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Stop bath strong enough for Amidol

Jarin Blaschke

Member
Allowing Ads
Joined
May 30, 2013
Messages
378
Location
London and wherever
Format
Multi Format
Hi:

My usual stop bath for film and prints is 15g of citric acid in a liter of water. I don't have any acetic acid around, and would prefer to keep it that way. I've been printing with amidol and chloride paper this year and I wonder if I need to strengthen it, given how powerful amidol is - the developer itself has 3g of citric acid in it already. The short developing times with chloride (I use 60-90 sec) probably require a total halt of development for accuracy and consistency. I've seen no apparent issues yet with my 15g, but I've only been "proofing" and not really fine printing with matching prints.

Any strong opinions on the matter?

Jarin
 
I prefer citric acid stop baths. I only ever used 3 or 4 teaspoons in a litre of water, even for Amidol developed paper. If it's working, just stick with it.
 
I use 28% glacial for prints...try it and see
 
Remember that Amidol develops in acidic solution, so a stop is not guaranteed to stop unless the developer is diluted enough and acidified well.

PE
 
If Amidol develops in acid shouldn't the stop be a base?
 
I use 100ml of 28% acetic acid to 2L water for Amidol developed prints and I've never noticed any issues with this combo.
 
Photo Engineer said:
Remember that Amidol develops in acidic solution, so a stop is not guaranteed to stop unless the developer is diluted enough and acidified well.

PE
Click to expand...

The developer I'm using is this:

Water: 1L
Sodium Sulfite: 30g
Citric Acid: 3g
Amidol: 10g
1% Benzotriazole: 40ml


Today, the stop I used is this:

Water: 1L
Citric Acid: 20g

With what I'm using, do you think I'm achieving a full stop?

Jarin
 
There are ways to check out continued development, but the above post pretty much says it all.

PE
 
Jarin Blaschke said:
The developer I'm using is this:

Water: 1L
Sodium Sulfite: 30g
Citric Acid: 3g
Amidol: 10g
1% Benzotriazole: 40ml


Today, the stop I used is this:

Water: 1L
Citric Acid: 20g

With what I'm using, do you think I'm achieving a full stop?

Jarin
Click to expand...

Citric or lactic acid is sometimes ADDED to Amidol developers to increase the tray life of the developer. It's addition is otherwise not necessary. Usually the acid is not even listed as part of the formula leaving it up to the user to add it if needed.
 
Look at Michael A. Smith’s website. Unfortunately this iPad will not allow me to type in the url. It’s Michael and Paula .com all run together. Michael has used amidol and citric acid stops for decades.
 
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