Reuse tetenal C-41?

[rustyair]

Hi all,

I've been using this Tetenal c-41 5 liter kit from freestylephoto and wondering If I could reuse the developer and blix.
Would I be fine if I reuse the developer 2 times and blix 3 times? Or Should I just use them as a one shot?
I'm asking this because I already have 3 boxes of Kodak C-41 Dev/Repl 5 liters

Thanks,

 

[Athiril]

The manual states the re-use rate of the developer, by increasing the time after x number of rolls per litre (think it's 4 rolls per litre, then time increases to 3:30 iirc).

Blix yes, it does have a lot more life than one shot, but increase times. Also, you could replenish the Tetenal developer with the Kodak replenisher, using the Kodak replenishment rates. But the developer is the cheap part anyway.

If you're doing Jobo rotary, I would one-shot the developer.

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

Hi all,

I've been using this Tetenal c-41 5 liter kit from freestylephoto and wondering If I could reuse the developer and blix.
Would I be fine if I reuse the developer 2 times and blix 3 times? Or Should I just use them as a one shot?
I'm asking this because I already have 3 boxes of Kodak C-41 Dev/Repl 5 liters

Thanks,

They are not really designed to be used as a one shot. Generally you do 1 or 2 rolls at the standard developing times, then add a bit extra time for the next two, then a bit more for the next two, and then discard.

 

[rustyair]

Also, you could replenish the Tetenal developer with the Kodak replenisher, using the Kodak replenishment rates. But the developer is the cheap part anyway.

Thanks guys. Could you point out for me where I can find the Kodak replenishment rates? I do use Jobo Cpe2.

 

[Athiril]

Z-131 has them, and the individual film tech sheets (new Portra, Ektar, etc) have it in theirs.
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/business/retailPhoto/techInfo/zManuals/z131.jhtml?pq-path=12338

But the recommendation (from the Kodak doc itself on rotary processing) for rotary processing is to use one shot and do not replenish, due to the large amount of air in the tank being sloshed around with the small volume of developer.

 

[rustyair]

They are not really designed to be used as a one shot. Generally you do 1 or 2 rolls at the standard developing times, then add a bit extra time for the next two, then a bit more for the next two, and then discard.

Is it same with Blix?

Z-131 has them, and the individual film tech sheets (new Portra, Ektar, etc) have it in theirs.
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/business/retailPhoto/techInfo/zManuals/z131.jhtml?pq-path=12338

But the recommendation (from the Kodak doc itself on rotary processing) for rotary processing is to use one shot and do not replenish, due to the large amount of air in the tank being sloshed around with the small volume of developer.

Thanks!

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

Concerning the blix, I am not sure. I used to replace the whole kit once the devs were done with.

 

[Rudeofus]

Tetenal's instructions give you a number of film rolls to be processed per liter of working solution. Depending on how much you mix (there's no need whatsoever to mix the whole 5l kit at once) you can work out the number of reuses. From personal experience and long time APUG reading I would say the instructions are fairly conservative in terms of possible reuse, but that BLIX and especially wash times can/should be longer than what the instructions say. You can hardly over-BLIX, but under-BLIXing has serious detrimental impact in image stability.

 

[chuck94022]

As a corollary question: if you mix a 1 liter working solution, but only use, say, 300 ML because you are just doing 1 roll of 35mm in a Paterson tank, do you pour the 300 ML used solution back into the 1 liter working solution jug? Sometimes I use a little, sometimes I use a lot, depending on what I'm developing (a mix of 35mm, 120, and 4x5 which have different volume demands).

I suppose I could store the used working solution (dev and blix) in a separate jug, but I have not done this before. I just keep track of how much the total liter has processed, and pour the used solution back into the working solution container.

I suppose alternatively I could always use the maximum amount of working solution, even if I just have one roll of 35mm to process.

Thoughts?

 

[BrendanCarlson]

Yeah, feel free to reuse it. I have plenty of times and it works well, it will however become exhausted if you wait too long to use it, but it lasts a couple months if sealed tight in a dark bottle and not exposed to light.

Make sure you mix all of it at once, and store it all in a big bottle. That's what I do and it's been perfectly fine. I always poor my working solution back in to the bottle, maybe not a best practice? If you do one roll just use what's needed then pour it back in.

IMHO, my pictures have been perfect coming out even after a lot of reuse. Just stick with what works for you.