Agitated??

[nealjpage]

General question: how much agitation when developing film is too much?

Specific question: anyone ever used a UniColor drum system to develop film? Was wondering if I could take my reels, put them in the UniColor drum, set it on the motor, and let the spinning do my agitation for the specified time. I ask because I just got done agitating film for 30 minutes and it got pretty boring.

 

[Hertz van Rental]

Standard agitation for films - especially B&W - is 5 secs every 30 secs.
This is just for consistency.
The rate at which you agitate affects the speed of reaction of the chemicals so more agitation means shorter dev times. Manufacturers always give the 5/30 times for hand processing. Increasing the agitation rate without adjusting time will cause possibly serious over-development.
I'll go through my tech lit later today when I can. I think I have the curves somewhere to calculate the time adjustment needed.
The danger with agitation is causing the liquid in the tank to 'spin' as it sets up flow patterns and causes uneven development (banding). So the method of agitation is more important than the rate.