Get rid of old developer per recommnedations what next?

bmattock said:
I can't imagine why anyone would dilute large amounts of it and hang onto the stuff.
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One of the "silver bullets" for me was realising that I could keep dilute Photoflo for a few months. I can't use tap water for the final rinse without getting all sorts of cr*p on my negatives. I was using 250ml of distilled water in the final rinse each time I did a film until I realised. Suddenly my distilled water usage went right down. It's not so much the expense, but storing large quantities of distilled water just for the final rinse was a pain. Now I keep much smaller bottles around, which helps with the marital bliss. It's also less wasteful, of course.
 
Try both methods - and choose the one you like ;)

If you use only distilled water as your final rinse, don´t squege your film or run your fingers through the emulsion - just let the film air dry in a dust-free environment.


scottyb70 said:
Ok I am going to use distilled water when I do the rinse stage. Now what is it photoflo or no photoflo. I know my tap water has high minerals because the glass shower door are spotted and the spots are not from the soap.
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The reaction between the developer and the stop bath resulting in pinholes in the negatives was much more pronounced with thin emulsion films - think Pan-X - than with a thick emulsion film like Tri-X. It was when I shot a lot of Pan-X that I stopped using stop bath. A quick water rinse between developer and fixer works just as well. Sure there is a little carryover of developer into the fixer, but I haven't found it reduces the fixer life significantly.
 
Joe,

I don´t think it is do to temperature changes - pinholes as you mention have to do with pH changes. Have you tried mixing all your chemicals in distilled water? do you use powder or liquid developer? one-shot chemistry? They could be salt deposits.

Regards,
RLouzan


JoeV said:
I've thought for a long time that the sudden pH change going from developer to stop bath was responsible for pinholes in film. This is especially a problem in thin-emulsion films like APHS graphic arts film, which I occasionally use in LF cameras.

So I started using a water-bath-only stop with APHS film, in a attempt at eliminating pinholes in the film; I still got them, intermittently.

Now I'm thinking the cause of film pinholes, at least with APHS, are temperature differences between the developer and stop bath. I've been pretty sloppy with temperatures in this process, since the film is ortho and developed-by-inspection in the tray, temperature was relatively unimportant from a development perspective.

~Joe
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I do reuse photo-flo (or,actually the amaloco version of the wetting agent) that is diluted in distilled water.
Not because it would be expensive - just because i am lazy to mix a new one every time, AND, i always forget to buy new distilled water.
I've never seen any junk or gunk growing or gathering in the clear plastic bottle that keeps my diluted photo-flo. The only thing that happens sometimes, is the liquid gets pinkish due to the antihalation layer still around in the film.
I've never ever had a drying problem since i am using wetting agent in distilled water.
 
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