B&W Chemistry Keeping Properties

[roscoetuff]

So I've done a big whopping three reels so far and everything is going surprisingly smoothly... with simple handling mishaps and other non-chemistry related issues. I'm using a water pre-wash just 'cause it's been recommended, and like any aspiring newby, I take advice.

With FIXER, (Ilford's Rapid Fixer) I've now made up double the quantity to keep for up to 20 rolls of processing... allowing for some slippage, waste and evaporation. I'm assuming there is some time factor here in terms of 20 rolls or X months... but expect to run through it before that's an issue. Ilford's docs say "seven working days". Hmmmm.

With DEVELOPER, I've used DD-X happily but have switched to HC-110 as recommended here... and wonder if you mix up a slug for one-shot, whether it has to be all for immediate use, or can keep a few days (how many?) in one of those Arista compressible bottles (to minimize air contact)? Iflord's docs suggest 24 hours max working life. Again, "Hmmmm."

With STOP, I'm actually using a STOP bath (Ilford's Ilfostop) rather than plain water, and wondered whether this is re-usable, but have assumed it's not. Docs suggest a working strength mixture is good for 7 days in airtight bottles.

Photoflow so easy it's no big deal. But the rest of these, I wonder since I've seen a lot of different practices on youtubes and docs elsewhere what path to follow. Appreciate some simple guidelines. Thanks!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Fixers have a long lifespan. Several months at working strength as long as you store it in a closed container. I think Ilford's seven day guideline is for developer in open trays or tanks used for sheet film developing.

Developers that come as liquid concentrates, like HC-110, DDX, Tmax Developer, and Rodinal should be mixed right before use and used one-shot. You'll get far more consistent results because the undiluted concentrates have a much longer shelf life than the working strength diluted chemical does.

I'd use stop bath just once. Its very inexpensive. Same with Photo-Flo.

Mix your developer and Photo-Flo with distilled water. Fixer and stop can be made with tap water unless you have bad water.

 

[roscoetuff]

Chris: Thanks! Been doing it all one-shot and right before use. Just trying to reduce the set-up time. Been using distilled water for all of it, too... just to be safe. But great to have some practical guidelines based on experience. Thanks!

 

[roscoetuff]

So I've cooked about 8 rolls in the last few days. Would've done some more, but the battery in my thermometer seems to be getting iffy. So put that off until I can get a new one.

That aside, seems to take me about 30 minutes to mix up the chemistry, another 30 or so to work the process and time after that for clean up. Wonder if it'd work to mix up chemistry in the a.m. before going to work and then use it in the evening... or if that's just too far out there? Any adverse impact?

 

[John Bragg]

Best not to cut corners. Mix developer immediately before use. I personally re-use stop and fixer with no detrimental effect. Stop bath has a built in indicator and will change colour when it is exhausted. Fixer has a reccomended capacity and I discard well before it is reached or if I have had a hiatus of more than a few months between sessions. If you wet print then it is ok to use same fixer for paper and film. HC-110 is my go to developer and is near bullet proof if properly stored. It is safe and dependable and goes a long way for the money.

 

[sepiareverb]

Stop bath will last for a very long time. I use Kodak Indicator stop and get dozens of rolls out of it, more than my Sprint Fixer will fix. I always mix up stop and fix at the same time just for the time issue. Edward Hypo-Chek is a useful purchase, a quick few drops after each session will tell you if the fix is spent. I replace fix (and stop) at the first hint of milkiness from the hypo-check, testing at the end of a session gives me a heads up I need to mix before I end up with films in the stop bath in need of fresh fix.

Developers are always one-shot - mixed immediately before use - in my workflow, and I've never found the economy in replenishment worth the math/record-keeping.

Glass bottles and Bloxygen are my standard, I never have spoiled stock solutions of developers any more.

 

[Scrambler]

As a rank amateur and taking photos for my own pleasure, there are frequently times I don't mind so much about small quality differences, and just want to have the option of running through a film without the workload - as you seem to be suggesting.

I use Ilford ID-11 (a powder developer), and make it up in a store-puchased pure water bag:

Not quite as pure when I'm done with it. The box contains a bladder like a wine cask - a "goon bag" in Australian English. I don't know if these water containers are available elsewhere - I suppose you could use a cleaned wine cask bag otherwise, and source your water of an appropriate quality.

The bag excludes air indefinitely, saves all the filled, 1/2 filled, glass bottle kind of muck around. Will work for years (though don't tell anyone I did that). The key point is that after being made there is NO contact with air until dispensed for use.

I suspect the developer gets slightly degraded near the faucet/tap connection, but I have never had to increase developing time. I've never had it leak. I've had this last lot sitting in a cupboard for 2-3 years while life got busy in other ways.

On the other hand I had a couple of bottles of paper developer that I tried yesterday - first paper development I have done. The chemicals came with other photo stuff I picked up about 8 years ago, and were out of date then. The open bottle of developer did exactly nothing, but the unopened one has developed nicely and in accordance with its description.