Using the tubes

Note: do a couple test runs this way before using "real negs" - not only do you need to get a feel for things before you do this, but my memory is spotty, best to test.

Set up a tray or kitty litter box full of water the same temp you want to run your process at. This water bath will not only help keep the temp constant during processing, but will also make it easier to keep the tubes moving. It should be just deep enough that the tubes will float free of the bottom when added. Add enough acetic acid to make a rather weak stop bath.

Set the caps up on the counter in front of you, and fill each one with the amount of developer you want to use for each sheet. I tend to use 2 ounces of D-76 as a one-shot.

Kill the room lights, and pick up a sheet of film. Curl it lengthwise, emulsion facing in, and place in one of the tubes. Set aside, continue until all your negs are loaded.

Grab each tube, screw it onto its cup while keeping it vertical. Once the cup is fully screwed on, shake for a few seconds to maake sure the entire surace inside is wetted, then flip it into the water tray with enough english that it lands spinning. Proceed to the next tube and repeat - try to keep the tubes in order in the tray, and mark the start of development as the moment the first tube hits the water bath. If you have a number of tubes, you may periodically want to brush the hand not touching the film across the spinning tubes to keep them going. Continue this until you have all the tubes loaded and spinning in the tray, then go ahed and turn on the safelight.

When the development time is up, grab the first tube, upend it to drain the developer into the cup, unscrew, then plunge the tube into the tray to stop it, while dumping the contents of the cup and refilling it with fixer (alternately, build twice as many cups as tubes, one set for developer, one set for fix), placing the tube back into the bath spinning with fix inside. Proceed to the next tube. When all of the tubes have been partially fixed, go ahead and start removing them one by one, placing the sheets interleaved in a small tray of fixer to help make sure they get thoroughly fixed. This is the real downside to the use of the cheapo tubes - you really need to tray fix the sheets to get all of the antihalation dye out and make sure the job is complete. I don't know about the BTZS tubes, but the Jobo pro drums have a mesh layer that helps the chemi reach the backside of the film while the tubes are in rotation.