I gal jug

RonaldD · Apr 22, 2012

Hello,
this is Ronald from the Black and White film section.
It is bulky to ship empty 1 gallon jugs through the post.
Is it OK to just buy javex jugs and empty , wash them thoroughly?
Ronald

jordanstarr · Apr 22, 2012

There's a camera show that goes on in TO every couple months and you can get jugs for about $1 a piece. I have some you could have, but I'm about 100km outside the city.

edit: Sorry, I just assumed you were in TO

Newt_on_Swings · Apr 22, 2012

You can use 1L and 2L soda pop bottles and just store the chemicals away from light.

RonaldD · Apr 22, 2012

Too bad, that would be a nice place to visit In TO.
Ronald

Worker 11811 · Apr 22, 2012

Empty 1 gal. milk jugs. (Washed out well.) They're easy to obtain and cheap.
Reuse them a few times and, when they get messy, toss them in the recycle bin and get new.
If you are using distilled water from the grocery store, it often comes in 1 gal. plastic jugs.

Plastic soda bottles. 1 liter and 2 liter.
Again, you have a practically inexhaustible supply!

Is there a shop that sells beer and wine making supplies near you?
They often sell 1 gallon glass jugs with screw-on tops.
There's a beer making shop called "Bierhaus International" right around the corner from my house.
The last time I went there to get bottles he said, "You're the photography guy, aren't you?"

Like the others say, if your bottles are clear or translucent, keep them in the dark.
Put them in the cupboard under the sink and you'll be fine. All you need to do is minimize the light that gets to them.

tkamiya · Apr 22, 2012

Developers and HCA go bad from exposure to oxygen. For these two chemicals, it is better (in my opinion) to have a bunch of smaller bottles than one big one. I have many 250cc bottles for these and fill it to the top.... For HCA, if not full, I squeeze the bottle to get all the air out.

For a fixer, you can use a gallon container.

You can really use ANY container that's air tight. Just mark it well so no one will confuse them with drinks.

MattKing · Apr 23, 2012

Don't use bleach bottles!

Pop bottles work well with developer - several small ones are preferable to using one big one.

Clamato Juice containers are some of my favourites .

Just make sure that they are really well labelled (make them obvious and UGLY) and have a really good seal.

barzune · Apr 24, 2012

Ronald,
What are you wanting to use the gallon jugs for?
If to store chemistry, you'll find that developers ( at least) will die long before the jug is far gone.
Better to use smaller bottles.
For developer, I prefer amber glass bottles, about 12 oz (341ml actually), which you can seal perfectly with a crown capper.
These containers can be obtained for $0.10 each in Ontario at any Brewers' Retail store.

BetterSense · Apr 24, 2012

Milk jugs are a terrible choice. Not only are they made of thin LDPE which is quite oxygen permeable, but they are cheaply made and leak at the slightest abuse.

Better to use PET juice bottles.

BetterSense · Apr 24, 2012

Milk jugs are a terrible choice. Not only are they made of thin LDPE which is quite oxygen permeable, but they are cheaply made and leak at the slightest abuse.

Better to use PET juice bottles.

kb3lms · Apr 24, 2012

I use PowerADE* PET bottles. If you fill them to the very top they are just shy of a liter. I've been mixing all my chems as 1 liter and then just fill the bottle. Leaves the solution a little "strong" but has given me no problems.

These PowerAde bottles seem to be made of a heavier PET - probably to keep well in outdoor vending machines in all sorts of conditions. Much sturdier than soda bottles and easy to handle. I have Ilford Multigrade developer in one from about 18 months ago that I've neglected to throw out but it looks fine and I recently tried it and seems to work just fine. Store everything in a cool, dark location.

(PowerADE is Coca-Cola's competitor to Gatorade - if you have a soccer playing child you go through this stuff by the truckload. Gatorade bottles are not nearly as good - stay away from them.)

Terry Christian · Apr 24, 2012

Silly question probably, but I've been wondering: how can one tell readily if HCA has gone off and lost its effectiveness, short of doing some sort of chemical test? I have a bunch of Kodak HCA I mixed up some months ago and I don't go through it very fast.

Doremus Scudder · Apr 28, 2012

Terry Christian said:
Silly question probably, but I've been wondering: how can one tell readily if HCA has gone off and lost its effectiveness, short of doing some sort of chemical test? I have a bunch of Kodak HCA I mixed up some months ago and I don't go through it very fast.

Terry,

You've got to stop hijacking threads and doing a bit of research on your own before posting questions like this - please.

To answer your question though: It took two seconds to find the following:

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/e103cf/e103cf.pdf

As you can see, Kodak states the life of HCA is 3 months for stock solution in a bottle and 24 hours for working solution in a tray. Working solution in a tank/bottle will last one month. Capacities are also there.

HCA is largely sodium sulfite and oxidizes quickly. Mix it one-shot if you can. Although mixing part of a package of powdered chemicals is considered bad practice, I think you can get by with doing that with HCA with no ill effects. I once measured the volume of a package of HCA and then just divided by the appropriate numbers to come up with a volume / liter number and used that to mix working solution one-shot. Weighing would be more precise.

I now mix my own wash aid from sodium sulfite and metabisulfite: 1 Tbsp sulfite and a pinch of metabisulfite per liter. I use Kodak's capacity numbers.

Best,

Doremus

www.DoremusScudder.com

Terry Christian · May 1, 2012

Doremus:
I sincerely thank you for the valuable information, but I do generally do quite a bit of research before posting and I wasn't truly hijacking a thread. I simply wished to know others' experiences with the breakdown of HCA in the kinds of containers being discussed and how one might tell if it is still viable, so I felt my question wasn't completely out of place. I was already aware of Kodak's tech document, and wasn't asking about Kodak's stated figures.
I suggest a bit of temperance before blasting others over their perceived faults. So that more ado will not be made over this nothing, this will be my last word on the subject.

mklw1954 · May 7, 2012

I use dedicated 1-gallon plastic spring water bottles for mixing film developer, fixer, and paper developer. Just mark off the 1-gallon mark with a waterproof Sharpie pen.

However, the chemicals are then put into 1-liter plastic seltzer bottles squeezed to eliminate air. I use spring water and seltzer bottles because there are no chemicals adsorbed onto the bottle walls, they protect the chemicals for the maximum 6-month storage period, the caps are sturdy, the thin walls are good for adjusting solution temperature in a water bath, and they don't cost anything. They are stored in a plastic tote so they are away from light.

I gal jug

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