Processing film in the cold - xtol crystals?

[CarlRadford]

Hi Folks, I have just processed some Ilford HP5+ in replenished xtol. My garage -s detached and pretty much unheated for the vast majority of time and the temperature outside around 2 degrees C. I have always decanted the xtol and brought it up to temperature in a warm water bath and processed as normal. Tonight after the film had been thoroughly washed, rinsed with rinse aid and a little alcohol I found the film to be covered in tiny crystals. I always used my fingers to remove excess water from the film and felt them straight away - I couldn't really see anything. I used extra water and was able to remove them from the film. The film appears to have processed with no issues. The stock solution reduced the time spent out in the chill and so was attractive but some of the images I am working on are pretty important to me and this has made me a little nervous to continue. I have never had this before and so I thought I would throw out out here for any thoughts?

As soon as my Jobo 2553 drum drives I will start using xtol 1:3 and make it up as I go - or revert to pyrocat hd.

 

[brianmquinn]

Xtol will form crystals at low temp. Just bringing it up to the correct temp will not make them go away at once. The developer needs to be stored at higher temperature for a few hours to a day for it to go back into solution. You could just store the bottle of Xtol in your house and carry it out when the temp outside is low.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

This has been discussed before. Once chemicals come out of solution it may be difficult to get them back in solution. For example, Metol is not easily soluble in sulfite solutions. So should a developer like D-76 be subjected to low temperatures it may be very difficult to get the Metol back in solution. The best thing is to be pro-active and keep the solutions at a comforatble room temperature.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Carl did not say if the XTOL was stored in stock solution or diluted. The ionization constant of stock solution should be higher than diluted solution and therefore have a lower freezing temperature. Exactly when stock solution freezes, I do not know.

The lowest temperature Kodak lists for development is 65 degrees F or 18 degrees C.

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[cliveh]

Have you thought of using a heater?

 

[brianmquinn]

Have you thought of using a heater?

Why heat your darkroom all the time when you may only use it once a week? Let's be green here and save a little money on the utility bill.

I have prepared Xtol and stored it at low temperature in the past to extend it's life. When I stored it in the refrigerator I found LOTS of crystals in the bottom of the bottle. I had to set it at room temperature for a day and shake it every few hours to get it to go back into solution.

 

[waynecrider]

I stored a bottle of diluted solution in the refrigerator once thinking that it might extend the life somewhat since I didn't use it that much. Of course it precipitated some crystals which never did fully dissolve within 24 hours even with agitation. After that I tried Ilfosol 3 and after 3 months there was no problem.

 

[CarlRadford]

I'll bring it in tonight and heat it up some before using again tomorrow evening. I was surprised not to see any issues with the processed film.

Thanks for the input folks.

 

[Brian C. Miller]

How about just flat-out refrigerating the film during development? I tried the William Mortensen method of chucking the film in the fridge for a few days, and it did work. I used Fuji Acros 100 and Ilfosol 3, mixed up with cold tap water 1:9, gave it a shake for 30 seconds, and then stuffed it in the fridge for five days. I gave it a shake in the morning, and one or two shakes in the evening. It came out a bit denser that I usually develop it, but it was the first try for that method. No problems with the emulsion, and the grain was (is!) excellent.

 

[waynecrider]

How about just flat-out refrigerating the film during development? I tried the William Mortensen method of chucking the film in the fridge for a few days, and it did work. I used Fuji Acros 100 and Ilfosol 3, mixed up with cold tap water 1:9, gave it a shake for 30 seconds, and then stuffed it in the fridge for five days. I gave it a shake in the morning, and one or two shakes in the evening. It came out a bit denser that I usually develop it, but it was the first try for that method. No problems with the emulsion, and the grain was (is!) excellent.

IT sounds like extreme cold stand developing. I like that.