back in the darkroom - troubleshooting

[rgassert]

I had a darkroom in my parents' basement when I was in high school but I drifted away from the hobby and haven't done it in years. However, now that I have my own house, i wanted to take the old equipment from my parents and set one up in my basement to get back into it. Well, I just recently finished setting it up and, over the Thanksgiving holiday, was successful in creating my first print in YEARS. However, I went back down there tonight and had the strangest experience. Every time I tried to develop something (a contact sheet , a test strip, a print), no matter what I did it was completely black. I know the room is light tight because I was able to make decent prints two weeks ago. I thought maybe there was light getting through from one of my safelights because it's so old but even when I turned it off and just used the one i knew was ok (because i just bought it), the same thing still happened. One time I even tried exposing the paper for only 2 seconds and it was still completely black. Do you think the problem might be the paper? I've been keeping it in the black bag and in the box it came in inside a drawer but maybe that's not protected enough? It's the only variable I can think of that I wasn't able to adjust. Do you need a special container for paper? I never had one in my parents' house. Any ideas about what might be going on?

 

[timor]

Welcome back in the darkroom ! This is always nice, quiet place for me to relax and just be alone.
Regarding the paper; how old is it ? Do you have some other paper ? Is that paper bought just now ? To me it looks, like paper was exposed to light and then put back into the box. Do you have kids ? Could be also manufacturing mistake, I just punched thru 100 sheets of paper exposed in factory on one corner. I used it for contacts. Just get fresh pack of paper (at least unopened), mix fresh chemicals and try again.

 

[rgassert]

Yeah, i think you're right that it's probably the paper. I don't know how it would have gotten exposed to light though. No kids so I don't think anyone was rummaging through the drawers. What precautions should I take to make sure the paper doesn't get exposed?

 

[Light Guru]

Where did you get the paper from? I have heard many stories of people buying previously opened packages of paper or sheet film from eBay or other places where people have opened the package pulled it the light sensitive material to count it. Some some eBay postings even show photos of the paper or film out in the light.

 

[timor]

Where did you get the paper from? I have heard many stories of people buying previously opened packages of paper or sheet film from eBay or other places where people have opened the package pulled it the light sensitive material to count it. Some some eBay postings even show photos of the paper or film out in the light.

That might be exactly the case. Try with new one as you didn't do anything wrong.

 

[compur]

I thought maybe there was light getting through from one of my safelights because it's so old but even when I turned it off and just used the one i knew was ok (because i just bought it), the same thing still happened.

I would try printing without using the new safelight you just bought.

 

[terri]

One thing you didn't mention, so I'll toss it out there: did you check your lens aperture? Is it possible you left it wide open and haven't shut it back down? Even at a couple of seconds that could affect the paper, especially with no filtration. It's odd that you made prints from the paper a couple weeks back and now it seems ruined. Discounting the aperture, trying again with fresh paper seems the next best thing, if you have good safelights and no other possible light leaks.

 

[orlovphoto]

try just developing the paper with no exposure at all - usually when paper expires it doesn't go COMPLETELY black, just kinda gray... I have heard of people having this problem and am as stumped as you are about the cause... even the safe light wouldn't make it totally black...