HC-110 intermediate dilution HC110

This is not another "what dilution should I use?" thread.

Some people like to make an intermediate dilution of HC110, along the lines of Kodak's recommended procedure for this developer. I assume it is because full strength HC-110 is so viscous and the related fact that it is sometimes a bit tricky to measure small quantities used for high-dilution mixtures, such as dilution H. However, some people say that making an intermediate stock solution reduces the legendary long shelf life of HC110, apparently because of the water content of the intermediate stock solution.

What about the idea of using ethylene glycol as the solvent for the intermediate stock solution? This would get rid of the objection that the intermediate stock solution contains water, and presumable the solution could then have a long shelf life. I suppose polypropylene glycol could be used as well if one is worried about having toxic ethylene glycol around the house.

Good Afternoon, Alan,

Sounds like a lot of bother when there's a simpler way: Just get a small graduated cylinder. I have one (Jobo? Yankee??) which I've used for years. It holds about one ounce and easily measures, with more than adequate accuracy, amounts as small as one-fourth or one-eighth ounce. I also have a small measuring glass purchased from the housewares department of a store whose identity I long ago forgot. It will also measure small amounts up to one ounce.
Just be sure after dumping the concentrate to do a water fill/dump several times to be sure that all the concentrate is actually included in your solution.

Konical

As stated above most people have no difficulty in measuring small amounts of the developer. Actually the viscosity works for you as there is no meniscus as with a more dilute solution.

The stuff is cheap enough, just mix up slightly more than you need to reduce the impact that a few drops of syrup, one way or the other, will have. Even so, I measure 6ml quite easily in a 10ml syringe.

There shouldn’t' be a problem using a small syringe as bvy stated. I was able to easily measure 3ml for Dilution F using one of those syringes for baby medication. (Yes, I know 6ml is the recommended minimum for 1 roll.)
I think the trick is using a measuring device that is the correct size for the amounts you're trying to measure.

Normally I use HC-110 in a replenishment regime. But when I do develop a roll "one-shot" I carefully pour from the bottle into a Paterson 45 ml graduate with an amount of water in it - say 30 ml. When the total volume rises to 36 ml, there is 6 ml of concentrate in the graduate.
I'm sure there is a slight inaccuracy arising from the difference in density between water and the concentrate, and of course the accuracy depends on my ability to work with water and the meniscus formed in a narrow container, but I'm confident that my results are sufficiently repeatable as to be usable.

Some interesting posts have been made.

I have been using a syringe, but I thought maybe a dilution regime might be more convenient and/or more accurate.

Even the intermediate "stock solution" lasts a long time. BTW Kodak no longer recommends making a stock solution but to measure straight from the concentrate.

darkroommike said:

Even the intermediate "stock solution" lasts a long time. BTW Kodak no longer recommends making a stock solution but to measure straight from the concentrate.

Click to expand...

Actually, both options are referenced in the current data sheet: http://imaging.kodakalaris.com/sites/uat/files/wysiwyg/pro/chemistry/j24.pdf

Pat Gainer reported an experiment he did with the syrup diluted 50/50 in the way you suggest. The surprise was the dilute worked as well as the full strength. He concluded there was a lot of developing power that was not needed in the original syrup..

MattKing said:

Actually, both options are referenced in the current data sheet: http://imaging.kodakalaris.com/sites/uat/files/wysiwyg/pro/chemistry/j24.pdf

Click to expand...

The most current info is on the bottle and omits mixing a stock solution. I never liked mixing it from the syrup so I continue to mix stock solution first but don't use the whole bottle anymore but just a portion of the stupidly large container.

I've been using a 1+50 dilution of HC-110 for years with excellent results. So for a roll of 135 I'll add 5ml of concentrate to 250ml of water, mix it up, and I'm good to go. To measure the concentrate I use a 5ml measuring spoon that can be picked up just about anywhere these days.

I use dilution H exclusively, usually with single rolls, but find it difficult to fill a dropper accurately. So I use the dropper to fill a small graduated cylinder.

The thing is to keep the sticky developer away from the cylinder sides and then empty the cylinder completely. For that, I first rinse the dropper, then use it to squirt developer water into the cylinder to rinse it into the mixture. Accurate and quick.

John