Water Quality and c41?

[Fulltang]

I'm gearing up to try my hand at c41 development with my SP-445, a plastic tub and a sous vide heater and I have a few questions regarding water quality (TDS). First some background, my tap measures ~500 TDS and I have a serious RO/DI setup (intended for a saltwater fish tank) which provides me with 0 TDS water.

1. What impact does high TDS water have on negatives?
2. Because of the ~5ml carryover using the SP-445, I plan on doing a rinse between each bath (after the stop). Would it be acceptable to use my RODI to mix my chemistry, RODI for the pre-soak, the 500 TDS tap for the rinse steps and then finish off with a 0 TDS rinse? Or do I need to use RODI for every step?

I'd really like to use my tap as much as possible in order to simplify the process and reduce the amount of water I need to heat, but I'll do what needs to be done to get decent results!

Thanks

 

[jamesaz]

I do c-41 using an sp445 as well. I use the water from my sink, which is filtered inline, for washing. I've never done a ph test on it. The chemicals I mix with distilled water then heat them in glass beakers sitting in a tray. Just make sure the presoak and developer are the same temperature and the time is what the directions recommend. The blix is more forgiving with the temperature and the stabilizer can be room temperature. I don't use a stop bath but that's just the way I do it. I also don't put stabilizer or photo-flo in my sp445. As with all things photographic, aim for the 10 ring but remember, you have to mess up pretty badly to not get something usable. Above all else, don't panic and don't over think things. Good luck and have fun.

 

[AgX]

Could you please explain the term RODI? (The respective Google resuts on water blending were puzzling.)

 

[miha]

Could you please explain the term RODI? (The respective Google resuts on water blending were puzzling.)

I think this link explains it well:https://www.labconco.com/articles/whats-the-difference-between-ro-and-di-water-pur

 

[Fulltang]

I do c-41 using an sp445 as well. I use the water from my sink, which is filtered inline, for washing. I've never done a ph test on it. The chemicals I mix with distilled water then heat them in glass beakers sitting in a tray. Just make sure the presoak and developer are the same temperature and the time is what the directions recommend. The blix is more forgiving with the temperature and the stabilizer can be room temperature. I don't use a stop bath but that's just the way I do it. I also don't put stabilizer or photo-flo in my sp445. As with all things photographic, aim for the 10 ring but remember, you have to mess up pretty badly to not get something usable. Above all else, don't panic and don't over think things. Good luck and have fun.

Awesome tips, exactly what I was looking for! Since you're an SP445/c41 user I have a few more specific questions if you don't mind. What agitation scheme are you using? Are you using a separate tray for the stab and photo-flo? I do tend to overthink things, aiming for the 10 ring is a really good way of framing things!

 

[halfaman]

Kodak recommend 250 ppm maximum TDS to prepare solutions and 1000 ppm maximum TDS for washes.

https://imaging.kodakalaris.com/sites/uat/files/wysiwyg/pro/chemistry/z131.pdf (page 12)