Kodak F-24 fixer.

[BobUK]

F-24 Fixer

I've used this fixer on prints for a few months. It's cheap and easy to make.
Bottling at the end of a session and using it time and again.
My output of prints is not very big these days. Keeping the fixer for about two months before making fresh.
I have looked in few Kodak publications for information on how many prints a litre will safely fix. Nothing seems to be written down.

What is the limit of 8 x 10s I should put through a litre?

Thanks in advance.

 

[grain elevator]

I believe this is mostly indepent of the specific fixer or even its dilution, because the issue that limits its usefulness for paper is how much silver it accumulates. Use numbers from other fixers.

 

[Ian Grant]

Well the1978 data-sheets for IF-2 says 200 sheets of 10x8 per 5 litres of working solution diluted 1+2. So that's 40 10x8's per litre, but goes on to say two bathy fixing is more efficient.

IF-2 is 200g Sodium Thiosulphate per litre, F-24 240g so will have slightly greater capacity.

Ian

 

[mshchem]

Kodak J-1 book says 100 sheets per gallon when used with an acid stop bath

 

[Ian Grant]

Kodak J-1 book says 100 sheets per gallon when used with an acid stop bath

That's the short measure US gallon. It states 26 10x8 prints per litre.

Ian

 

[mshchem]

That's the short measure US gallon. It states 26 10x8 prints per litre.

Ian

Correct US gallon, not Imperial. J-1 1954 edition, February 1962 printing

 

[mshchem]

 

[Ian Grant]

Probably a newer edition of J-1.

Ian

 

[Doremus Scudder]

Well the1978 data-sheets for IF-2 says 200 sheets of 10x8 per 5 litres of working solution diluted 1+2. So that's 40 10x8's per litre, but goes on to say two bathy fixing is more efficient.

IF-2 is 200g Sodium Thiosulphate per litre, F-24 240g so will have slightly greater capacity.

Ian

I hesitate to differ with Ian, really...

However, my understanding is that fixer strength has little to do with throughput capacity, which is dependent on the concentration of fixer by-products in solution. The strength of the fixer will affect fixing speed.

The level of dissolved silver in the fixer also determines the "quality" of the fixing, e.g., whether to "commercial" or "optimum permanence" standards. Two-bath fixation definitely helps achieve the latter without changing fixer every 10 prints or so!

Best,

Doremus

 

[MattKing]

View attachment 365666

Probably a newer edition of J-1.

Ian

Ian - can you include the information about the Hardener please - I've been looking for that!

 

[MattKing]

Found it:

 

[Ian Grant]

I hesitate to differ with Ian, really...

However, my understanding is that fixer strength has little to do with throughput capacity, which is dependent on the concentration of fixer by-products in solution. The strength of the fixer will affect fixing speed.

The level of dissolved silver in the fixer also determines the "quality" of the fixing, e.g., whether to "commercial" or "optimum permanence" standards. Two-bath fixation definitely helps achieve the latter without changing fixer every 10 prints or so!

Best,

Doremus

Fixing is not a simple chemical process there are a number of intermediary semi-soluble silver complexes formed with fine equilibrium balances. As you say these are affected by the increase of silver salts, but another factor is the depletion of the Thiosulphate which is related to the soluble silver build up. I drew up a chart of the various complexes formed and the equilibrium reactions aback around 1976/7.

It's worth noting that the 200 sheets per 5 litres of working solution of IF-2 at 1+2 was for Ilfobrom which was an FB paper. The figure for RC paper was 400 10x8 prints, so 80 per litre. The reason for this is with FB papers some of the semi-soluble silver complexes bond with the cellulose in the paper base, so with single bath fixing the soluble silver level has to be much lower than for RC papers where this bonding doesn't happen.

Ian - can you include the information about the Hardener please - I've been looking for that!

F-24 is not acidic enough to use a hardener.

Kodak's storage figures are not matched by Ilord's IF-2 keeps well for about 12 months in a full bottle, 6 months in a half full bottle. IF-23 12 months. 6 months with hardener added.

Ian

 

[MattKing]

F-24 is not acidic enough to use a hardener.

Understood - but I use the Kodak Rapid Fixer hardener bottle B when I tone prints, and hadn't been able to find capacity information before - I just missed that on J-1.

 

[BobUK]

Thank you all for the information.