Figure 10-18.–Arrangement of materials for processing film.
brought to the correct processing temperature in a water
bath (fig. 10-18).
A clean, dry area should be provided on the work
counter for loading the film onto the reels. The following
steps are used to process roll film in small tanks:
1. Load the reel or reels with the film to be
processed.
2. Place the loaded reels into the tank. If the
loaded reels do not come to the top of the tank, add
empty reels to take up the space. Place the cover and cap
on the tank. The lights may now be turned back on. Once
the lights are on and before the film is fixed, be careful
not to remove the tank cover or the film will be exposed
to light and ruined.
3. Hold the tank in one hand and tilt it slightly;
pour the developer directly from the graduate into the
tank through the light trap pouring hole. Pour as fast as
you can without spilling. As the developer nears the top
of the tank, hold the tank level or set it in the sink. Fill
the tank to just overflowing. This step should take about
10 to 20 seconds, depending on the tank size.
4. Once the tank is full, immediately start the
timer, replace the cap, and strike the tank on the edge of
the sink once or twice to dislodge any air bubbles. Now
agitate the film by inverting the tank slowly end to end
(fig. 10-19). The initial agitation should be 30 seconds.
Place the tank in the sink on its bottom (cover up).
5. Once every minute, agitate the film for 5
seconds by slowly inverting the tank end to end. After
each agitation cycle, place the tank back in the sink. If
you are holding the tank during the entire developing
period, the heat from your hands may heat the developer
and produce unpredictable results.
6. When only 10 seconds of developing time
remain, remove the cap from the tank cover.
Immediately start pouring the developer out of the tank
through the light trap pouring hole. Dump the
chemicals according to local instructions of the
imaging facility. This step should take about 10 seconds
to complete.
7. When the developer has been emptied from the
tank, fill the tank to overflowing with stop bath. The stop
bath must be poured into the tank through the light trap
pouring hole in the tank cover. Replace the cover cap.
Agitate the film in the stop bath for about 30 seconds
using the end-for-end method.
8. When the stop bath portion of the process is
complete, pour the stop bath through the light trap
pouring hole in the tank cover.
9. With the tank cover still in place, pour fixer into
the tank and replace the cap. Dislodge the air bubbles
and set the timer to the required fixing time. Start the
timer and agitate the film using the same agitation as the
developer.
10. When the prescribed fixing time has elapsed,
remove the tank cover and pour the fixer from the tank
back into the bottle from which it came. Never pour the
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