Acid Fixer

[sanking]

Would someone offer opinion as to the best fixer formula that works in the slightly acidic range?

Sandy King

 

[rwboyer]

Sandy -

Just curious about your desire for an acidic fixer - I went 100 alkaline years ago and have experienced no downsides - just upsides.

RB

 

[Tom Kershaw]

Would someone offer opinion as to the best fixer formula that works in the slightly acidic range?

Sandy King

Would a product such as ILFORD HYPAM not be appropriate?

Tom

 

[Photo Engineer]

Sandy;

Kodak rapid liquid fixer or any equivalent, minus the hardener, will do well. It has a medium acid pH, not the high acidity of the fixers with alum hardeners.

PE

 

[MikeSeb]

Another option would be C-41 fixer. Is is supposedly less acidic than other acid fixers (pH ~6.5 IIRC) and dirt cheap. I buy it by the (to make) 25 gal cube and use it for both color and B&W with great results.

 

[Kirk Keyes]

Next to C-41 fixer as being a great value, I'd suggest Hypam as well.

The ph is about 5.5 on these. Just how acid do you want to go?

 

[sanking]

I want to use the fixer to experiment with vandyke printing where I am toning before fixing with noble metals. Kodak Rapid Fixer and Hypam sound like they would work, but I would like to mix my own if feasible.

Was wondering about the Kodak F-24 formula? It looks like it would be acidic and seems easy enough to mix?

Sandy King

 

[Ian Grant]

For Van Dyke etc a Sodium Thiosulphate fixer is better so F-24 is an option it's only mildly acidic, you can cut the Metabisulphite level to give less acidity if you needed to. Usually a plain hypo fixer is recommended.

Hypam and Ilford or Kodak Rapid fixer are not a good option, nor is a C41 fix, any Ammonium thiosulphate fixers are too fast acting and aggressive even with a toned image.

Ian

 

[dancqu]

Buffer?

Usually a plain hypo fixer is recommended. Ian

As is well known acidifying a thiosulfate solution beyond
a certain level will cause it to precipitate sulfur. The hypo,
Na2S2O3, minus one sulfur but acidified becomes H2SO3;
that is sulfur dioxide in water solution.

Making a hypo solution alkaline by any of the alkalies we
commonly use will not cause any disintegration.

So, with use which way will your fixer swing? You may
wish or need to stabilize the ph by buffering. Dan

 

[fschifano]

I really like the C-41 fixer from Kodak too. It is only mildly acidic, has no hardener, and it is very fast. I would not use it for processes that require a sodium thiosulfate fixer, but for modern silver gelatin emulsions, it is tough to beat for price and performance.

 

[MikeSeb]

Frank, how long do you fix with the C-41 fixer? I fix Tmax films for 8 minutes in a Jobo, but I think it may be too long.

 

[fschifano]

Mike, I dilute the stuff to 1/2 strength (1+9) for B&W work and run TMax films for about 5 to 7 minutes in a hand agitated small tank. Even that's probably overkill, but I haven't seen any ill effects from it. This stuff is so fast though, that a chip from a wasted roll of Foma 200 tossed into a tray will clear in 30 seconds. TMax film usually clears in 2 minutes when subjected to the same treatment. Figure that it takes 2 to 3 times the clearing time to insure complete fixiation, and my timing is right in the ballpark and there is no residual tint left in the film. The reason I dilute it so much is for even more economy. The fixer is closer to exhaustion when the byproducts of the process reach unacceptable levels of concentration.

 

[nworth]

Best? Who knows? I've been using Kodak F-34 for several years. At pH 6.5 it is still slightly acidic, but it washes out easily, like the alkaline stuff. it's a rapid fix, with reasonable capacity.

Kodak F-34 non-hardening fixer
Water 700 ml
Ammonium thiosulfate (58%) 185 ml
Sodium sulfite 10 g
Sodium bisulfite 8.4 g
WTM 1 l
pH=6.5 at 27C; sp.gr. 1.08.
Fix 5247 (color negative) film 2 minutes at 100F.

 

[Lowell Huff]

We make a truely ODORLESS RAPID FIXER. If you are looking for a change, why not go odorless? No smell on your hands or in your lab at the end of the day! It clears film in twenty seconds or less.