Edwal's hypo-check on non-hardening fixer?

djkloss · Sep 28, 2005

Does Edwal's hypo-tester work on non-hardening fixer such as Ilford's? Or only on fixer with harder? When I check my hardened fixer it always gets that white milky stuff when it's exhausted. The non-hardening fixer either lasts a lot longer, or the hypo-check doesn't work on non-hardening fixer. I use single bath fixing.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Dorothy

ann · Sep 28, 2005

it works on non-hardening fixer.

jim appleyard · Sep 28, 2005

Ditto. I use it all the time on my homebrew TF-3.

jim appleyard · Sep 28, 2005

However, you don't really need it. Just drop the leader of the film that you've cut off into your fix, when it clears in 60 sec. (+-) your fix is good. I think the Hypo Check's biggest benny is it tells you when your fix is just starting to go; I think it's more accurate than the film leader test.

Paul Sorensen · Sep 28, 2005

jim appleyard said:
However, you don't really need it. Just drop the leader of the film that you've cut off into your fix, when it clears in 60 sec. (+-) your fix is good. I think the Hypo Check's biggest benny is it tells you when your fix is just starting to go; I think it's more accurate than the film leader test.

Interesting, we use it because it is the best way to check fix in an institutional setting that I know of, but I have heard folks, perhaps here or on Photonet, state that it is not very accurate because you only find out when the fix is really gone and not that it is going. How do you test that it is about to go? I get rid of the fix as soon as I get a white cloud of any amount, is that what you are looking for as well?

Thanks!

Paul.

djkloss · Sep 28, 2005

I was using with paper, so... no film leader. in which case....???

Paul Sorensen · Sep 28, 2005

djkloss said:
I was using with paper, so... no film leader. in which case....???

Use it, I say. I think it is great, I just had an esoteric question about it.

Daniel Lawton · Sep 28, 2005

I use it all the time including with Ilford rapid fix and it will indeed show a white precipitate when the fix is exhausted.

Gerald Koch · Sep 28, 2005

It's far cheaper to make your own.

Kodak Fixer Test Solution FT-1

This solution is used to check if a fixing bath is still usable or whether it is
saturated with silver halide.

Distilled water (50°C)............ 50 ml
Potassium iodide ................. 10.0 g

Usage

In a small container such as a test tube, add 5 drops of water, 5 drops of
the above test solution and 5 drops of fixer. Shake well. The formation of a
white or pale yellow precipitate indicates that the fixing bath is exhausted.
Disregard a slight milkiness.

Kodak Technical Publication O-3, Feb 2002.

jim appleyard · Sep 28, 2005

Paul Sorensen said:
Interesting, we use it because it is the best way to check fix in an institutional setting that I know of, but I have heard folks, perhaps here or on Photonet, state that it is not very accurate because you only find out when the fix is really gone and not that it is going. How do you test that it is about to go? I get rid of the fix as soon as I get a white cloud of any amount, is that what you are looking for as well?

Thanks!

Paul.

I'm doing what you're doing. Perhaps I should re-state: the film leader is a good way to check. Hypo Check is a better way. The film leader tells good or bad; Hypo Check tells HOW bad. I don't think that Hypo Check is absolutely necessary, but checking by some method is. Hypo check certainly is nice to have and if you have it, use it.

David A. Goldfarb · Oct 2, 2005

An attraction of the film leader test (actually lately I just keep a sheet of 4x5" film for this purpose and snip off strips as needed) is that you can use the same strip to test the developer first. I recently started doing this after having an incident where my Acufine tank went bad while we were on vacation and the building's air conditioning went out for a few days. So now if I haven't used it for a while, I'll use half a strip of film to make sure the developer hasn't gone bad, rinse it off, then check the fixer.

Maine-iac · Oct 2, 2005

The Edwal tester works fine with non-hardening rapid fixers BUT it will often, even with quite fresh fixer show a milky precipitate when you first drop it in the solution. However, swirl it around, and if it clears, the fixer is good. It's if it doesn't clear that it's bad.

Larry

winger · Oct 2, 2005

The hypo-check will tell you when the fixer's exhausted, yes. But, if your nose is sensitive enough, you can probably tell if it's going. I can start to smell it about 2 prints before the hypo-check gives the precipitate.
And, isn't the precipitate just telling you there's free silver in the mix?

david b · Oct 3, 2005

I use it for both film and paper, as does the school in which I work.

Edwal's hypo-check on non-hardening fixer?

Moderator

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency