Liquid light

Hi all, new here. I am currently working in my darkroom and having issues. I’m experimenting with liquid light ( haven’t really used it before). I coated test paper before trying it on anything else. I can’t get an image to show up at all. Any suggestions?

hi rhonda, liquid light is a lot of fun.
is it a brand new bottle or did you pick it up "used"
have you tried this ...
take your test strip ( doesn't need to be big )
and put a coin or something on it, turn the room lights on
( or put it under your enlarger lens wide open, nothing in the negative carrier )
wait a few seconds and put it in your developer to see if it is good ?
what developer are you using ?

John

Hi John, thanks for responding. I am using Rockland liquid light. I have not tried putting a coin on my paper, I will give that a try. I did try turning the room lights on after my paper had been in the developer for at least 5 min and nothing was happening. I left it in the developer after turning on the lights to see f it would turn black and it did not. I had a few small grey areas but that was it. I bought the bottle brand new from Freestyle Photography. I tried developing in Dektol and D76, no results from either developer ( I don’t know which one you are supposed to use). I’m getting quite frustrated. I put one coat on Canson drawing paper. Maybe it wasn’t enough.

Dektol is probably better for you to start with. However, if the image is gray then there might not be enough coated on the paper. It is hard getting enough emulsion coated on paper sometimes.

Another possible problem is that if it melted during shipping, it might have settled out and the "best stuff" is on the bottom.

Good luck.

PE

I found that double coating the paper worked best for me. I’d heat the LL, then using sponge brushes coat vertically. Once tacky, I’d do a horizontal coat. I also had better results coating in complete darkness.

Hi Rhonda, I've just left a shorter reply on the 'chat' bit of the site...

But, I find it best to do two coats as well, but I use one of those brushes made with goat hair I think, that has no metal in it's construction. I can't think of the name off hand, but this is recommended in a variety of places.

As PE has said the LE MAY have settled out, but I'd try two coatings first.

And do you warm up all of the bottle each time or just a small amount? Doing the whole amount each time is not so good for it.

In the darkroom, under a safe-light, I take about a teaspoon of LE and put it in a small jam jar and put the lid on it. I then put this in a larger vessel that I have put hot water in, which I have taken to the darkroom. This way you only melt just enough for a couple of sheets.

The emulsion is very soft, so prone to damage whatever the surface being coated. I add the smallest pinch of Potassium Alum to the melted LE, which is a hardener and cheap to buy when compared to buying a small amount sold specifically for this purpose. With the large canister I have of it, I am going to try using it as and Alum Toner, which I have found to be another use of it.

Good luck and keep us informed how it all goes.

Terry S

Make pickles with your Potassium Alum! But NEVER try that with Chrome Alum!

PE