Are fixing times for films critical?

[dadsm3]

Hi: Since the Ontario college teachers are on strike, I was hoping for a little advice. Are fixing times for film critical? I'm using Ilford Rapid Fixer...
The cam store guy told me to drop a piece of the film leader into the fixer and wait for it to go clear, then double that time. It seemed to happen in under a minute & that didn't seem right to me, so since the directions say 2-5 minutes I just went with 4 minutes, and all seems well. That was with HP5...
Now I've got some Tmax100 to do....is this something I have to worry about? Can you over-fix? Is there a link somewhere that I can get this info?
Thanks,
Mike

 

[Krasnaya_Zvezda]

For the 25+ years I've been developing film, I have "fixed" for 10 minutes, don't care what film it is. If the fixer has been used more than twice, I go 12 minutes. Older than that, I'll do 15, then throw it away.
Negs from day one are still like from yesterday.

 

[peterc]

since the directions say 2-5 minutes I just went with 4 minutes, and all seems well. That was with HP5...]

With Rapid Fixer, 4 to 5 minutes should be fine for just about fine for any film. For HP5 the Ilford spec sheet says 2-5 minutes in rapid fixer.

Peter

 

[dadsm3]

Thanks gentlemen.

 

[trittium]

na i make sure it is at least 10 min though but i have done for 30

 

[rover]

I always fix for about the same time that the film is in the developer for a max of 7ish minutes.

 

[oftheherd]

Interesting. 30 years ago all the books and magazines said 5 minutes for fixing. Less and you risked not removing all unexposed silver, which would then eventually darken from exposure to light. Too much and you mght make it difficult to rinse all the fixer out. For sure one of the tests was twice the clearing time of undeveloped film. That helped extend the life of fixer use.

And saying that brings up a curious thought. When is the last time you saw a magazine article on how to develop, stop, fix and dry film?

 

[Andy K]

I usually fix and agitate for the same amount of time and agitation pattern as I use when developing, up to ten minutes.

 

[Goodyear]

And saying that brings up a curious thought. When is the last time you saw a magazine article on how to develop, stop, fix and dry film?

Sometime in the last few weeks in an issue of Amateur Photographer.