Infrequent prints.. how to manage stock and working solutions?

[jay moussy]

Brand new printer here, and likely an infrequent one, getting a pack of Ansco 130 this week.
Ah.

I am not clear at all about managing the stock solution, and also the working solution, given the low use expected.

For vessels, I have a range of glass containers: growlers, rubber-sealed beer bottles, smaller 180 ml bottles with screwcaps, and of course a range of plastic soda bottles and such.

EDIT : I read the stock solution should be mixed as soon as possible on account of the glycin shelf life. True?

 

[cjbecker]

Yep, mix the stock as soon as you can. I just store my stock in 1/2Gal amber glass bottles. Keeping the bottles as full as you can with the least amount of air is best. I keep my working solution in a accordion bottle but it never gets all the air out. So far the working solution I have going is probably 2 months old.

This next working solution i will use, im going to try out using it stock, keeping it in a 1L bottle and whatever got drug into the stop bath i will replenish with more stock solution, filling back up too the top of the 1L bottle.

This will be the first time I will use it in a different solution then 1-1.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

If you keep the solution in the dark - in the dark-room, as it were - you don't need amber bottles.

Glass is the only thing that will keep the air out. A spritz from a can of duster will displace any air from the bottle before you spin the cap on. As will keeping the bottle full as possible - to that end a lot of small bottles filled to the brim are better than one half-full large bottle.

Mix up the stock developer with distilled water - distilled water will have very little oxygen/air in it. For extra degassing you can boil the water before making up the stock.

A-130 has a reputation as a long lived developer. You shouldn't have many problems.

I mix up D-72/Dektol from the constituent chemicals as I need it. Doesn't take very long and the developer is always fresh. The chemicals can be measured out with measuring spoons and cups - if you are +/-10% in the quantities you are golden.

There was a well known photographer (name escapes me (as does so much else)) who kept a 50lb drum of hypo crystals under his bench. When it came time to print he threw a handful of crystals in a quart of hot water to make up fresh fixer. "That's good enough," he said. And it was. And is.

 

[ic-racer]

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/not-recommended-but-im-trying-it.180164/
Everything else is long-lasting concentrated liquid.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

[QUOTE="ic-racer, post: 2407392, member: 18971]not-recommended-but-im-trying-it[/QUOTE]

Heck, if it's recommended there's no point in trying it - won't learn anything new that way.

 

[gdavis]

I mix up D-72/Dektol from the constituent chemicals as I need it. Doesn't take very long and the developer is always fresh. The chemicals can be measured out with measuring spoons and cups - if you are +/-10% in the quantities you are golden.

+1 Easy and no worries about stock going bad if I don't print for a while.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I mix 130 fresh for each daily session, maybe the day before or even a week in advance. Somewhat longer should be fine as long as its stored in tightly stopped full glass bottles. If you're working from a kit instead of bulk chemicals, and feel you have to mix up the whole batch at once, then decanter the freshly mixed stock developer into a number of smaller glass bottles, each suitable for a distinct work session. Never keep around the diluted work version unless its comparatively briefly. You might get acceptable results, but once glycin starts oxidizing, you'll see a progressive subtle color shift in the highlights of the print itself. So it's still working, but not quite the same.

 

[mrosenlof]

I also mix fresh every time I print -- about once a month. I like to work from liquid concentrates.

this is my print developer formula:
http://home.alphalink.com.au/~simgrant/jackspcs/pde72.htm

and I've tried this, using hc-110 and was happy:
https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/hc-110-as-print-developer.168833/

 

[Sirius Glass]

Seal up the bottles the best you can, but expect the developer not to work the next time you want to print. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. Fortunately the developers are cheap.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

If you keep your chems in glass or heavy plastic bottles and use a barrier like Bloxygen or Butane they will last a long time. Do it with your fix too since it goes bad over time as well. I've had print developers last for more than a year sitting in the bottle. Making chems last isn't about the money either. It is about the convenience. You can't just pop down to the local camera store anymore.

 

[relistan]

I use Ilford Multigrade Developer. It comes as a concentrate. The working solution lasts for some months if capped. The concentrate, even in a bottle with only 100ml left, lasts a couple of years. It's quite economical and since it's a liquid, super easy to mix when you want a new batch of working solution.