Francis, Nick,

Many thanks for your comments, these are very helpful.

I will ceratinly try the pre-wash, this sounds promising. As regards keeping
the temp. constant, this is why I am using a large deep dray, so that I can
put lots of water in, plus drum, plus chemicals, all in the same tub of warm
water. I am monitoring this and putting a bit of hot in every couple of
minutes to keep the temp. constant.

I will have another go tomorrow and let you know progress.

Thanks again,

Bob W

 I'm wondering about this. With the current Kodak paper I don't seem to
have any problems but I picked up some older Supra III and I think I'm
getting the meanies. So all it takes is a 60 second water soak?

    Thanks
    Nick

I think this advice is too extreme.  

Jobo has been in business for many years with many thousands of people
successfully using drums to process prints. They have made over a
dozen different drum processing units over the years.  I started drum
processing in 1983 and didn't start using a Jobo (for better temp
control) until 1994.  I have never used anything but a drum from the
EP-2 days until now.

I've tried all of the "hobby chemistry" and they all give good
results.  The unit cost (per print) is higher with most of the "room
temperature" kits, but their results are indistinguishable from that
derived from using Kodak chemistry alone.

I am currently (tonight) using 16-month old Fuji Crystal Archive and
getting some great prints.  Of course, I store it in my freezer when
not in use.  Paper is not like vegetables, but it does need
refridgeration to stay "good".

The paper itself will absorb some developer and some will carry over
to the blix.  Usually 2 30-second washes will take care of this but
you can use a 3-5% acetic acid stop bath followed by 30-second rinse
and this will certainly take care of the problem.

RA-4 is quite tolerant of development times.  I wouldn't go less than
45 seconds or more than 90 seconds, but I've experimented with as much
as 2 minutes in the developer.  All that was accomplished was a slight
increase in density and about a 5-7 cc shift toward the magenta.  I
would still pick one temp/time combo (I use 1:00 at 35deg C) and stick
with it, for consistency.  If you use a color analyzer (as I do), you
should maintain a consistent "process" throughout to achieve
consistent results and you will waste less paper on "test prints".

You can also replenish RA-4 when using a drum, but because of the
greater "aeration" in the drum you should use at least 3 times the
recommended replacement rate.  I replenish (with RA-4 replenisher) at
a rate of 30ml/100ml of developer.  I use the same for the blix.

This particular problem sounds exactly like he is not giving the print
sufficient wash after the developer which is causing too much of a
rise in pH of the blix.  I"ve "been there, done that" and I'd bet my
favorite cat that this is the problem.