Black Sediment In Fixer With Flakes

DeletedAcct1

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Doremus Scudder said:
From your posts, I surmise that you aren't interested in saving money
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It's not that.
The fact is I don't take pictures very often, maybe 6 rolls per year, during holydays, so to me pictures are not repeatable. In one year the concentrated bottle do spoil so for me it's pretty useless to reuse the fixer working solution.
Plus I need not to mess my images up. Hence my suggestion to use the fixer one shot. That's all.
 

MattKing

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I agree with @koraks .
It is always best if one's approach to these issues is informed by the particulars of the individual's actual use.
 

Doremus Scudder

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koraks said:
One shot use in your specific case seems totally sensible to me @Alessandro Serrao.
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MattKing said:
I agree with @koraks .
It is always best if one's approach to these issues is informed by the particulars of the individual's actual use.
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I, too, agree that one-shot fixing is a great option in this situation. There are likely other scenarios in which one-shot fixation is a good idea. Recommending it for people in similar situations is equally valid.

I just got the impression that Alessandro was recommending it for all cases, including for those who process much more film in shorter periods of time than he does. Assuming one has the requisite knowledge, finding the most economical fixing regime for any given processing volume should not be difficult.

@Alessandro,
Alkaline or neutral fixers (e.g., TF-5) have a much longer shelf-life than acidic fixers like Ilford Rapid Fixer. They are not prone to the sulfuring-out problem that acidic fixers have. If your stock fixer is going bad before you can use it all, switching to an alkaline/neutral fix may help you in being able to use it all.

Best,

Doremus
 

DeletedAcct1

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Great piece of advice Doremus. Problem is I haven't access to them. Up until Tetenal was in business there was an odourless fixer which was if I recall correctly almost neutral.
Now, I'm left with a great choice but all acidic fixers: Fomas, Adoxs, Ilford, Kodak, Bellini, Maco. All acidic fixers afaik.
Maybe only Amaloco is still making some neutral fixer. The FX89, which is odourless.

Fixierbad | Amaloco

www.amaloco.com
 
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MattKing

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C-41 fixer is virtually neutral - in case you can access that.
 

Ben Hutcherson

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For me-

Lately I've been shooting and developing 70mm film, and up to 13 ft at a time. Do the math and that's essentially the equivalent of 5 or 6 rolls of 35mm film, although I rarely shoot the full 13ft. I'm usually shooting more like 6ft, which is still around 2.5-3x a roll of 35mm.

I'm mentioning all of this, though, because the tank that I use for 70mm holds 1.75L of chemistry.

If I were to use that one shot, a $15 bottle of Kodak Rapid Fix would last for two tank loads, and I'm throwing away a LOT of fixer capacity in doing that.

I'm actually very likely going to shift to compounding my own fixer, especially as I now have a lot of 60% ammonium thiosulfate solution on hand, but still having a developing tank that needs nearly 2L of chemistry has me looking for any practical way I can to make chemistry more economical. I don't have any film to develop now, but the next batch I do I'm pretty seriously considering shifting to a replenished D76 system, especially since even using 1:1 it takes a lot of chemistry to run that tank.
 

Don_ih

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Ben Hutcherson said:
I now have a lot of 60% ammonium thiosulfate solution
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Because you have it, it makes sense to make it. It's easy to make. I was making it for a while but it ends up being cheaper for me to buy 4l of rapid fix in a big jug. If I could get a larger volume of ammonium thiosulfate for a price that could compete, maybe I'd go back to making it.
 

koraks

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Yeah, same here. I admit I haven't put any real effort into it, but I still have good hopes of being able to source (if the need arises, somehow) ammonium thiosulfate solution that's sold as a fertilizer. This should be a rather affordable source.
 

Ivo Stunga

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Sooo guys - you're telling me that I can look for a stable fixer at gardening store?
Neat, will pay attention now to what's offered!
 

koraks

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Not a gardening store, per se. I'm not aware of any consumer-oriented fertilizers that consist of a pure ammonium thiosulfate solution. But there are commercial products aimed at crop production and other commercial contexts:

Ammonium Thiosulfate, 12-0-0, 26% Sulfur | Plant Food | Plant Food Company, Inc.

Ammonium Thiosulfate results in greener turf, even at low soil temperatures. Use during moderate seasons. Order yours today from Plant Food Company.
www.plantfoodco.com

Ammonium Thiosulphate : Agrico

www.agricocanada.com
etc. etc.
 
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Samu

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The reaction happening in used fixer is most often not the elemental silver precipitating, but silver sulfide,
Ag2S. This is a black salt which will not dissolve in water. It is the same compound that causes tarnish on silverware. This happens when elemental sulfur precipitates from fixer due to oxidation, also called "sulfurization". In unused fixer, the elemental sulfur would simply precipitate as a yellow, solid matter. But if the fixer is saturated with silver salts, it will react immediately with sulfur, and produce this compound.
 

RalphLambrecht

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braxus said:
Ok. Its good I dumped it then. And I just bought a fresh new bottle of fixer on Saturday too. What is plating out?
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nothing to do with pre rinsing film or not. It is elemental silver. Remember the fixer's job is to 'wash' out all unexposed silver from the emulsion. There you have it. But it also means your fixer is close to exhaustion.
 

RalphLambrecht

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Alessandro Serrao said:
Don't reuse fixer, use it one-shot. May be overcautious but this way you're not ruining any film...
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that's not overcautious at all. I use the two-bath fixing method after being burned once and losing precious images to underfixing
 
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