huggy, you're right about the relative economy of filling the tank, but I like to leave the empty space at the top to ensure good agitation when I invert -- this goes double with my reduced agitation process (every 3rd minute); the agitation I do give needs to be thorough. I haven't used the head tape from the film, in part because some of the films I use don't have head tape that can be cleanly removed from either backing or film, and it's on the emulsion side even on the ones that do -- which makes it much harder to smooth on effectively over the join with the second roll started into the spiral, since it's underneath the film at that point (and prone to stick where it isn't wanted, too).