Modifying Ansco 130

Lachlan Young · Aug 3, 2006

I was wondering if anyone has tried doubling the strength of Ansco 130 stock solution - ie instead of diluting 1+1 you would now be diluting 1+3 for the same strength working solution. The formula would (I think) be as follows:
Water (125 F) 750 ml
Metol 4.4 g
Sodium Sulfite (Anhydrous) 100 g
Hydroquinone 22 g
Sodium Carbonate (Monohydrate) 156 g
Potassium Bromide 11 g
Glycin 22 g
Cold Water to make 1 liter

The other thing I was wondering about was what sort of effect replacing the metol with the equivalent amount of phenidone (0.44g?) would be.

All help much appreciated,

Lachlan

Ole · Aug 3, 2006

Lachlan Young said:
The other thing I was wondering about was what sort of effect replacing the metol with the equivalent amount of phenidone (0.44g?) would be.

Don't know about the rest, but the last batch I made I couldn't find my bottle of metol. So I used the equivalent amount of phenidone.

Guess what: The developer was yuk. Uneven and slow development, lousy tonality - just YUK. I even let it rest for a couple of days before I tried again: Still YUK.

Dumped after less than a week. But now I've found the metol, and will be making a new batch.

payral · Aug 3, 2006

So why don't you try and report your results ?

MWGraves · Aug 3, 2006

Has anyone tried the Photographer's Formulary version of 130? Having read all the posts about the virtues of the 130 formula I've been wanting to try it. However, I'm not set up to mix my own chemistry. A kit seems like a good idea.

Bob F. · Aug 3, 2006

Steve Anchell's Darkroom Cookbook suggests using it at stock strength for high contrast and 1+2 for low contrast so I suspect mixing it 1+3 would give pretty poor results, but I've not tried it at anything other than 1+1. Easy enough to try if you have some stock lying about. If I can remember, I'll give it a try just before I throw some of my working 1+1 solution out.

Cheers, Bob.

Lachlan Young · Aug 3, 2006

Bob F. said:
Steve Anchell's Darkroom Cookbook suggests using it at stock strength for high contrast and 1+2 for low contrast so I suspect mixing it 1+3 would give pretty poor results, but I've not tried it at anything other than 1+1. Easy enough to try if you have some stock lying about. If I can remember, I'll give it a try just before I throw some of my working 1+1 solution out.

Cheers, Bob.

I think I may have confused you - what I am suggesting doing is putting the amount of chemicals you would normally use to make 2 litres of stock solution into 1 litre instead for easier storage.

Hope this helps,

Lachlan

Bob F. · Aug 3, 2006

Lachlan Young said:
I think I may have confused you - what I am suggesting doing is putting the amount of chemicals you would normally use to make 2 litres of stock solution into 1 litre instead for easier storage.

Hope this helps,

Lachlan

Nope: as usual, I have managed to confuse myself! You quite clearly say "stock solution" in your OP...

Sorry for the digression. Normal service will be resumed as soon as... I obtain a new brain... I have one on order from some bloke called Scarpatti...

Cheers, Bob.

Poco · Aug 3, 2006

MWGraves said:
Has anyone tried the Photographer's Formulary version of 130? Having read all the posts about the virtues of the 130 formula I've been wanting to try it. However, I'm not set up to mix my own chemistry. A kit seems like a good idea.

Take out the glycin and you're left with virtually the same formula as Dektol so I just buy the Dektol packages and add the glycin. I've compared the results to "real" Ansco 130 and found no difference. This might be a way for you to "mix your own" without the bother of stocking up on all sorts of chemicals.

Gerald Koch · Aug 3, 2006

You may run into problems keeping everything in solution particulary if the room temperature drops much below 20C. Is there any particular reason that you must do this?

Lachlan Young said:
The other thing I was wondering about was what sort of effect replacing the metol with the equivalent amount of phenidone (0.44g?) would be.

All help much appreciated,

Lachlan

While you will see a ratio of 1:10 quoted, there really is no fixed ratio for the replacement of Metol with phenidone. The ratio varies according to the intended purpose of the developer and its pH.

Phenidone is unstable in high pH solutions and will hydrolyse. The rate of hydrolysis is dependent on the pH. Making this substitution will result in a developer with a shorter shelf life. Dimezone S (a substituted phenidone) is a better choice as it does not hydrolyse as fast.

Replacing Metol with Phenidone or a derivative will result in colder print tones.

Tom Hoskinson · Aug 3, 2006

All sorts of chemicals? Not really, just a very basic darkroom chemical kit:

1. Water (52 C) 750ml
2.Metol 2.2 grams
3. Hydroquinone 11 grams
4. Potassium Bromide 5.5 grams
5. Sodium Sulfite (anhydrous) 50 grams
6. Sodium Carbonate (Monohydrated) 78 grams
7. Glycin 11 grams
8. Water to make 1 liter

Yes Laclan, you can double the quatities of the dry chemicals and mix a concentrated stock solution. And dilute it appropriately with water to make the working developer solutions:

1. Add 1 part water to 1 part concentrate for high contrast.
2. Add 2 parts water to 1 part concentrate for normal use.
3. Add 4 parts water to 1 part concentrate for softer results.

Saganich · Aug 3, 2006

The phenidon is too low, should be about 1.5g to 22g hydroquinone. The Glycin slows it down alot. Mixing high concentration stock solutions is OK

Modifying Ansco 130

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