Homemade developers - Newbie Questions

[Kevin]

Hello

I am new to this group, so please forgive me if I ask some (possibly) daft questions.

Until recently I was using Barry Thornton's DiXactol; I was very pleased with the results having previously tried numerous products form the major suppliers, none of which I was really satisfied with.

Just prior to Barry’s death, I had started to investigate the possibility of mixing my own solutions. At this point, I should mention that I am no chemist! GCSE ‘O’ level in this subject is as far as I went – and that was more than a few years ago. I tried some of formula from the Darkroom Cookbook and Film Developing Cookbook. I have been pleased with the paper devs, but have not yet found anything that gives me the same results on film as DiXactol so I’ve therefore started to mix my own experimental solutions

I am currently having problems getting glycin to dissolve into a solution of Pyrocatechol and Sodium Sulphite in water. Trawling through the web led me to believe that it may be possible to dissolve it in Triethanolamine, although when I tried this the other evening it didn’t seem to fully dissolve at room temperature. Can anyone please tell me how best to dissolve Glycin?

Further web trawling led me to this site and mention of Patrick Ganier’s TEA developers. However, I cannot find the formulas anywhere on the web. Are these commercial solutions or are they published for personal use?
Whilst I’m thoroughly enjoying the experimentation (Even the failures) I would be interested see the formula to save me from at least some of my own failures.

Many Thanks

Kevin Jones

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

Glycin dissolves best in alkaline solutions (like sodium or potassium carbonate). I was able to dissolve it in Triethaolamine at fairly high temperatures (around 100 to 120 degrees C, as I recall) I will check my notes.

Regarding Pat's PC TEA, I just posted the recipe and some densitometry data in an APUG thread on Kodak TMY 400.

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

Pat Gainer's PC-TEA Developer

100ml Triethanolamine (TEA)
9 Grams L-ascorbic acid powder
0.25 grams phenidone

Dilute 1 part PC-TEA with 50 parts water

For Kodak TMY 400: As a starting point, develop for 9.5 minutes at 21 deg. C with gentle agitation: 10sec./minute

 

[gainer]

Pat Gainer's PC-TEA Developer

100ml Triethanolamine (TEA)
9 Grams L-ascorbic acid powder
0.25 grams phenidone

Dilute 1 part PC-TEA with 50 parts water

For Kodak TMY 400: As a starting point, develop for 9.5 minutes at 21 deg. C with gentle agitation: 10sec./minute

You forgot to tell him about the heating. TEA as you know by now is quite viscous at room temperature. It actually freezes at about 70 F, although it also readilly supercools. I add the solid ingredients to the TEA and heat it just enough to dissolve the stuff. The ethanolamines begin to darken with heating above 140 F, but have no fear. I have used some pretty dark stuff that I heated more than necessary with good results.