Yellow stain = old fixer?

[matti]

I got some uneven yellow stain on the Tri-X negs developed in Diafine and fixed in Kodak TMax fixer. I tested the fixer last week and it cleared a piece of Tri-X in just over 4 minutes, so I thought it would still be fine and used 10 minutes fixing time.

Could there be some other reason for the yellow stains or should I just mix some new fixer for next time?

/matti

 

[ed1k]

I never worked with Tri-X, but I'd think yellow stains means bad fixer for paper prints, not for film. From my (old) experience, underfixed film has "milky" stains. I don't know if Tri-X has any colourants in emulsion like many modern films do. If it does - that could be it. I would try to fix this film again in a fresh fixer.
Eduard.

 

[taffer]

If they are somewhat coincident with the sprocket holes and the yellow stains are vertical (in an horizontal negative) then maybe it's coming from underagitation on Diafine.

At least that was my case. I also use some agitation while film is in the fixer.

 

[taffer]

Woops, I forgot. When using clearly old fixer, what I get is a general yellowish/brownish tint in the whole frame (usually not in the transparent film borders).

When I'm in doubt I always prefer to clear all variables and start from scratch, so probably new fixer is a good thing.

 

[matti]

Thank you for the help. I'll mix some new fixer, then. That must be it.

/matti