[Leica] JOBO C41 Press Kit

[Jim at hemenway.com (Jim Hemenway)]

Herbert:

I had the same problem with the stabilizer in the Tetenal E6 kit.  I 
switched to the Kodak 5 liter kit and the problem disappeared.

I mix only one liter at a time which will process 8 rolls of 35mm/35exp 
or 4 rolls of 120.  I've left the remaining concentrate in their bottles 
for months at a time with no visible negative consequences.

-- 
Jim http://www.hemenway.com




Herbert Kanner wrote:

> During the years that I have been processing C41, the smaller kits have 
> been disappearing.  Now, the smallest Tetenal kit is 2 1/2 liters  (30 
> rolls of film) and I have some concerns about the concentrates keeping 
> in good condition in the lengh of time it takes me to do that number of 
> rolls. So, I was delighted to see that the "new and improved" 1-liter 
> press kit now incorporates a stabilizer.
> 
> Well, I had a bad experience with it.  I discovered that while all the 
> other components of the Press Kit are identical to those of the all 
> liquid kits, the stabilizer is a different compound--I suppose the one 
> in the all liquid kits does not exist in solid form.  The problem was 
> that the one in the Press Kit was completely lousy as a wetting agent, 
> and droplets of liquid persisted on the non-emulsion side.  When dry, I 
> found a number of spots on the back of the film. I was able to remove 
> them by brisk rubbing with a clean cloth.  After seeing this happen to 
> four rolls of film, I used a Jobo squeegee on the next two rolls. It did 
> not scratch the film, I hope, but the sounds it made were really 
> unnerving.  I have not, over many years, had to do this to film.
> 
> I wrote to JOBO tech support.  Unfortunately, Ken Owens does not seem to 
> be working for them, at least in that capacity, any longer.  The guy who 
> answered me kept insisting that I use distilled water.  Well, the Palo 
> Alto water is damn near as good as distilled.  I've boiled a potful to 
> dryness and seen no mineral residue.  I finally wrote and asked if there 
> was any reason not to throw a bit of Kodak PhotoFlo into the 
> stabilizer--never got an answer.  Can any of the experts on this list 
> tell me a) how important is it to stabilize the negs?, and b) would it 
> be ok to add a wetting agent to the stabilizer?