Anyone here use a Hypo Clear when developing?

[Rob-F]

I don't know that a hypo clear will remove fog. I think it simply helps to wash away traces of fixer from film and fiber-based enlarging paper.

I generally use it with film. It helps to reduce the final wash time, which saves me on the water bill.

I don't think it will, either. Hypo clear removes hypo. I have nver heard that it can remove anything on the film that the hypo itself is supposed to remove.

 

[nikon_sam]

I have a bottle of it only because it came with a bunch of darkroom stuff I bought at a yard sale...I used it once with some film I was having problems with but haven't used it since...I do use Fiber Based paper and will use it when washing...

Chris...When leaving the FB paper in water for prolonged periods of time did you have a problem with the edges curling when drying...I have a print dryer and after drying I have to place them under a stack of books to get them flat...any suggestions???

 

[ibcrewin]

Unblinking eye has a formulat for 1L
http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Developers/Formulas/formulas.html

Hypo Clearing Agent

Water (125º F) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750 ml
Sodium Sulfite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 g
Sodium bisulfite*. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 g
Water to make . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 liter

Dilute 1:9 for use.

 

[ibcrewin]

I have all the components. Doesn't matter anyway, I print on RC for now.

 

[charjohncarter]

I'm processing Tmax100 and Tmax400 in Rodinal and do need HypoClear to get rid of the purple anti-halation layer with that combo. The water is very hard where I live.

Me too, and with TriX, it dosen't cost much. I always found this interesting:

Kodak Hypo Clearing Agent and other so called washing aids are the
result of the discovery that sea water was more effective for washing out
hypo than fresh water. This was first noted around the turn of the century
but extensive research was not until WW-II when the problem of washing
photographic materials on ship board or other locations where fresh water
was in short supply became critical.
It would appear that wash aids work mostly by an ion exchange mechanism.
I've never seen a clear explanation of this so cant provide a citation.
Kodak Wash Aid is approximately: Sodium Sulfite, dessicated, 100 gm; Sodium
Bisulfite, 10 gm; Water 1.0 liter. dilute 1 part stock to 4 parts water
for use. The commercial product will contain the usual chelating agents in
it to deal with hard water.
Kodak HE-1 Hypo Eliminator is works on a different principle. It
converts the residual hypo to Sodium Sulfate which is more soluable. Kodak
has recommended against using hypo eliminator for several years. It can
damage emulsion and may be too effective washing out the hypo. It was
discovered around 1960 that very small residues of hypo actually stabilize
the silver!
I am not sure what advantage Ammonium salt would have over Sodium but
Crabtree et.al of Kodak mentions the use of Ammonium Carbonate as a washing
accelerator in an early paper. It was thought at that time that the main
function of the salt was in changing the pH of the gelatin rather than the
more complex one of ion exchange.
----
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles,Ca.
dickburk@ix.netcom.com

So, I guess you could do as Roger suggests and harden your wash water with sea salt.

 

[charjohncarter]

I was really joking about sea salt, so I don't want anyone to get the idea that I would recomend it (I mean what do I know about it?):

Although it was noted that film and paper washed in sea water (3%
salts of which 2.6% is sodium chloride) lost fixer much more rapidly
than washing in tap water (65% faster for film; 80-90% faster for
paper), using table salt or sea salt as a clearing agent isn't a good
idea. Removal of chloride was required, since chloride resulted in
faster degradation of any residual hypo in the emulsion (note: the
seawater use was for rapid processing and conservation of fresh
water, not archival stability).

This is from an article: found here:

http://photo.net/black-and-white-photo-film-processing-forum/007dXZ

 

[Melvin]

If you want to be on the safe side, use hypo clear for everything. Inadequate washing can destroy your negatives, and will yellow both fiber and RC prints.

Do I practice what I preach? No, because I forget. I just fill, agitate, and empty the tank a bunch and then wash for a solid 20 minutes in rapidly flowing water. I've only had one or two sheets of negatives get brown stains , thankfully nothing I cared about.

 

[Pirate]

Guess I'll have to try it to really find out.

Is there any need to use this with C41 film? Or, could it hurt anything?

 

[Roger Hicks]

Guess I'll have to try it to really find out.

You won't find out much because you won't see any difference.

Personally I always find the manufacturers' advice to be the best starting point, and they tell you that it's needed only for fibre-base. To quote an Ilford spokesman, "Why do people think we would we lie to them? Spite? Or because we don't want them to get the best possible results from our products?"

If you're really paranoid, make up a hypo test solution. Then you'll discover that (surprise!) their research labs do actually know what they're talking about.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Freakscene]

I've experimented with seawater washes when I've lived places where freshwater was very limited. One thing that is often omitted in these discussions is that when you wash with seawater, you need to wash the seawater salts out after you've washed the residual fixer and fixation by-products out. In my trials, this required about the same amount of freshwater for film as a normal Ilford wash. So you're back to square one anyway.

Roger is correct about manufacturers advice - they base their recommendations on extensive, careful research. I can only think of maybe a half dozen things, all of them something between quite esoteric and almost weirdly obscure, that I've found incorrect in manufacturers advice.

Marty

 

[slm]

Me too, and with TriX, it dosen't cost much.

I just developed some Arista Legacy 100 (Fuji Acros) in HC110 and also used HCA before the final wash. The HCA had quite a purple tint to it when I dumped it out, but I was wondering maybe my fixer is starting to get exhausted so it didn't fully remove the anti-halation layer ?

 

[Tom A]

One of the things that Hypo Clear does is swell the emulsion to allow fixer residue to get out. This can cause a bit of grain clumping.
I must admit that when i tried it I could not really see any difference between "plain" wash and Hypo Clear washed film - and even testing with a fixer test kit - 20 minutes in running water left no residue of fixer that was strong enough to show on the test.
Only time I use Hypo Clear now is with fiber based paper - particularly if it being toned afterwards.
My negative files go back 40+ years and so far no problem with stains or streaks from insufficient washing or residual fixer.