Fixing Film, yet another question.

[kjsphoto]

Hello again everyone,

ok, I was developing a few rolls of film and I noticed that when I was done the negative base on th eunused laeder was not 100% clear. I think it is because the fixer. I already dried the film and just realized it at this stage?

The exposed negatives look ok but is this goign to be a problem down the road? What should I do? The first thing I am going to do is dump the fixer and make a fresh batch.

Thanks again,

Kev

 

[Nige]

refix the film. Can be tricky to dry if you've already cut it into strips. I did some in a tray once but trying to stand the neg strips up on their edges to dry was a pain. Maybe load into a reel, re-fix, re-wash, re-photo-flo and let dry in the reel. They'll straighten out over time

 

[kjsphoto]

I basically had to get clips and let them sit in the steel tank and pull the negatives in and out every so often. Then I just washed for about 30 minutes. Cliped them to the tank and turned the water on while the tank slightly drained continually. Hope this works. I am re-drying two strips now. What a pain in the rear. Reminds me of when I used to have to hang dry 4x5 for people.

I couldnt re-rell them because they were already cut. So hopefully what I am doing will work.

Thanks again,

Kev

 

[happysnapper]

A trick for you...

If this happens again with film strips, take your film after whatever repair you have done and when you are going to hang them, put a stainless steel paper clip in the sprocket hole on top and another on the bottom (suspend your weighted clip from the bottom clip... works great for 35mm, but requires careful puncture on roll film...

 

[fschifano]

Apparently, you've discovered that you have either under-fixed your film or that your fixer was exhausted. You can prevent this from happening again very easily. Test your fixer every other time you use it by fixing out a small undeveloped piece of film which has been soaked in water for a few minutes. This is an excellent use for all those 35mm film leaders that get clipped before loading a reel. If you don't shoot 35mm, just buy a roll of the cheapest B&W film you can find. A 36 exposure roll can last a long long time since you only need 1/2 in or so each time. Note how long it takes for the test strip to clear completely. Then double that time for conventional films and triple it for T-grain films. When the clearing time exceeds 3 minutes, the fixer is exhausted enough to discard.

 

[kjsphoto]

That is what I did. I left the filmin the fixer for about 7 minutes. On the test it took a little over a minute so I thought it was still good. I dumped and remixed a fresh batch. It looks good now. I am pretty bummed to see that happen.

Thanks you again and I not have some test 35mm rols for cutting.

Kev

 

[david b]

I do a two fix bath for all of my film. First for 5 minutes with 3 inversions every minute. Then the second fix is for 3 minutes with the same agitation. Never a problem.

 

[kjsphoto]

Now that is a good idea! I think I will start doing that. Also do you use Hypo Clearing Agent to reduce wash times?

Thanks,

Kev