Question on Diafine, reuse or one-shot ?

[raytoei@gmail.com]

Hi,

my diafine arrived yesterday, and I can't wait to use tri-x with it.

i have the following questions and I hope fellow RFF members who have used Diafine to give their comments, of course if there are pdf files or documented links, please point me in the right direction as well.

a. What is the minimum quantity to fill the tank ? I take it that 300ml should suffice for a single roll in a paterson tank.

b. There is no mention of dilution. I presume Stock A and stock B ?

c. The box instructions is not clear on reuse or single-shot. Do you reuse ? and how do you do it ? Pour back the stock A into the 1 gallon container ? How do you know when to replenish or when the liquid is due for a change ? Do you compensate for the development time ?

thanks in advance.

a very excited raytoei

 

[swoop]

As long as A stays with A and B stays with B you can use it over and over.

 

[Spleenrippa]

I buy gallon jugs of water from the store and mix one for A and one for B. Just dump all the powder in and mix it with an old wooden spoon, shaking, etc. Works for me.

I've reused Diafine- without even topping it up- for over a year. At that point I just mix up some new stuff because it's so cheap anyway.

Here's my Diafine procedure:
- Pour ~300ml (say, for a single reel) of A into a graduated cylinder. Do the same for B and your fixer.
- Dump A in the tank. Time for 3-5 minutes, agitating a few seconds every minute. Dump it back into the 1 gallon jug when done and set aside your graduated cylinder for washing.
- Do the exact same for B.
- Rinse once with water, and then pour in fixer for 3-5, agitating gently every minute.
- wash for 5-10, with 1 minute in photo-flo at the end.

You don't really have to worry about compensating for times, mixing film speeds or even temperature. Just keep your chemicals around ~20 C and you'll be fine.

Edit:
A bit of a shameless plug, but I just wanted to say that all my (and my brothers) film developing thus far has been in Diafine. Check the link in my sig (RK) or robotbacon to see that you can still count on this lovely developer to give you consistent results when even at your most diligent, you have the attitude of 'yeah, whatever.'

 

[cjm]

I just replaced my diafine after using the same Stock A & B for 2 years. I noticed no difference the entire time. Great stuff!

 

[venchka]

or.......................

There are folks who use A diluted 1:1 and B diluted 1:1 and chuck both A & B after only 1 use. Kinda like we've been using D-76 since forever.

YMMV.

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

thank you thank you. i can't wait! will post results.

 

[ZorkiKat]

I used split bath (developer components in bath A, activator in bath B) years ago. I noticed that bath B becomes a developing solution on its own in time, owing to the carry over of developing agents from bath A.

When B becomes a sort of developer itself, the "automatic stopping effect" of the split bath developer is diminished. Instead of getting compensation- in the ideal split dev setup, the developing action quits in the highlight sections faster than in the other parts because of local deverloping agent exhaustion. With a well used B (activator bath) that has become a developer, the highlights tend to go on developing too.

Does this happen with Diafine too? What I used was basically D76 without borax in bath A, and 10% Carbonate solution in B. I got compensation, tamed highlights, as well as increased effective speed with some films (Verichrome, Plus X and Tri X, but not Tmax).

When the B bath got too used, I replaced it with a fresh solution of 10% Carbonate. This way, the compensation and tame highlight got back.

 

[Ronald_H]

As long as A stays with A and B stays with B you can use it over and over.

X3

HOWEVER, I use Diafine in 1 liter quantities and it tends to die after a year or so. It is great stuff with Tri-X though.