Starting a New Year on the wrong foot

[uimike]

 Well, trying my never used before Paterson System 4, 2 reels with Foma 200 shot at box speed (I know, should have gone 100-160 ISO), XTOL 1:1, 23C
Went through the tribulations of loading the reels with the little roller thingies, a tank almost too tall for my modest change bag.
Decided to follow Paterson's instructions agitating the little thingamajiggie, one inversion at the top of the minute. 5:31 minutes at XTOL 1:1, si to underdevelop a fair amount (why??)
Water stop, fix 5 mins, Ilford wash (5+10+15).
Dunked reels in PhotoFlo (I know, I shouldn't...)
TWO almost BLANK rolls, and ONE very embarassed "photographer"
Back to HP5+, ID-11/HC-110B/Rodinal, my steel tanks and Hewes reels.
Too many things might have gone wrong: exhausted or dead XTOL, not enough dev time...
They say it's a sign if good luck to start your year on the wrong foot?
 
Happy 2021!!!!!!

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Better luck next try.

What I think I would have done next (after I stopped banging my head against the wall) is to shoot a few test rolls of some straight-forward subject, at several different exposure levels, keeping careful records. Try developing ONE roll in the new setup, exactly following the directions (with fresh XTOL) and see what happens. Compare results with your exposure notes, and see if some change in dilution or development time might give good results. If so, try developing another roll with your suggested variants.

If nothing looks promising, dump the new system and go back to what you are familiar with (but with fresh XTOL.)

I think maybe you let the spirit of 2020 drag you down at the start of 2021. May the rest of 2021 be happier and give you back your confidence!

-Eric

[uimike]

Thank You Eric!
Great suggestions - I will do it!
If I hadn't been too lazy :-) I would have tested a bit of film first. Now I did it, and found out that bottle of XTOL (prepared 3 months ago) was basically dead.

Mike