Unbleached Coffee Filters For D76 & other Powder Chemicals

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LeicaVirgin1

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Hola Señor Tom-

When you mix your D76 do you use coffee filters
to ward against the un-used grains, or foreign debris?

A friend of mine told me to use the un-bleached type in the cone formation.
I put the filters inside my Delta 1 micro-strainer funnel as an extra precaution.

Any thoughts on this procedure? Or am I robbing my beloved tri-x of much needed microscopic chemicals/grains?

Best,

LV1
 
Yep. Works well, is cheap. I mix my own developers and fix. One box of coffee filters will last a long time, even using a different filter for each chemical.
 
I mix powders 24 hours before use and at the recommended temperature. I also use clear PET plastic bottles so I can see that all solids have been dissolved, so I don't filter new solutions. But I do use a coffee filter prior to each use after the first use; again, with the clear bottles you can see some debris in the solutions, even though it is not much.
 
The "environmentally correct" filters (the unbleached ones) have less paper dust in them and work well. Ideally try to lay hands on some laboratory filters though - they are the best. Problem is that they take a long time to filter through. Ideally you should have a funnel big enough to handle up to 1000 ml (and a filter size to match). It can take 15-20 minutes to go through though.
I mix the day before and give the bottle (1/2 gallon jugs) a shake a couple of time during the day and evening and then run it through the filter the next day. The loss of un dissolved chemistry is then very small. With developers like D 96 (replenished) you usually need to filter after 10-15 rolls and I suspect that the Harvey 777 should be filtered every 20 rolls.
 
Chemex coffee filters work great. They're actually chemical filtration paper. And you can get them unbleached.

And with D-76, it doesn't hurt to use a little higher temp water (like 80-90 F) to help dissolve the "extra" undissolved material. In the worst case, the undissolved material will go away on its own in a few days.

Dante
 
I mix the powders from ingredient list in the order listed. A small portion of each remains undissolved.

Cooling is 4 hours covered with food wrap during which time the small particles settle. I decant the top into one time use sizes. the smaller amount remaining is filtered and then stored.

If some undissolved ingredients remain, they do no harm.
 
Mesmerizing and Eye-Opening Coffee Facts

Mesmerizing and Eye-Opening Coffee Facts

LeicaVirgin1 said:
Hola Señor Tom-

When you mix your D76 do you use coffee facts
to ward against the un-used grains, or foreign debris?

A friend of mine told me to use the un-bleached type in the cone formation.
I put the filters inside my Delta 1 micro-strainer funnel as an extra precaution.

Any thoughts on this procedure? Or am I robbing my beloved tri-x of much needed microscopic chemicals/grains?

Best,

LV1
Click to expand...

What kind of coffee filters you are using now a days? I need to know about it because my coffee filters are damaged now.
 
I like to keep things simple - a Melitta Cone filter holder and the "environmentally" safe filters - brown paper. The 2000 ml Paterson jugs work fine - the Melitta filter cone "almost" fits on it - you have to support it though - easy enough to slip.
 
The appropriate filter medium depends on the size and type of the solid debris you hope to remove from the liquid phase.

I buy my developer components in bulk; the sodium sulfite, which I buy as "photograde" in 45lb sacks (cheap and a sack lasts a long time) is generally pretty clean but can have flakes of paper and/or cardboard in it. The other components (thinking D76 here) are sourced from Artcraft and are always clean.

I use an ordinary paper towel, folded over double, in a simple plastic funnel (discount store) to polish my solution. Melitta filters and filter holders also work but, because of their smaller size, are slower to use and provide no advantage that I can see. My liquids are water-white and sprarkling clear, by eye, with either a paper towel or a Melitta filter.
 
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