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[Disaster_Area]

After being out of the film scene for a number of years I'm going to start souping my own film at home. Shooting HP5, I'm using HC-110 Dil B, Ilfostop stop bath and Ilford rapid fixer. In my previous life as a film photographer I used a comunal dark room with all the chemicals pre-mixed, so I never really worried about mixing my own stock, or worrying about how long the mixed stock was good for. I'm using the HC-110 as a one shot developer so no worries there, but how many times can I re-use the mixed stop and fix? The iflostop is used pretty diluted, so I might use this as a one off mix as well to save hassle. What about the rapid fixer? Is it worth re-using?

 

[Disaster_Area]

Also, just double checking but here's my intended process, let me know if I have it wrong:

- HC-110 for 5 min, agitate 10 sec ever 30 sec for the first minute, then 10sec per minute after

- rinse with water

- stop bath for 10 sec

- rinse with water

- fix for 3 min, agitate 10 sec every 30 sec

- rinse for 5 min in water

- hang to dry

any suggestions?

 

[Terao]

I'd fix for longer (as far as I'm aware it does no harm) and rinse for longer as well. You might want to use the Ilford wash method if you want to cut back on water usage (fill tank, invert 5 times, empty, fill, invert 10 times, empty, fill, invert 20 times).
I typically replace my Rapidfix after 10 rolls of 35mm. You can always try a fix test on the leader to check for fixer power. No idea how hard/pure your water is in Ottawa but you might need to do a final wash in Photoflo or some other wetting agent to avoid drying marks. No experience with HC110 so can't comment there...

 

[GeneW]

You don't really need a stop bath for film. A 1-min or so rinse will remove most of the developer.

Fixer: I use either Ilford Rapid Fixer or Kodafix, whichever I can find in stock at the time, mix a gallon of it to working strength and use it for one year. Each New Year's I mix up a fresh batch. I keep a running tally of how many 36-exp equivalent rolls I've fixed (max capacity is about 120 rolls), but I rarely develop more than 50-60 rolls per year, well below capacity.

When the fixer is brand new, I fix for the minimum time. As I use it more and more I gradually increase the fixing time until near the end of the year I'm fixing for the maximum time. E.g., with Rapid Fixer I gradually increase from 2 min to 4 min. For Kodafix I gradually increase from 5 min to 10 min.

I've been doing this for decades and my old negatives still look great -- no yellowing or fading.

Gene

 

[Disaster_Area]

Wow... I knew fix should last a while, but a year... that's impressive, but I guess if it works it works.

 

[40oz]

just use a clip test for fixer. Use an undeveloped end of the roll, and put it in the fixer. Time how long it takes to clear, and double that for your fixing time. I suppose if it takes more than four or five minutes to clear the test strip in Ilford Rapid Fix, you should dump it.

 

[Trius]

As for washing, I now use the Ilford method, detailed here. This assumes, of course, that you use a non-hardening fixer.

40oz's procedure for testing fixer strength is right on; it's what I do, too, so it must be right. 😀

Also of note: Ilford now offering processing in the UK!

 

[Terao]

Ooo, good spot on the Ilford development. Expensive of course but not really when you factor in the quality of the printing and the convenience...

 

[MartinP]

I would just suggest that the development time is a bit short for consistency - it may well be enough to produce an image, but with such a short time you may lose some exact repeatability. D76/ID11, Microphen or DD-X, will give longer times and have only the slight disadvantage of a reduction in lifetime of the stock solution, and a small increase in cost.

I'd recommend a distilled water and photoflo rinse, just like Terao above. It is a bit too late, when the film is dry, to discover that you have annoying marks here and there . . .

 

[Trius]

IIRC I used about 6-1/2 min. for HC-110 Dil. B when I used it many years ago with Tri-X ... but the emulsion has changed and I haven't retested since then as I now use Rodinal or Rodinal+XTol. If I were to take up with HC-110 again, I'd go for dilution H (twice as dilute as B) as I am currently in "less is more" mode.

 

[Disaster_Area]

Yeah, the more I read up on HC-110 the more I think I'll be going with dil H as well.

 

[Chris101]

Dil H totally rocks! When I use it, I agitate for the first minute, then 10 seconds every 3 minutes thereafter until twice the dil B time.

 

[projectbluebird]

5 minutes in Dil B is a great time for HP5, I wouldn't recommend any less than that though.
Here's the process I used at school with HC-110 and HP5. (I shoot it at 200, not 400)

-presoak, water 30s constant agitation.

-develop, HC-110 Dil B 5min, 30s initial 10s every minute. dump.

-stop, water 10s, constant agitation, twice.

-fix, Kodak Rapid fix 4min, 1min initial 5s every 30. save until exhausted (test with hypocheck)

-rinse, running water, 2min.

-clear, hypoclear 3min, 30s initial 5s every 30. save, replace at same time as fixer.

-wash, water 5-10 min (the lab used a low-water film washer)

-final rinse, photo-flo 30s, no agitation. dump.

-Hang to dry (or use film dryer, if you're lucky enough to own one. 20 min.)

It's a little more involved than your process, I know. It worked well for me, and I've based my home darkroom on it. No film dryer yet, however.