Took me 3 hours to find out my developing tank was just slightly too dry

I was loading a roll of Tri-X 400 into my Paterson tank last night and kept getting light leaks in the exact same frame. Rewound it, checked the lid seal, checked the reel... nothing. After like an hour of troubleshooting I realized my tank had sat in a hot closet for 6 months and the little rubber gasket had shrunk just enough to let a pinprick of light in. I finally just wet the rim with a bit of water and it sealed up perfectly. Has anyone else dealt with a dried out gasket on an old Paterson?

2 comments

2 Comments

karenm498d ago

Read somewhere that drying out gaskets can shrink them like that.

emmafisher4d ago

Oh absolutely, that happened to my fridge door seal last summer. I noticed it was getting all stiff and pulling away from the frame, leaving a gap you could practically slide a credit card through. I tried cleaning it with vinegar water and it just made it worse, I think it stripped whatever oil was left in the rubber. Had to just buy a new gasket online and replace the whole thing myself, which was a pain but cheaper than a service call. The old one was totally shrunk and brittle by the time I got it off, like a dried out old rubber band. So yeah, keeping them clean but not letting them dry out completely is key, I learned that the hard way.