RA4 blix

[VPooler]

Hello guys!

I guess this is discussed here ad nauseum but please bear with me.
Sneaky bastard as I am, I now have a 2L bottle of minilab-grade (Calbe) Blix, enough to mix 10 liters of tank solution for RA4 paper. Now, I care little about the fixing properties of this goo and I want to use it up as a bleach. It is single mix so I can't just exclude the fix part. However, I would be using it for film, so I am guessing double the strenght? Also - for how long will the concentrate last if I dont mix up the whole jug? Can I just use it as a bleach or will the fixer part also kill the bleaching power? I am running low on the regular bleach replenisher and I have no idea when I can get some more - I condone the separate bleach and fix process any time but desperate times need desperate measures. At least the blix was free!

 

[mklw1954]

I can't help with your question about using RA4 blix for film but as far as making up blix working solution, it's best to make it up as needed as the concentrate lasts much longer than the working solution. With my Kodak RA4 chemicals for prints I make up blix working solution as needed but make up all the developer at one time.

 

[Wayne]

Timely info. I was going to try some 7 month old blix this weekend.

 

[polyglot]

I'm not sure what it will do with film, but you'll need to mix it very strong because film contains much more silver than paper. It may also damage the dyes in film, who knows? It's unlikely though.

When you say it's "a single mix", does that mean it's a single concentrate designed to make blix? Or that you have only the bleach part of a two-part concentrate blix? If the latter case, it will possibly NOT work at all because there are usually buffering compounds (pH adjustment) in the fix part that are required in order to make the bleach part work. Also with the two-part, I've had partially-used RA4 blix concentrates go off faster than the mixed-up solution; the fixer tends to sulfate out. The bleach part is probably still OK, though it does tend to grow mould!

If it's designed to be used as a single mix and it's old, I'd be very concerned at it's potency because the bleach and fix parts react with (and destroy) each other in solution - that's why they're stored and usually processed separately. If fresh though, should be good.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Good luck. Single part blixes keep poorly on the shelf. Mixing one part of a 2 part blix also does not work. See above post #4.

PE

 

[VPooler]

It is single mix as in it has both the concentrates already pre-mixed. I guess I'll give it a go sometimes in the future but it is at least 2 years old. Oh well - if it works, I am happy; if not - it was free!

In the meantime, I got a whole liter of bleach replenisher so the processing can continue as normal.

 

[EdSawyer]

some things are not worth the time to bother with. This is one of those. Just use the right chemistry. regular film bleach (e.g. Bleach III from kodak) is almost infinitely re-usable, and lasts a LONG while. I used the same 5L of bleach (with regeneration) to process at least 280 rolls of 120 or more (I lost count eventually).

 

[Photo Engineer]

Ed, did you have any measure at all of whether the colors or grain were deteriorating due to retained silver? After all, bleach does need adjustment in pH, Bromide and Ferric ion level.

PE

 

[VPooler]

I have all the time I need so I have nothing to lose. I also have proper bleach and fix at hand, both of which I replenish after every use. At worst I can use this goo as a weak reducer for b&w prints - have done that before with discarded fixer and bleach!