Newbie Question About Temperatures

[wgerrard]

I took my first stab at b&w processing today. I know some use distilled water, but I used tap. Trouble was, the temperature of water out of the tap was 83F. So, I grabbed a few of the biggest containers I could find, filled them, and stashed them in the fridge for a bit.

Question: Is that the typical way of handling it? Tap water temperatures in many places must rise into the 80's during summer.

 

[btgc]

After first roll I learned higher temp (I have 24C in summer, that is 72.5F) can be compensated with shorter time. As I understand, shorter times mean higher risk so higher dilution can be used to keep time longer.

Though as I understand, higher dilution/longer time gives different look as from using more concentrated soup and shorter time. If look from higher dilution serves well, then it's way to go.

If I'll refrigerate water to mix proper 20C/68F liquids, I yet have to put fixer (already diluted) on ice cubes to match developer temp. Then rinsing - probably continuing with 24C/72F tap water won't ruin negs, though difference has to be small enough, as they recommend.

So basically I'm with you - put some 10L/3gallons in fridge before supper to get ready when family moves to beds.


P.S. same newbie as you - two rolls so far.

 

[Al Kaplan]

In the summer here in Miami Itry to get all my chemicals the same temperature by standing the bottles and beakers in a tub of water for half an hour or so. Tap water is in the 78f to 84f which gives decently long times with D-76 diluted 1:1. Cut your 75f developing time by 1 to 3 minutes depending on where you are in that 78 to 84 degree range. With Diafine the temperature really doesn't matter. The important thing is to not "shock" the film with a sudden big change of temerature.

 

[Merkin]

Try letting the water run for several minutes, it may cool down a few degrees once you start getting water coming in out of the main pipes that has been underground where it is a few degrees cooler, and try to keep all of your chemicals and water within 5 degrees or so of each other. You don't start running in to danger until you get closer to 10 degrees, but i have had HP5 on one freak occasion reticulate at about seven degrees difference.

 

[dufffader]

I use ice cubes immersed in a beaker of tap water for about 5 mins during summer. 4 cubes should get it down about 5 degrees celcius. Higher temps are fine too, but the commonly known rule I follow is to be sure the development time is at least 5 mins.

Yes, be careful of temperature shocks as well, although I think this is more of a problem in winter when tap water can be close to freezing while your recycled stopbath may be at room temperature. Result of the shock is that you might see cracks in the emulsion. Again, nothing to worry about unless you have extreme differences in temperature between subsequent liquids being poured into the container.

 

[ethics_gradient]

I was thinking something like these reusable ice cubes would be a good solution. Used to use them all the time in summer as a kid; kept your drink cold without watering it down as they melted.

 

[dufffader]

There's something of a taboo about freezing a coolpack that has spent some time in a flask used for film development next to frozen edible foodstuff. For us it may not be an issue, but it guarantees cold stares from the rest of the household! Hence the disposable icecubes is a safer option... 🙂

 

[wgerrard]

My tap water cooled, just barely, after running a few minutes and then became even warmer. I know from experience, though, that this is a summer-only thing. I won't have cool water from the tap until the night-time temps drop.

Next time, I should be sufficiently organized to use a water bath. I may use water cooled in the fridge and wait for it to come up to the correct temperature.

BTW, that first run at processing worked just fine, even if I botched working the timer. (Don't ask.) Development ran a little long, I suspect (Xtol 1:1) as a result. A few firsts for me: First use of an M3, first use of a standalone meter, first use of Summicon 50/2 collapsible, and first go at DIY processing.

 

[ZeissFan]

When I lived in Hong Kong, I had that problem in the summer. I couldn't get the water any cooler than about 80F no matter how long I kept it running.

I finally resorted to cooling the developer in the refrigerator.

I allowed the other chemicals to be room temperature -- about 80 or so, because you should be OK going from cool to warm but not the other way around (reticulation). I ran into this problem in the cooler months, as the water in our flat was very difficult to regulate.

 

[tbm]

Ilford's Web site has a printable version of their film development temperature conversion chart, and it also appears on page 335 of the new version of Steve Anchell's "The Darkroom Cookbook". I've used that chart successfully numerous times when summer water temperatures are high here in Los Angeles.

 

[stephaneb]

I do the same as tbm. The Ilford time/temperature conversion chart works fine and solved the problem for me.