TF-4 Fixer Life

[Silverpixels5]

Anybody know the life of the working solution? I have a liter of working solution that I've used twice in the past week, and was thinking about using it again this evening, but I'm not sure if it's still effective. I probably processed about 20 or so 8x10 sheets with it, but like it said it's also been at working strength for about 8 days(in a bottle...not tray). Will the film strip test apply for paper? I can see how long it takes for the film to clear and if it's still close to new, then it should still be good for paper as well, right?

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

It's quite long lasting, but check the recommendation for the number of prints per liter. You may be getting close. Staining is more of a hazard than inadequate fixing, I find, with TF-4.

It's not clear from your post, but are you mixing a liter at a time from a the 1 l. bottle of concentrate designed to make a gallon? You should mix the entire bottle of concentrate at once to be sure everything is in the right concentration in the working solution.

 

[Silverpixels5]

I shake the conentrate up pretty good to get a homogeneous mixture then take out the required amount to make 1 liter of working solution. The bottle states that you can fix up to 60 RC prints per liter of working solution. I've only run about 20-25 sheets through it in the week that it's been made.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Then you should be fine on the number of prints issue (I was thinking fiber), but I really would mix the full bottle. Fixer doesn't oxidize like developer. I've used and reused TF-4 for weeks at a time.

 

[Jorge Oliveira]

Test it...

Take a small piece of undeveloped film (35mm leader, whatever) and dip and agitate it in some fixer.
It shall be clear in 1~2 minutes if fixer is OK (for a rapid fixer such as TF-4).

It's always good to do this test if you're nor sure of fixer quality.

Jorge O

 

[Jorge Oliveira]

And, it can be made with lights on - no need for a darkroom.

 

[clogz]

Tetenal sells Fixing Bath Test consisting of test strips, not really cheap but those strips tell you PH level and silver saturation.


Good luck

Hans

 

[Robert]

The clip test is only good if you've got something to compare to. Right? Unless you know how fast fresh fixer works then you don't know if the current fixer is okay or so far gone it's almost dead. FWIW TF-2 never seems to change the time to fix. Well not enough for me to tell the difference. TF-4 is supposed to last even longer. So I'm not too keen on the clip test.

Is it still a good colour? No yellowing? Are you doing two bath fixing?

If TF-4 is really long lived like they claim it should be just fine.

 

[Silverpixels5]

I have the fresh clearing time...always do that with new fixer. The fixer isn't yellow at all...or at least that I can tell. Only fixing with one bath at the present time. Two baths take up valuable darkroom(bathroom) space that I don't have. I'm going to go ahead and use it this evening when i get home. I guess I'll find out if its still good in about 10 years or so when the print starts to yellow and fade....lol.

 

[Jorge Oliveira]

- One shall compare the clip test to fresh fixer. My rapid fixer (Kodak F-9 that I mix as alkali) is very fast, so 2 min would be the limit on my case.

See:

http://groups.google.com/groups?=m...&selm=8uhkte$g$1@freenet9.carleton.ca&rnum=16

The poster has a PhD in chemistry and is a LF photographer...

Jorge O

 

[Aggie]

..

 

[Silverpixels5]

Maybe I'm a blonde in disguise because I have some of that Edwal fixer check right next to my fixer bottle...lol. I havn't used it in so long that I totally forgot about it, and the label is turned out of view. In any case I had already went ahead and used this batch of fixer for the set of prints I just made. If its not yellow and they fix test comes out negative I may be able to use it again for some test prints.

 

[Jorge Oliveira]

Be careful - Aggie may get mad at you...



Jorge O