Chemical Refrigeration?

Rick Olson

Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2004
Messages
102
Location
U.S. Pacific Northwest
Format
Large Format
With the hot summer months upon us in the Northern Hemisphere, is it okay to store common photo chemistry in the refrigerator? By "common," I mean my TF-4 fixer stock/working solution and Pyrocat-HD chemistry. I read on the TF-4 fix bottle that the temperature should be kept away from high heat (85 degrees F). My ambient temperature for the fix now is 80 degrees F in my cabinet. Prior to developing, I would pull it out a few hours early to get it closer to a working temp.

Thanks,
Rick
 

Ryuji

Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2005
Messages
1,415
Location
Boston, MA
Format
Multi Format
I wouldn't refrigerate TF-4. It'll form thick precipitate (which you already see at room temp) and it'll be a pain to handle the solution after refrigeration. I did not design or manufacture TF-4 so I won't guarantee anything, but I would guess that TF-4 should keep reasonably well in absence of air at 85˚F. However, as a general rule, chemicals keep longer at a lower temperature.

Bulk chemicals are usually safe to refrigerate, as long as they are tightly sealed, and avoid condensation when opening them.

I store certain chemicals in fridge, but most of them are stored at ambient temp, which can get 85˚F when AC is off.

Incidentally, there is another archival, alkaline rapid fixer on market now, and it is free of sediment at the bottom of the concentrate solution.
 
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…