How to get 68deg from your faucet?

[ic-racer]

IIRC, a few years ago Kodak adopted 75 F as their standard temperature for all their BW films. Some european films still require a lower processing temperature.

No mention of that in the PDF on Tri-x from 2007. In fact in that document the "small tank" H&D curves are shown for 20C.

 

[Maris]

Thanks for the update about where 68° comes from Mr Maris.... I hope to visit your land someday.. 113° well tap!!! ouch.

There are limits! I delivered a photography course in Blackall, Queensland where the town water supply runs at 136 F. People don't heat water, that's free, but they run half of it through 500yards of plastic pipe in the shade under their houses to get a flow for the "cold" tap and to keep young children safe from scalding.

As for photographic processing, I used buckets of water (drawn the day before) that had settled to a workable 90 F.

 

[ozphoto]

I live in BKK and the cold water here in my apartment is anything but. It's probably around 24C/25C (and that's first thing in the morning!). Haven't processed here yet, but when I do, I'll just adjust: time vs. temp.

I have a table back in AU that I use regularly (when I get back there) and it is invaluable to me, especially during an AU loooong HOT summer. . . . . .

 

[ezwriter]

68deg from tap?

Wow thanks for all the replies! yes the Ilford and Kodak papers i have both say 68deg (20C for my Aussie friends,is Peter Lik here?) . Like the idea of freezing water bottles, i'll try that.
One person said he uses distilled water for wash. I use it to make the chems but how do wash? I'm assuming he's rocking them in trays of dist water?

Another Q,maybe new thread? How do u know when your Dev ,fixer, etc is exhausted? Besides ruining a roll of film that is?
They make indictator stop Bath, why not the others??? Someone here could get RICH! ;>
Or do u use one time chems?

3 sorry: Someone said they use 1:1 mix of developer.I've been using full strength (Dektol and D-76 for Ilford and Kodak Tmax 100 35mm and 120),. Is that bad,good,? Chems pretty cheap so not worried about that ,as little as I do. thanks again for all your help. IOW, is there an effect to diluting the developer besides cost?
kEN

 

[Doremus Scudder]

Just to compile and summarize for the OP and others with significantly higher than "standard" temperature tap water:

Keeping processing temperatures close throughout the entire process is more important than developing at 20°C/68°F. The danger is thermal shock to the emulsion which can cause reticulation (and does! don't ask me how I know...). Try to stay within +/- 2°C at least.

Developing at higher temperatures requires a shorter developing time. There are tables published to determine the correct time at higher temps. If developing times are too short, use a higher dilution or different developer (make sure you have enough developer stock for the amount of film you are developing though). Other steps are not so temperature-sensitive.

If your emulsion becomes too soft at higher temperatures and regularly suffers damage, search for formulas for tropical developing (easy to find with Google). 85°F is quite high, and may not be good for some softer-emulsion films. I would imagine that Kodak and Ilford products would hold up well.

Best,

Doremus Scudder
www.DoremusScudder.com

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

For the life of your chems, well, film developer should be used one-shot. Paper developer you can tell when it's bad by any of the following:

-it visibly darkens. If your developer looks more like motor oil then it's probably bad. There are exceptions (Ansco 130 comes to mind).
-your prints take more than 50% of your total developing time to begin image formation
-you have to increase your contrast filtration and/or increase exposure time to maintain good blacks in your prints from the same negative

For fixer, there are formulas out there from manufacturers on how many square inches of film/paper per liter of working solution. A bit of google searching should turn up results.

I would assume that the distilled water wash is being used for roll film, not for paper. That gets pretty impractical pretty quickly, especially if you're printing bigger than say 5x7.

Diluting developer does several things. It extends development time (which in your case, given how hot your water is, would be a good thing). It also serves to reduce the activity of the developer, which helps to control contrast (especially with the highlights, which develop first and keep developing throughout the process because there is the most activated silver in the highlights). If you have a very potent, active developer like D-76, it is very easy to get blown-out highlights when using it straight or even 1:1 because the developer is very strong. Other people here may offer you better advice on what dilutions of D-76 to use - I don't like it and don't use it myself so I can't comment beyond the basics.

 

[JohnMeadows]

I was always taught that even if reticulation doesn't occur, temperature differences between the various chem's can have an effect on graininess; I try to keep everything with 1 or two degrees.

 

[ezwriter]

Thanks! I'll start making 1:1 developer when this batch is done. or maybe 1:2 , its D76, gonna use that til i learn the basics...