cecilh Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Do Kodak Express have a paper monitoring service? We have recently done a chemical change on our DKS 1530 and although the prints look much better the whites look a bit overdeveloped. I take it we'd need to order a box of paper control strips but not sure where to get them from and how to use them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor brown Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Tetenal have the control strips, Photo-Me would have to tell you how to use them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blusther Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 What chemistry are you using? What is the speed of your process? Do you have the exact tank mixing instructions? I never ever had problems after changing the chemistry of a machine. Maybe you are talking about a solarizing problem? What about your densitometer sticker in the dryer unit? The densitometer lamp? the calibration chart? Have you done an LCD response? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Dave Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 I've got a spare X-Rite 880 densitometer (recently calibrated by X-Rite) I could sell you if you need it for reading the control strips. Just make me an offer, BUT I'm on the west coast of the US - you might find someone in the UK with one sitting around gathering dust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilT Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Blimy I have city & guild in RA and C41 proccessing.. and used to have a Kodak Q-Lab Cert The good old days.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
photocorp Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Not too many people these days in the industry know how to read, let alone interpret control strips or plot the graphs, that is to say there's not many us "old school indie's" left eh! With this in mind, at our facility (Australia) we use software by David Slade which is very user friendly for the operators to work around, the basis for this software was later re-developed by Kodak as their Kodalink QMS package. Meant I could dispense with the pads and having to deal with operators couldn't even use a pocket calculator to calculate aims or correction factors Ive got it set up on an old stand alone junker PC (new HD of course). There is a download free trial version with limited functions for evaluation. You might find it a bit pricey or not worthy of the expense but it saved my bacon......If you visit the Kodak website and download the Z Manuals they may also assist in evaluating the trends. I recommend Z130, 131 and 99M for starters http://wwwau.kodak.com/global/en/business/retailPhoto/techInfo/zManuals/index.jhtml?pq-path=12078/12334 Someone on the forum posted an EXCEL spreadsheet a couple of years back for a similar utility, but I couldn't find the link. The X-rite is connected to the PC via Serial RS232 cable, so you might have to make this up to adapt to the densitometer. Anyhow have a look at this: http://www.photolabqc.com/ (you can only install the full version on one HD as a single user purchase, the software has an embedded enablement [password] script) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilT Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Oh, you are bringing back the memories and the z manuals ! D-min , D-Max, HD LD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magenta Posted October 21, 2009 Report Share Posted October 21, 2009 "Don't do process control", "when I do one its always OK", whats the point? "It looks OK to me", "I will send it to my supplier in the post". "old school indie" I must be as I was taught you do it every day and plot your graphs. Agreed if your paper is out you can always adjust the production, with film, when its buggered its buggered for good. The problems with new digital machines is that they will try and correct for a screwed up process, for instance turning up the output of a laser to compensate for the process dropping off the graph for a blocked rep pump for instance. You will see the plot dropping well before the problem shows on your work. My pet hate is the last comment, by the time you have put the strip in the post and your supplier has read it, it only tells you that it may have been OK last week. I would rather put a test strip in the bin each day than crap work that I have had to reprint, or worse of all pack it and sell it only to loose the customer. I might add that a lot of the multiples, that we all aim to provide a better, more "professional service", have tick boxes and procedures that the Muppet's have to follow, or else. Old school going back in the box, end of rant ;D PS if you are a muppet hope the hands warm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor brown Posted October 21, 2009 Report Share Posted October 21, 2009 There are settings in the DKS to allow you to plot chemistry, you just need the correct paper feed unit to load the strips into. then follow the instructions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blusther Posted October 21, 2009 Report Share Posted October 21, 2009 Nobody here talked about Cecilh's problem and he doesn't answer. What is an overdeveloped white? Maybe there is no chemistry problem and only correct adjustment need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cecilh Posted October 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2009 Firstly, thank you to everyone for their comments. Blusther, we use Tetenal chemistry and mix to the instructions from them. For example, the developer was 900ml starter, 900ml developer and 7200ml of water. Can you expand on the densitometer sticker in the dryer? We have cleaned the small lenses on the exposure deck. I have attached three images to illustrate how the prints are looking: Image 1 - original print when machine was installed Image 2 - print done before chemical change Image 3 - print done after chemical change The overdeveloped whites was a quote taken from an independent expert who I emailed the images to for their comment. I hope the attached images can shed some light on how we can get our images the way they should be. I've managed to research a paper control strip holder with part code 060-376-538A (crown?). I wonder if this is compatible with our DKS1530? Also, Kodak paper control strips part code: 8282170 (3.5x12)??? Thanks for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blusther Posted October 21, 2009 Report Share Posted October 21, 2009 New question: how does the unexposed white paper looks like? completely white? Black (exposed paper) is completely black? Have you filled up the tank with water and switch on the machine some time before you made a new tank solution? Have you washed the rack? Have you used a new chemistry filter? Have you had some paper jam in the bleach tank and some bleach came to the developer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cecilh Posted October 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2009 Blusther, yes the base white looks good I would say. The racks were thoroughly cleaned but I must admit I didn't fill up the tanks with water with the machine switched on. The filters were changed also. There has been no paper jams since the chemicals were changed so no chance of chemical contamination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aks Posted October 21, 2009 Report Share Posted October 21, 2009 I would be looking at the bleach-fix as you appear to have lost contrast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilT Posted October 21, 2009 Report Share Posted October 21, 2009 I would go with aks, this could be a weak bleach problem... due to dev carry over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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