Fixer precipitate and Marks on Negatives

[gbenaim]

Hello all,

I unfortunately used some fixer that had developed some precipitate gunk to fix some negatives yesterday, and want to know how I can remove it from my negatives. It's regular Kodak fixer w hardener, so it's sodium thiosulfate, sodium metabisulfite, and potassium alum for hardener. I have no idea what the precipitate is, but it looks kind of like little flakes. I tried soaking the negs in distilled water, and also refixing, and neither worked. Is there something else I can try? I remember reading that sodium carbonate is used for de-hardening prints. Assuming the precipitate is related to the hardener, could that possibly work? Thanks for any suggestions,

GB

 

[ricksplace]

I am currently using old Kodak rapid fix (my college lab was throwing it out) that has some sulfur type precipitate in it. It works fine and doesn't stick to the negs or prints so long as I wash them right away and wash them well. In the instance when I don't wash them right away, and let them sit in a water bath overnight, I will get bleached flecks on the print where the particulate was. The flecks on the prints are permanent. I have never had the same problem with negs as I use the Ilford method of washing (see posts on this site).

I'm afraid that your marks on your negs may be permanent.

Rick.

 

[gbenaim]

Well, luckily they don't show up on prints, but was wondering what might cause this. The fixer is fresh, and I filtered it and still got the flakes on the negs. Actually, it looks more like etching.