Heating and measuring water for D76?

How do you guys heat and measure a gallon of water to mix D76? Can't seem to find gallon grads

Are you trying to use the entire gallon all at once? If you're developing say one or two rolls, then only warm up what you need to fill your developing tank. I use glass graduated cylinders.

GarageBoy said:

How do you guys heat and measure a gallon of water to mix D76? Can't seem to find gallon grads

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Use a 1 US quart graduated cylinder and a small pail.

Put 4 US quarts of water in the pail, and then draw a line showing where that volume reaches on the pail.

If you need a smaller volume measured, you can use the 1 US quart graduated cylinder multiple times, and then draw that second line.

i have a faucet with a thermometer and a 5gallon bucket.

I think he is asking about heating the water to 120 degrees to dissolve the powder. This has to be done all at once, you can't just measure some of the powder to dissolve. I use a glass Pyrex one-liter measuring glass, and I heat the water in it in the microwave. This has to be done in several batches, of course, since the container won't hold a whole gallon (my microwave will not hold a container big enough to do a whole gallon, so i use the one-liter one instead). I do the actual mixing in a one-gallon bucket.

I think he is mixing up the 1 gallon powder to make the stock solution.
Go to the hardware store and look for the buckets/pots that painters use for holding paint in.
They come in various sizes and are clear plastic with volume markings on the side.

You could use any container if you measure out the volume you need using smaller graduates and then placing the volume you need in the larger container, then mark to level.

My hot water heater gets me 120F out of the darkroom tap if I run it for a bit, so that takes care of itself.

Here's a gallon graduate:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/200902-REG/Arkay_PGM_128_Plastic_Graduate.html

You can also get a 5000ml plastic beaker from scientific supply houses, for example:

http://www.amazon.com/Beaker-With-Handle-Plastic-5000ml/dp/B00CDGVFFS/

I've used plastic pails, too.

Simple. I measure out 101 oz of water (per Kodak's instructions on the package) and put it in a cooking pot on the stove. Heat the water w/ a thermometer in it (I usually heat it to around 130 degrees or a little more), then dump it into my plastic pail that's sitting on the top of the stove next to the pot, and switch on the vent fan above. I already have my packet of D76 open, and slowly pour it into the pail of hot water whilst stirring well w/ a big, long plastic spoon I use for this purpose only (Dollar Tree 5 Pc variety pack). I also always use eye protection and a bandana over my mouth and nose just in case. Once it's mixed, I top up the pail w/ another 27 oz of hot water out of the tap, stir well, and pour it into one of those 1 gal brown plastic bottles from Freestyle. After it has set for 24 hours I pour it into smaller 16 oz brown bottles, label them w/ the date they were bottled, and use them up that way. D76, in my house anyway, does not like heat or long storage, so it gets used up within a month (I prefer using it full strength in my developing scheme). My preference would be to use D76 one shot because as it sits over time it can mess w/ my consistency, but I do not like mixing open powders more than necessary due to health risks. I am also not sure that dividing up D76 powder would work well, as it is a mixture of different chemicals, and who knows if each small mix would contain the right proportion of chemicals.

How about heating up 3 liters of water, dissolve powder, add 0.8 liter of cold water = voila a gallon of fresh D-76...

Pat Erson said:

How about heating up 3 liters of water, dissolve powder, add 0.8 liter of cold water = voila a gallon of fresh D-76...

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Ditto. I do use a large graduate and hot tap water (120F) and mix per Kodak directions otherwise. Never had any problems.

Pat Erson said:

How about heating up 3 liters of water, dissolve powder, add 0.8 liter of cold water = voila a gallon of fresh D-76...

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If you do this you'll actually end up with *more* than a US gallon as the powder occupies some space in the final product. You'll be adding a little less than 800 mL of water to attain the final volume.

measuring n

Restaurant supply stores are great for Plexiglas and/or polycarbonate measuring graduates including one gallon size. I have both one and one half gallon graduates from a local restaurant supply shop.

I use a kettle/s of boiling water, a graduated measuring cylinder, a bucket, stirring rod and of course a thermometer. It is easier to cool the water to the required temperature by adding cold water and/or letting it stand, than trying to heat it up to the required temperature.

When mixing powdered developers, I boil the water. If your faucet has an aerator, it will add air(oxygen) to the water. I read a long time ago that boiling will remove the air from water. After boiling, I allow the water to cool until it is the required temperature, and then I mix the powder.

If you are in the US, look here:

http://stores.photoformulary.com/-strse-277/Beaker-Glass/Detail.bok

I pour 3/4 gallon distilled water into a glass pot and heat to 130f, stir in the contents of the D-76 packet, when completely dissolved I add enough distilled water to make one gallon. When cooled to room temp, I decant into 250ml bottles.

I'll probably get some flak for this, but I use a measuring cup to fill a plastic gallon milk jug with one gallon of water, and mark the level. I then pour it out.

Then I add about half the powder to the jug, and fill it about 1/3 with water hot tap water, and shake it (I know, oxygen can get in). Then I add the other half of the powder and some more water and shake. Finally I pour in more water to the gallon mark and shake some more. I'll let it sit about a day, gently agitate again, then pour into 1-litre soda bottles filled to the top to exclude air (squeezing the bottle if necessary), and store.

I know the shaking can introduce air that will cause the developer to go off quicker. However, I usually don't run enough film to use the whole gallon before I feel I must dump it due to age. The last time I used D-76, I had half a gallon left which formed a precipitate after about 6 months. The precipitate disappeared disappeared after 2 more (it was just sitting, I did not stir or shake) and the developer was still good - to my amateur eyes it worked fine on a test roll.
However, I don't know that it would be up to the standards of people who actually know what they are doing (people unlike me).

I use a thermostatic mixing valve and a 4 liter graduated stainless steel pitcher. You can also get a plastic one like this: http://www.bascousa.com/us-metric-graduated-pitchers-gm400.html

Truzi said:

............... fill it about 1/3 with water hot tap water, and shake it (I know, oxygen can get in). Then I add the other half of the powder and some more water and shake. Finally I pour in more water to the gallon mark and shake some more................ .

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I would think it takes a lot more muscle & energy to shake it than to just stir it?

fotch said:

I would think it takes a lot more muscle & energy to shake it than to just stir it?

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True, but I'm the type of lazy that would rather shake than get together the two additional items needed to stir
Besides, it's only a gallon, and I'm not that out of shape... yet.

Thanks, I'll give some of these a shot

I picked up a cheap generic plastic gallon pitcher for a couple of dollars. It's marked in 1 quart increments. 3 quarts of distilled water goes into the pitcher, and from there into a large plastic bowl (also a cheap generic kitchen item) which is large enough to hold that amount of water and still fits in our microwave. I nuke it for 8-9 minutes to get it to temperature, stirring it up every couple of minutes while cooking and checking it to make sure it's all at the correct temperature.

Then I pour it back into the pitcher, followed by the D76 powder. Stir that until everything is dissolved, then add room temp distilled water until it hits the 1 gallon mark.

The pitcher plus a cheap plastic funnel (the type you find in the auto care section of the store) make it fairly easy to pour the developer into suitable sized bottles.

Same approach worked great when I mixed up a batch of Formulary 130 from the powder kit they make.

I use a pitcher sold for iced tea and lemonade. It holds a gallon and has a snap on lid and at least one quart graduations. Even my local supermarket has one like that made by Rubbermaid. My tap water easily gets to 120ºF, although I usually use distilled water in smaller quantities, heated in the microwave. I pour the cooled final results into two half gallon PET juice bottles.

(It's the 5 liter mixes that addle what's left of my mind! :alien: )

Bought a plastic one gallon pitcher from the dollar store. Run tap water at about 120 degrees (plus or minus a degree or two), stir in the powder with my plastic stirrer, then top off the pitcher with more water. Stir gently for a couple more minutes and allow to cool a bit. Decant into a brown, one gallon Delta Jug I bought from Freestyle through a 25 cent, plastic funnel.

I doubt this stuff will wear out anytime soon but if it ever does I do like the plastic milk jug idea.