Cold Chemicals

My order from Freestyle arrived today. It contained a quart of Clayton Odorless Fixer, a quart of Clayton F76+, a 250ml bottle of Black/White & Green ans a 1 liter packet of Adox D-76. The Clayton chemicals seemed fine. The B/W&G seemed to be more of a gel than a liquid. I read that it must get past (higher than) 45F to be fully liquid. It was colder than that when it was delivered but not nearly as cold as last week. I hope to try the BW&G over the coming weekend. Some years ago a seller in Europe shipped me a bottle of Amaloco AM 74. It was in the winter and it arrived frozen solid. When I e-mailed the manufacturer in Holland, they weren't too happy to hear from me. They said I might try defrosting it in a cold water bath but weren't optimistic about the outcome. Then they told me that the winters in Northern Europe can be quite cold. I didn't bother telling them that the winters in North America can be pretty cold too.

At one time I made up and used PCTEA. It worked but caused a loss of about a stop of film speed. From what I have read, BW&G does not cause a loss of film speed. I will bracket exposures and see what I get. I see that it's made in Alberta. The last time I was in Alberta was 1973. It was the last long trip I took with my parents. Gas was not always easy to find in the U.S. that summer but driving across Canada was no problem. The b&w film I shot on that trip was from a 100' roll of Plus-X in the bulk loader I brought along. What did I develop it in when we finally got back to The Bronx? I don't really remember after all this time but it was probably HC-110 Dil. B.

I like the second paragraph. It's like a stream-of-consciousness ramble.

dynachrome said:

BW&G

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I was trying it for a while but I didn't like the grain texture it made. Some of the least pleasant grain I've seen from a developer in my opinion. It's true that it doesn't cause a loss in film speed.

Speaking of cold, I found my Black/White & Green freezes into a brown lump in the winter around 65F temperature indoors.

XTOL powder loves the cold. I buy my fixer in summer

I love Alberta. Went there when I was a kid a couple times

dynachrome said:

Amaloco AM 74. It was in the winter and it arrived frozen solid. When I e-mailed the manufacturer in Holland

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That must have been many years ago as Amaloco products have been manufactured in Germany for quite some time now (since ca 2009).

What your story doesn't tell is how things worked out with the bottle of AM74. How did it pan out?

As to your present batch of chemistry - just allow it to come to room temperature (which it must have reached by now as it's been ca. 7 hours since you posted) and then check if there's any considerable sedimentation or crystallization in any of the bottles. If so, warm up to 100F or so agitate the bottle every now and then. Keep at this temperature for an hour or so with intermittent agitation. In all likelihood, everything will be back to normal at that point.

dynachrome said:

My order from Freestyle arrived today. It contained a quart of Clayton Odorless Fixer, a quart of Clayton F76+, a 250ml bottle of Black/White & Green ans a 1 liter packet of Adox D-76. The B/W&G seemed to be more of a gel than a liquid. I read that it must get past (higher than) 45F to be fully liquid.

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I am a Centrigrade man myself but 45F seems rather high for any developer to turn into a gel. Any idea why it turns into a gel at as high as 45F ? What was the temp when delivered and did it spend any time outside before you were able to bring it in?

Does it come to any harm as a gel at 45F, if so, it doesn't sound to be a suitable developer for delivery in a number of months of the year above a certain latitude or even in an unheated back of a parcel van and certainly it cannot be left outside for any meaningful length of time waiting for the customer to take it in

Being flippant for a moment it seems there are 2 options
1. Don't order it outside of say late Spring to early Autumn

2. Move further South

pentaxuser

A few things:
Don_ih, Your reply teaches me not to take myself too seriously.
The B/W&G did thaw out and looks ready to use. It's in the basement. This time of year the basement is the warmest part of the house. One of the heat/ac units is there, with the other one being in the attic.
I don't think I ever used the AM 74, even when it thawed out. I would like to get some now but I think shipping regulations prevent me from having it delivered in the U.S.
I expect to use the B/W&G mostly with medium speed film. Based on my experience with PCTEA, the B/W&G should be fine after thawing.