My PC-512 Borax Developer

[bluechromis]

PCM20 [and probably HC-110] do not work with microfilm type films to give pictorial contrast, at least for practically useable EIs.
I tried Spur Ultra R 800 at EI=10 in PCM20 for the dilution and times as specified in the massive development chart for HC-110 with Adox CMS20 but only obtained underexposed shadows and blown highlights that could not be rescued electronically.

OTOH the Adox HR-50 ,Aviphot 80 modified by the proprietary speed boost process, works very well in PCM20 with the scanner on auto and likely would print on silver gelatin satisfactorily:

Good to know about success with HR-50.

 

[bluechromis]

Thanks to this thread, I've switched from a D23 guy to using PC-512. Separately, I'm also mixing TF-3 Fixer, a Sodium Sulfite Hypo and using LFN, so a 100% recently new process, and I'm hanging my film on a 45 degree angle. The chemistry is pretty simple, inexpensive and mixes just 1 liter at a time with emphasis on one-use (except for the Fixer). Didn't expect to land on the "Fresh every time" crowd, but I guess that's where I am. And surprised to find out how simple and satisfying it can be. Feel like I've gotten control - at last ( or at least "more" control ).

Well done!

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I deliberately left a half bottle of PC-512 on the shelf for an extended period of time, to test its activity... As a bonus, I found out that it is an excellent developer for CatLABS 80.

 

[relistan]

I deliberately left a half bottle of PC-512 on the shelf for an extended period of time, to test its activity... As a bonus, I found out that it is an excellent developer for CatLABS 80.

Glad it lasted so long and that you got results you like with CatLABS 80. Looked good to me!

 

[Sidd]

Alan, let me try 8 minutes first.

Kolkata, India, where I live, is presently under a severe heat wave condition, day temperature soaring to 40°C, going on for well over ten days. In this situation I have shot a 24 exp roll of TriX @Iso 800, and tried to develop in DCM18 for 8 mins @ 20°C. I couldn't maintain 20° C temperature in this heat (even ACs are failing), so I had to develop at 23°C with adjustment of time for 6 minutes. Alas, my negative came very thin. I'll do my next experiment when this heat wave stops so that I can control the temperature during development.

 

[juan]

I lived in Florida and my tap water temperature was never lower than 27C. I found it best to work out times based on whatever my water temperature was. When my air temperature was 40C my water temperature was lower.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Reminds me of living in southern Japan, where the temperature of the tap water during Summer was 30C... at night!

 

[Alan Johnson]

The PCM20 storage sample is now ~6months old with few crystals, pic, and I am continuing to use this formula.

 

[Alan Johnson]

The storage test concentrate of relistan's formula PCM20 is now 8 months old (pic) and the concentrate I use is now 5 months old (July 2024).
Both show more crystals but fortunately they stick to the surfaces of the containers and do not float about, making it possible to decant the solutions (for now) if needed.
Results of developing Delta 100 using HC-110 times and dilutions from the massive development chart remain as previously found:

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

My concentrate is approaching two years.

 

[Sidd]

The storage test concentrate of relistan's formula PCM20 is now 8 months old (pic) and the concentrate I use is now 5 months old (July 2024).
Both show more crystals but fortunately they stick to the surfaces of the containers and do not float about, making it possible to decant the solutions (for now) if needed.
Results of developing Delta 100 using HC-110 times and dilutions from the massive development chart remain as previously found:

I'll try PCM20 now. My experience with DCM18 has been not very encouraging.

 

[relistan]

The storage test concentrate of relistan's formula PCM20 is now 8 months old (pic) and the concentrate I use is now 5 months old (July 2024).
Both show more crystals but fortunately they stick to the surfaces of the containers and do not float about, making it possible to decant the solutions (for now) if needed.
Results of developing Delta 100 using HC-110 times and dilutions from the massive development chart remain as previously found:

That's great to hear!

My concentrate is approaching two years.

I have a bottle that is a year old that will finally get used this weekend I hope.

I'll try PCM20 now. My experience with DCM18 has been not very encouraging.

More specific feedback would be appreciated. What was not encouraging? The results, the lifespan of the developer, the dev times?

 

[Sidd]

More specific feedback would be appreciated. What was not encouraging? The results, the lifespan of the developer, the dev t

The negatives came very thin. Although, I didn't have time to experiment more. I'll try DCM18 again when I will have more time.

 

[Alan Johnson]

The negatives came very thin. Although, I didn't have time to experiment more. I'll try DCM18 again when I will have more time.

I now think that changing the Metaborate from 20g to 18g was a mistake because it gives thinner negatives with HC110 times.
This is why I changed back to using the original formula of @relistan which uses 20g and phenidone.

 

[Sidd]

I now think that changing the Metaborate from 20g to 18g was a mistake because it gives thinner negatives with HC110 times.
This is why I changed back to using the original formula of @relistan which uses 20g and phenidone.

It may take time, but I will definitely try again with your DCM18, this time with added time, and compare with PCM20. Mainly because 18 gms of Metaborate is easier to dissolve than 20 gms, which actually I couldn't fully dissolve in 100 ml of PG.

However, I intended to ask you whether using 10 gms of Dimezone S instead of 7 gms would be any beneficial? Since, you are using 0.5 gms of Phenidone in PCM20, and elsewhere I have seen that Dimezone S is used double the amount of Phenidone.

 

[Alan Johnson]

I am sticking with the original formula of @relistan using 20g metaborate with phenidone because I think it has been established that it will work using HC-110 times and dilutions as a start for the films I have tested. Also it appears to be quite stable in glycol and resistant to oxidation. However, it remains to be seen if the crystals will become sufficient in quantity to cause any problems like getting syringed up and depositing on the developing film. So far they have not.

What you are proposing with 18g metaborate and a selected amount of dimezone-s is a kind of parallel project that nobody has done and your guess is as good as mine. I used the substitution of dimezone-s for phenidone approximately as suggested by another member, sorry I cannot recall the link.

 

[relistan]

In all the testing that I did, the ratio of phenidone to ascorbic acid seems to matter. It has an effect both on the image formation, the grain, and on the rapidity of development. I experimented with that ratio a lot more than I did with the accelerant. @Alan Johnson did more work there and showed that the image quality is quite good over a range of pH measurements. pH does noticeably affect development time. So I would suggest that if you want to experiment, try to keep the ratio of the developing agent at near 24:1 (by weight of ascorbic acid to phenidone). To calculate for dimezone you'd need to do some molecular weight math and make assumptions about effectiveness of dimezone vs phenidone until you test a bunch of formulae out.

 

[Alan Johnson]

After about 6 months the remaining working sample (not the storage sample) was decanted into a wide necked 100 ml clear glass bottle (pic). A tiny few crystals carried over and settled out but the decanted PCM20 is now easy to see and syringe out.

 

[Alan Johnson]

I noticed a decrease in negative density with time using PCM20 and after about 6 months I made a test (attachment).
This shows that after 6 months there is a notable decrease in negative density using both PCM20 and DCM18.
After 6 months an increase in development time of more than 50% is needed to restore the negative density to that obtained with fresh concentrate.

IMO is fairly clear that neither of the concentrates PCM20 or DCM18 is going to be a satisfactory stable HC-110 substitute and if it is wished to use PC Borax developer it is better to use PC 512 Borax described by @relistan at the start of this thread as this does not lose activity.

I will carry on tinkering with the concentrate PCM20 until it is used up as it is otherwise quite a nice developer.

 

[Sidd]

Hey everyone, I went mostly silent here for a year... life caught up. But early last year while working on two bath developers I ended up with a formula that I liked a lot for a single bath developer. It's not revolutionary at all, but I have been using it a lot and really like the results. You might, too, so I wrote up a post about it on my blog:

A Simple Phenidone/Vitamin C Concentrate Developer: PC-512 Borax

What follows is how I formulated a very nice developer that I have now used pretty much exclusively for the last year and a half. As it says in the title, I have called it “PC-512 Borax”. Creative name? No. But it is indicative of the formula. This nice developer is a secondary result of some...

imager.ie

It's a developer in the family of PC-Glycol. I have used that developer a lot and this one gives me substantially better results. It also has a much better Dmin than PC-Glycol, about 0.3 for Delta 100.

Here are some photos I developed with it (Delta 100)


View attachment 321968 View attachment 321967

Please post the formula directly on the forum page.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

Since this thread popped up a while back and I was hankering for a palate cleanser, I thought I would mix some up. I don't really have an opinion on it since the rolls (HP5) I developed were more throw aways. I don't even remember what cameras I used. Kind of what I expected. Nice tones. One thing though is I had a devil of a time getting the AA into the Glycol. Even with heat and a magnetic stirrer I eventually gave up and still had some crystals left over.

 

[relistan]

Please post the formula directly on the forum page.

You can read it where it's posted.

 

[relistan]

I noticed a decrease in negative density with time using PCM20 and after about 6 months I made a test (attachment).
This shows that after 6 months there is a notable decrease in negative density using both PCM20 and DCM18.
After 6 months an increase in development time of more than 50% is needed to restore the negative density to that obtained with fresh concentrate.

IMO is fairly clear that neither of the concentrates PCM20 or DCM18 is going to be a satisfactory stable HC-110 substitute and if it is wished to use PC Borax developer it is better to use PC 512 Borax described by @relistan at the start of this thread as this does not lose activity.

I will carry on tinkering with the concentrate PCM20 until it is used up as it is otherwise quite a nice developer.

Very interesting, thanks for the continued testing! I think most people can probably use that small an amount of developer in 6 months, so that's probably still quite useful.

 

[relistan]

Since this thread popped up a while back and I was hankering for a palate cleanser, I thought I would mix some up. I don't really have an opinion on it since the rolls (HP5) I developed were more throw aways. I don't even remember what cameras I used. Kind of what I expected. Nice tones. One thing though is I had a devil of a time getting the AA into the Glycol. Even with heat and a magnetic stirrer I eventually gave up and still had some crystals left over.


View attachment 376655

It's very near saturation with the ascorbic acid. My guess is that you probably were on the very edge with the weights and it wouldn't all dissolve. Having a few crystals left if you put in the effort to mix it just means that you are probably at saturation, which should work fine.

 

[Alan Johnson]

I changed to PC-512 Borax as linked in post 1.
Start times seem to be about 6.75 m 20C for T-max 400 EI=400 and 7m 20C for FP4+ EI=125: