squirrel$$$bandit
Veteran
My main concern is getting clean negatives that I can scan, and to that end, I have never failed. But I do need to get myself a fresh bottle of concentrate.
I test mine by clipping the films leader & timing how long it takes to clear. Then multiply that time by 3 to get my total times. That way I have no doubt about my fixer what so ever!Does no one else besides JSU & I use an indicator to test their fixer before each use?
Does no one else besides JSU & I use an indicator to test their fixer before each use?
OK, I've been developing film for a couple of years now, and...I just happened to notice on the Rapid Fixer bottle a little table of shelf life times. Unopened concentrate, 2 years; opened but capped concentrate, 6 months, 1:4 solution, 7 days.
7 days?!!? Uh...I have been using this same bottle of concentrate for two years, mixing up a new 500ml batch every six months or so. And using the diluted fixer (stored in a dark glass bottle and filled to the top) for all of those 6 months...maybe 25 times total before mixing up a new one (and new stop bath along with it.)
So...are all my negs from these past two years doomed? I went through all of them and none looks as if it has degraded at all. (I scan, hi-res, the day I develop and rarely return to the negs, so this wouldn't be quite the tragedy it might seem.) I guess it's time for a new bottle of fixer, though it's a shame--I haven't used even close to all of it. I shoot maybe 50 rolls of B&W a year...probably more in the near future, as I have kinda given up color film for digital. So how should I be using fixer? Should I be seriously mixing up a new batch every week?
Veterans, advise.
That's odd. I've been using Ilford Rapid Fixer for years without issue at 1+4. I can't understand why 1+3 would cause any issues with improper fixing. I could understand a weaker dilution causing it, but not a stronger dilution. I had one time where I had borderline exhausted my fixer and my negs were a little shy of having a clear base, but never milky. Ever since then I always check my fixer with either hypo check or a snip test (take a snip of the film leader and test it in the fixer prior to developing the whole roll).
Also, back to the OP, I find this fixer to last a LONG time in working dilution. I've gone months and and a couple dozen rolls on one quart of working dilution.