Kodak Professional Rapid Fixer A & B small batch mixing charts (do they exist)

[akfreak]

I have Kodak Professional rapid fixer it has 2 Bottles one (the big one) says FIX A .
The big bottle is 946ml/32 fl.oz., it says it will make 1 US gallon of film and plate finisher, or to make 2 US gallons of paper fixer.

The second small bottle says Solution B Kodak Professional rapid fixer (hardener) for film or paper and is 106ml / 3.5 fl.

Reading many posts over the net, I read not to use the hardener, Just mix the Fix A. (most say 1:3)
I have the mixing sheets that come with the product, However I am getting mixed info about it, what I am reading does not jive with the data sheet.

Is there a resource for the Kodak Professional Rapid fixer similar to what I have found about the Kodak HC-110 Devloper.


I want to mix small single batches to process 2 or 3 rolls of 120 film at a time. So I am looking for a proven mixing guide for the Kodak Professional rapid fix.

I have 2 Patterson 4, 120 dev tanks and 2 Nikkor 16 oz tanks. I am mainly using 120 film so 500ml to 600ml of final working solution would be perfect. (i know I will loose some each time I pour it out of the dev tank back into the storage/mixing jug.

I dont want to waste chemicals. I see people do it all the time, seeing people pour One shot Dev down the drain makes me one to puke! I will dispose on my chemistry properly. No need for silver and other nasties in the food chain.

It would be very easy for me to mix up the full batch and start using it, as the fix will stay good for 4 weeks in a tank with floating cover. There are two main reasons I want to lean how to make small batches. First, I can stay consistent, each batch will be fresh (like one shot) 2. I can make my chemistry last longer because it will be in concentrated air tight containers. I plan to decant into special air removed storage vessels. 3. It will make me happy to better understand proper measures and why (like why no hardener).

I am almost positive someone here is using this product in a similar way that I want to use it. I dont mind 500ml of Fix going bad in a few weeks, but I dont want a gallon of it to go bad.

I am just starting to learn how to develop film, I wont be ready to start printing for a few weeks. I am taking things very slow, I want to make the correct decisions based on all available information, not just a sheet of paper that came with the chemicals. It's obvious Kodak wants me to mix a full batch and purchase again soon as possible.

Thanks to all who take the time to read this post, and even more thanks to those who take time to help me with my quest to find or make a small batch mixing chart for Kodak Professional rapid fixer.

Last thing, If I am not supposed to use the hardener for fixing film, What do I use it for?

Again thanks for your time, I truly appreciate it.

 

[MattKing]

Answering your second question first ...

Unfortunately Kodak doesn't sell Rapid Fixer without the hardener, at least not in the quantities that are convenient for the small darkroom user. This is the reason that I have (reluctantly) stopped buying it. You will most likely have to discard the hardener, and if you do, you need to be very careful because the hardener is a fairly strong, concentrated acid. In fact, the hardener is the reason that you cannot ship the package by air.

The reason that the instructions appear to be somewhat complex is that they incorporate the hardener in the mixing workflow. Technically, you could be really precise and factor out the volume of solution B from the equation, but in that case you would end up with a total volume of 124.5 US fluid ounces of film fixer instead of 128 US fluid ounces (1 gallon) of film fixer. The difference in volume is inconsequential.

So instead of following the included directions, just mix the Part A 1 part to 3 parts water. You don't need to mix the entire bottle at once. If (for example) you want 1 quart (32 US ounces) of working strength film fixer, you can mix 8 ounces of concentrate with 24 ounces of water.

Kodak recommends starting with part of the water, adding the concentrate, and then adding further water to bring the total to the target. That is generally a good idea, because for some chemistry the addition of different constituent parts results in a change in volume.

Hope this helps.

 

[akfreak]

Perfect. Thanks for the information. The rapid fixer is what was available when I bought my 4 jugs of HC-110. When I am done with the Kodak RF I will fiond a better option. Thanks for your time, akf

 

[Jim Noel]

If you want to use the hardener, it is mixed 9 parts "A" to 1 part "B"

 

[zsas]

Ok will bump and old thread, I have the same (Kodak Professional Rapid Fixer A & B). Directions say in order to make 1 Gal (3785 ML), I mix 1900ML of water with 946ML of Part A, then add 104ML of part B. Then add water to make 3785ML (1 gal).

I would like to make 500ML of total fixer, my math tells me that each part is as follows when deconstructing the 3.8L formula:

Total Fix Bath: 3785ML

Mix Water 1900ML 50%
A 946ML 25%
B 104ML 3%
Total Thus Far 2950ML 78%
Water to make 835ML 22%

Does it extrapolate as below? Any agree/dissent? I am going to fix some Efke and had a bottle of this laying around and wanted a hardening fix (if you are wondering why I wd bother):

If I want Tank Size -> 500ML
Mix Water 250ML
A 125ML
B 14ML
Total Thus Far 390ML
Water to make 112ML

 

[MattKing]

Andy:

That will work fine, although I think you may have some round-off areas there, because 250ml + 125ml + 14ml + 112ml comes to 501ml .

 

[zsas]

Ha thanks Matt, yeah I think I have Mr. Excel to blame for those rounds...he

I ended up making 1L and doubled everything above, all seems to have worked, gosh that Efke is sooooo delicate!

 

[MattKing]

Just to update this thread about the desirability of the Kodak Rapid Fixer, Greg Davis determined from Kodak that the hardener can be used separately to harden toned prints.

See his thread here: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

So I'm back to using the Kodak product, because I need the hardener for the prints I tone.

 

[Rick Legrand]

I know I am about 15yrs late with this question but what temperature is the water for the above formula?
Thanks

 

[MattKing]

I know I am about 15yrs late with this question but what temperature is the water for the above formula?
Thanks

Room temperature.
And with respect to the Greg Davis link that no longer exists, to use the hardener alone, without fixer, mix it one part concentrate to 13 parts water.

 

[wiltw]

Altough this is a 10 year old thread, I thought I would add this comment:
Mixing 500ml and using it for fixing film, 500ml of Kodak Rapid Fixer has capacity to fix 16 rolls of 135-36 film or 10 rolls of 120 film, so using it as one-shot is rather wasteful.

 

[christianglz]

Altough this is a 10 year old thread, I thought I would add this comment:
Mixing 500ml and using it for fixing film, 500ml of Kodak Rapid Fixer has capacity to fix 16 rolls of 135-36 film or 10 rolls of 120 film, so using it as one-shot is rather wasteful.

I know that my question is silly but, is it not reusable like all bw film fixer? (up to a point of exhaustion before mixing a fresh batch)

 

[christianglz]

So instead of following the included directions, just mix the Part A 1 part to 3 parts water. You don't need to mix the entire bottle at once. If (for example) you want 1 quart (32 US ounces) of working strength film fixer, you can mix 8 ounces of concentrate with 24 ounces of water.

This is a life saver, I really not wanted to buy everything new to store the new fixer with the hardener, since it has a fairly strong acid, it would require different containers, I'll give it a try!

 

[MattKing]

The working strength fixer - even with hardener added - is acidic, but not that acidic.
I almost never add the hardener. I use the hardener separately, when toning, so the little bottles of hardener are stored separately.

 

[wiltw]

I know that my question is silly but, is it not reusable like all bw film fixer? (up to a point of exhaustion before mixing a fresh batch)

It is re-usable, close to the point of exhaustion...a half liter (bit under 17 fl.oz.) has the capacity to fix 16 rolls of 135 format 36-exp film

 

[christianglz]

It is re-usable, close to the point of exhaustion...a half liter (bit under 17 fl.oz.) has the capacity to fix 16 rolls of 135 format 36-exp film

Yep, agree.