Did you try making this already? Looks like EDTA is available at Alphachem near me, where I bought lots of other stuff.
Yes, of course, that's what I use exclusively for my E-6 process.
Here is, what I use for making 1l of E-6 bleach:
Water: 600ml
NH
4Br: 80g
EDTA free acid: 108g
FeCl
3 40% w/w solution: 140g
This mixture will have a white powder, which will not dissolve as it is. Now slowly add Ammonia solution (house hold Ammonia), keep stirring, add more and more until all the white precipitate has gone into solution. Fine tune pH to 5.5 with Ammonia and Acetic Acid, and then add water to make 1000ml. This E-6 bleach works well, as long as you precede it with a prebleach bath.
If you want to make BLIX for RA-4, then do the following:
- Make 0.4 liter of the oxidizer part from 300ml water, 43g EDTA and 56g FeCl3 40% w/w solution and enough Ammonia solution to dissolve all the EDTA and enough water to make 400ml.
- Add 400ml water to make 800ml
- Add 100ml of some rapid fixer concentrate
- Fine tune pH to 6.5 with Ammonia and Acetic Acid, and then add water to make 1000ml.
This BLIX is too weak for C-41 or E-6, but will work with RA-4. You can try double strength version of this for
Ammonia in what form? I think Ammonia is a gas, or gas in an aqueous solution, or compounds of ammonia.
Ammonia solution is commonly sold as "household ammonia" as 20-28% solution in water. This is what you buy and use, you don't want to mess with a gas cylinder here.
In case this "EDTA" turns out to be EDTA Disodium or Tetrasodium Salt, you have to convert this product to EDTA free acid first. In order to do this, you do the following:
- Dissolve as much of this EDTA salt in a gallon or 5l canister with tap water as you can. Up to 100 g/l EDTA Disodium Salt will dissolve in water, the tetrasodium salt is even more soluble.
- Some small residue will remain, don't expect everything to dissolve
- Take a beaker, which can hold a liter of fluid, and fill it with this EDTA salt solution
- Slowly add battery acid (37% Sulfuric Acid), wait for white precipitate to form. If will form slowly and reluctantly at first, don't overshoot the Sulfuric Acid
- Slowly add more and more battery acid until you have the impression, that no more white precipitate will form.
- Take a separate 1l beaker with a funnel and a coffee filter, and filter out the EDTA + Sulfuric Acid mixture. The EDTA free acid you are after will be in the filter
- Wash the filter contents a few times with water. Don't wash too much, or you will lose precious EDTA.
- Put this filter in a clean dry place and wait for it to dry.
- Keep using more and more filters to create more and more EDTA until you have the amount you need.
