Fixer recommendations.

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Stephanie Brim

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I think my Kodak Fixer is about to kick the bucket. It's really, really slow. So I'm looking for something different (or something I can mix myself). Something that's a concentrated liquid would do me better as well...one-time-use is better for me lately. Advice would be appreciated. :)

And yes, this means I'm in the process of developing. Not promising anything good, though.
 
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Assuming you can still find it, good ol' Kodak Rapid Fixer is a good choice. One advantage of it is that the hardener comes in a separate bottle: you can mix up fixer with hardener for films, or without hardener for papers.

It's fast-working, lasts a long time, and if you own a small enough graduate (I got a 25ml graduate for this purpose) you can measure out small quantities to mix it up as a one-shot solution. The one-quart kit will last a long time.
 
Mixing fixer is really simple - http://www.heylloyd.com/technicl/plain.htm (and that's what I do. I have a 15 lb. bucket of sodium thiosulfate anhydrous for that reason :) ) however, plain old Kodak is still just as good and easy to find everywhere that carries chemicals. Just grab a couple of bags of it and be happy.

William
 
One or two people I know use fixer as a one-shot, but I prefer to use a concentrate that I mix to a liter and re-use until it's dead. I put 20 rolls through a liter of Ilford Rapid Fixer.

One shot gets pretty expensive.

allan
 
I'm still new to developing but I'm with Allan. I use Ilford Rapid Fixer, and I re-use it until it's D-E-D.
 
Heh. I found my last butter container (don't ask) of powdered Kodak fixer and mixed it up tonight after I finished developing this roll. I have about 10-15 rolls worth of fixer left. I think I'll do the Ilford Rapid Fixer this time...and reuse it until dead. Seems like a good idea to me.
 
kaiyen said:
One or two people I know use fixer as a one-shot, but I prefer to use a concentrate that I mix to a liter and re-use until it's dead. I put 20 rolls through a liter of Ilford Rapid Fixer.

One shot gets pretty expensive.
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Depends on what you think your negatives are worth!

Okay, if you shoot a lot, it's less expensive to mix a stock solution and re-use it. That's what I used to do. But if you only develop film occasionally, this can actually be more expensive, as you'll be throwing out the fixer before its capacity is exhausted. Not everybody knows this, but fixer working solution has a time-limited shelf life: two months in a full, stoppered bottle, less in a partly full bottle.

Yeah, I know, you've been using the same fixer since the Clinton administration and your negatives look fine. We'll check back in 20 years and see if they still look fine...
 
Another vote for Ilford Rapid Fixer. I use it as a one-shot as I only develop every-now-and-then. Works great and keeps for about a week after it's fixed 1:4.
 
Not everybody knows this, but fixer working solution has a time-limited shelf life: two months in a full, stoppered bottle, less in a partly full bottle.

Yeah, I know, you've been using the same fixer since the Clinton administration and your negatives look fine. We'll check back in 20 years and see if they still look fine...
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Hmm, I've always re-used fixer until it's close to exhausted, and I've always kept bottles of working strength stuff for many months in partly full bottles. And my FP4 negs from 30 years ago are still fine. All the fixer does is remove unreacted silver salts from the emulsion, and you can tell they're all gone when the film base is clear. So once you've seen the silver salts are all gone, what else can possibly go wrong?

Best regards,
 
I have to say, a bottle of hypo-check can seem expensive but is an excellent way to get your process under control.

If the price doesn't do it for you, consider trying 5% solution of potassium iodide. I've never heard of anybody mixing their own hypo-check but it should be 6 to 12 times cheaper. :)
 
I prefer to do the leader test. i also do a 2 bath fix.

Mix up 2 batches of fixer. I use 2 1L bottles because:

1 - my double SS tank takes 950ml
2 - I often do 2 tanks at once, which comes out to actually slightly more than 1L of liquid if I do them simultaneously.

throw a piece of exposed film leader into the first one (the one you snip off when leading the film). I do continuous agitation for fixing, so I swirl it around. Cound how many seconds it takes to clear. Fix for 4 minutes of double that time, whichever is more. After those 4 minutes, I do a 1 minute water rinse then do the 2nd fixer bath for 3 or so minutes. This really gets all the silver out.

Do the leader test every so often. When the time has doubled, dump it to the hazardous waste program in your area. Move bath B into bottle A, and do a leader test. You might be looking at a much longer clearing time now, as B has already got some silver in it. maybe 1 minute instead of 10s (the latter not being abnormal for fresh fixer). Again, when that time has doubled, chuck it and swap B for A again. And so on.

I don't use hypo-test because the 2 bath method indicates dead fixer A way before it is really dead.

allan
 
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