Question about PMK Pyro Capacity

[Saganich]

Hello,
Quick question which I can't seem to find an answer after reviewing the usual sources. A while back I purchased a PMK kit from the formulary and ran two rolls of TriX which seemed a bit underdeveloped. Skip one year. I just read that the capacity is 300ml/roll. For two rolls of 36 in a stainless tank I would be coming up a bit short then by about 100ml. Is this a significant foreshortening of the chemistry? Can a slightly stronger working solution be made?

BTW What is the shelf life for the A solution? Mine is quite dark.

Thanks

 

[edtbjon]

First, pyro negs usually looks a bit "pale", as the stain density doesn't show in the same way as "normal" density shows, so the proof lies in how the neg prints.
PMK lasts for quite long, so that should not be a problem. But do test with a cheap/scrap piece of film.
Now, for the question about dilution. If your tank holds 500ml, you could try e.g. 1:2:75 instead (of the ordinary 1:2:100). This will make your dev-times shorter by say 20% or so, but you have to test to find out what your personal dev-time is.

//Björn

 

[Saganich]

Thanks, I'll have to compare one reel in a tank at 1:2:100 with two reels at 1:2:75. I haven't established developing times yet. I generally use a color densitometer to help me get into the ballpark with the staining developers. I've had success PMK with 120 but capacity wasn't an issue since I never develop more then one roll in a tank.