how long has your fixer lasted?

jm94 · May 27, 2011

Just posting to see how long people's fixer usually lasts them, mine is as follows: mixed up my batch 1 month ago, using rollei RXN neutral odourless fixer.
100ml of fix to 900ml water.
Have done around 85 3.5x5 in prints, 25 5x7 in prints and around 10 8x10in prints, and 9 rolls of film. i fix for 5 minutes for film as a rule, and around 60 second for prints. i find currently, 5 minutes is still enough, but only just so have had to extend it by 30 or so seconds with constant agitation (not just once a minute). i accidently contaminated it with a little bit of RA4 developer, and it has turned very slightly purple, but i think the fixer has buffers in it so the pH doesnt raise too much; it is around 7.5 now. it is still going strong, doing it on a test roll after the contamination (this wont be used for anything importaint now film wise, will keep it for prints until it dies). i can see specks of silver floating around in it, so i think it is nearly reaching the end of its useful life. (something tells me it will suddenly begin to conk out rapidly and quite suddenly)
R.I.P my second ever fixer batch!

Caplight · May 27, 2011

Hi jm94,
I'd say if your brand of fixer lasts that long, stick to it. If you manage to do all those things with 1000ml of fixer, well congrats. But be aware after such an extensive use, one day you could mess up a days work. I for sure wouldn't take that risk !
Usually when my fixer starts getting brown/yellow I replace it. It also gets a certain smell that rings a bell to me to replace it. But that pure intuitively of course.
If yr doing b/w I recommend using a stop bath with deluded vinegar. This makes yr fixer last longer also. It doesn't get contaminated with developer as quick.

Kind regards,
Luc.

tkamiya · May 27, 2011

I am currently using Kodak fixer. (the powder kind) I have one 1 liter bottle of working solution for film and two 1/2 gallon (fix 1 and fix 2) for paper. I don't share a fixer between film and paper.

I keep a log of how many paper/film I processed and discard it when capacity is reached or 6 months. Kodak says shelf live is 2 months once mixed but it has been working well for 6 months. Around that time, capacity is reached anyway so they are discarded.

Rick A · May 27, 2011

I'm still using two liters of TF-4 that I mixed over one year ago. It still fixes film in 2-3 minutes, and no silver floating in it. It's quite purple from fixing T-max, I've never used a fixer this long before.

Andrew Moxom · May 27, 2011

I've been using my batch of film fixer for over a year ..... I go with a replenished method. I have 2 liters of Ilford Hypam mixed 1:4 as my working batch. Prior to each film developing session, I dump 500ml of stock fixer, and mix in a fresh 100ml of fix concentrate, and 400ml of water. On average, I process around 4 rolls of film per session.... 2 lots of 2 films. Working this way seems very intuitive and economical to me. I know others might say I should use fresh fixer, especially for film, but this works for me, and I've not run into any issues in the 20 or so years I have been using replenished fix. My earlier negs appear to be fine with this.

Bob Carnie · May 27, 2011

My fixer lasts one run and then is dumped into the silver recovery.
One litre per 6 rolls 35 or 4 rolls of 120 or 10 sheets 4x5 or 5 sheets 8x10.

Thingy · May 27, 2011

I still have the large jar of sodium thiosulphate I started using when I was at school in the 1970s! It's still OK for fixing FP4 film.
I understand fixers have changed a bit however......?

Laurent · May 27, 2011

I do a clip test for film (got caught one with exhausted fixer !)

My paper fix lasts about 2 enlarging sessions, it costs much less than the paper I'm using and I'm more comfortable than when I wondered if it was still OK...

tendim · May 27, 2011

I've been using fixer for over a year. I have a two-bottle method: Bottle A and B. I test both bottles with Edwal fixer check each day I fire up the darkroom. When Bottle A becomes weak I throw out Bottle B, move A to B, and put fresh fixer in A.

For film I do two fixes of 4 minutes each in A and B.

For paper, I test it each time I start up a session, and once weak, replace it.

cjbecker · May 27, 2011

I am using tf-4 and have had the same batch going for about 5 months and about 40-50 rolls through it. I do clip tests before each session and it still does it under 30 sec. I love this stuff.

Mainecoonmaniac · May 27, 2011

I don't know. I use hypo check. When the drops get cloudy, I toss the fix. I take it in for recycling. Is the hypo check method accurate? I don't want to toss fixer unless it's really exhausted.

marcmarc · May 27, 2011

I guess I'm just being ultra conservative, but I use TF-4 and discard each working solution after 3 rolls. After mixing up a gallon of fix I use 250ml for 135 films and 400ml for 120 film. After three rolls, I'll discard and so on until the gallon has been used up. Sure, the film still clears after three rolls but sometimes the fix gets a bit of a yellowish cast to it and sometimes it has a bit of a sulfur odor. I'd rather be safe and discard it rather then find out years later as my negatives are fogging that I shouldn't have tried to economize this way by over working my fix.

removed account4 · May 27, 2011

i only use exhausted fixer, are you supposed to use the good stuff ?

brian steinberger · May 27, 2011

I recommend mixing two separate fixers, one for film and one (or two in my case, two-bath fixing) for paper. For film I keep track of how many rolls of film are run through the batch and discard after I've reached half the manufactures recommended capacity.

For paper I mix up two fixing baths. I first is used and checked with hypo-check when nearing exhaustion. Once exhaustion is reached it is dumped and replaced with the 2nd fixing bath, and a new 2nd fixing bath is made up.

You really shouldn't guess when it comes to fixing, for film or paper, but especially for film. Set some guidelines for yourself, use them, and test to make sure you're fixing enough, and then stick to them.

Mainecoonmaniac · May 27, 2011

Only when guest come over

jnanian said:
i only use exhausted fixer, are you supposed to use the good stuff ?

Sometimes you can get away by using the cheap stuff if you decant it in a nicer bottle for your guest

jerl · May 27, 2011

My first batch of fixer lasted a good 2-3 months- 3 rolls of film and a good 100 sheets of 8x10 or so- once the hypo check came up cloudy, I tossed it into a can we keep for storing old fixer for recycling. Generally speaking, I'm always concerned about properly fixing film and paper well (more so with film) since it may not be obvious that something isn't fixed properly until it starts to fade or deteriorate years later. With paper it's ok since I keep records and can always make a new print, but less so with film.

anon12345 · May 27, 2011

This may be of use . . .

http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/fixer exhaustion.html

Luseboy · May 27, 2011

You huys use fixer way longer than I do. I use it one-shot for film (I don't trust re-using chemistry with film) and use it for prints until my indicator stop indicates, which is usually a month or two depending on how much I print. I guess I could use it longer, but I honestly would lose peace of mind if i did. I particularly will not use it more than once for film.

bwrules · May 27, 2011

marcmarc said:
I guess I'm just being ultra conservative, but I use TF-4 and discard each working solution after 3 rolls. After mixing up a gallon of fix I use 250ml for 135 films and 400ml for 120 film. After three rolls, I'll discard and so on until the gallon has been used up. Sure, the film still clears after three rolls but sometimes the fix gets a bit of a yellowish cast to it and sometimes it has a bit of a sulfur odor. I'd rather be safe and discard it rather then find out years later as my negatives are fogging that I shouldn't have tried to economize this way by over working my fix.

Sulfurous/ammonia odor is normal, since it's the odor of the chemicals in TF-4. TF-4 has a very nice capacity, you are simply wasting your money. You can always clip test before you fix, and if the clearing time is let's say 40 seconds, dump it.

RalphLambrecht · May 27, 2011

I still use the fixer that John Herschel gave me in 1839. It has lots of silver in it, which is a good thing, because I can use it to coat my own film and paper emulsions. It started out clear but turned brown around WWI. In 1939, I diluted it 1+1 with local sewer and gave half of it to Ansel Adams. I think, he made his archival prints with it until 1980 and never had a problem. Actually, I'm pretty sure, it helped to bring out the shadow detail in his famous print "Moonrise over Hernandez'.

It smells a bit now but still works fine.

MattKing · May 27, 2011

For prints (RC almost always) I go by the manufacturer's capacity recommendations.

For film, I use the manufacturer's recommendations, which I double check using a clip test.

Lately I've been proceeding as follows:

1) I divide my working strength film fix into two equal portions, each of which are sufficient to cover the film;
2) I put the first portion into the tank and put it on to the Beseler roller processor (continuous agitation);
3) I do a clip test using the second portion;
4) when the clip has cleared completely, I note the time (the "clearing time"), stop the roller processor and pour the fixer from the tank back into my storage container;
5) I take the film clip out and then pour the other equal portion of the fixer into the tank. I put the tank back on to the roller processor and turn it on. I leave the tank on the roller processor for at least as long as the clearing time.

If the clearing time gets too long before I reach the manufacturer's suggested capacity figures, I discard the fix early. In no event do I use the fix more than the manufacturer's recommendations.

If I had the space to use and store one of jnanian's Silver Magnet recovery units, I would buy and use it, along with a replenishment regime as suggested by Andrew Moxom above.

Mainecoonmaniac · May 27, 2011

I wonder if one could make fixer last indefinitely by constantly removing the silver from it? Isn't silver the component that exhaust fixer? I remember putting a penny in a used tray of fix and a couple of days later I found the penny black and furry.

nworth · May 27, 2011

I believe the original poster exhausted his fixer a long time ago. You really have to be quite careful about such things. Exhausted fixer can't be seen in prints, and it just looks like a longer fixing time with film. But in both cases, the paper or film is inadequately fixed and will deteriorate in time. Most manufacturers publish life and capacity figures for their fixers. For instance, Kodak tells us that its Kodak Fixer will last 1 week in a tray or 1 month in a tank and will fix 100 8X10 sheets of film or paper. Consider such figures as optimistic maxima. Once mixed, fixer does deteriorate just by sitting. An unused bottle of fixer has a maximum life of about 2 months (maybe). Open containers last a considerably shorter time. In use, fixer builds up silver complex products that deplete it and interfere with its action. The result is not only a longer fixing time, but contamination of the film or paper with materials that are harder to wash out. Eventually the fixer becomes exhausted and ineffective, even though it will still clear a piece of film pretty well in time. Two bath fixing of paper extends the capacity considerably, but it does not extend the open tray life.

Fixer is cheap. Since I am not in the darkroom every day, I mix up a new batch before each session. (I just mix up Kodak F-34 from ammonium thiosulfate solution, sodium sulfite, and sodium bisulfite. It only takes a couple of minutes, and I can mix just what I need.) I might keep a tray active for a couple of days if I haven't used it much, but not more than that.

One poster mused about regenerating fixer. It is probably impractical. The problem is getting rid of the silver-thiosulfate complexes while regenerating the thiosulfate. You can precipitate the silver or plate it out, but the process does not regenerate the thiosulfate and contaminates the solution with other materials that are harmful to fixing. It's cheaper to just mix new fixer.

BetterSense · May 27, 2011

I use 2-bath Ilford rapid for film, so I go until my bath 1 no longer clears the film within 3-5 minutes and then switch baths. I only put already-cleared film in bath 2, so as long as my 2nd bath stays fresh, and I fix the already-cleared film for 2 minutes or more in the 2nd bath, I don't worry about my film being underfixed. With paper, I kind of just change it when it starts to accumulate a lot of yellow from the stop bath, but most of my printing is casual pictures on RC paper.

wogster · May 27, 2011

For film, I nearly always used everything mixed up fresh, this makes for the most uniform results, and the film costs 10 times (if not more) then the chemicals to process it, so it almost always made sense to use fresh, rather then risk contamination and other chemical problems. For prints, I always mix up a batch, use it for the current session, the toss it after, the chances of contamination and losing count on the prints through the bath, made it better to just dump it during cleanup.

how long has your fixer lasted?

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