What do I need to be aware of when making my own fixer?

[removed account4]

Now I am tempted to ask @DREW WILEY.

 

[john_s]

About 60ml/l of 25% Ammonia raises pH of Ilford Rapid Fixer to ~7.

That looks like the ideal way to achieve a somewhat less acidic fixer, adding ammonium ions instead of sodium ions. I wouldn't need to go all the way up to pH7. The only ammonia I've seen for sale retail around here is cloudy ammonia which I think contains detergent, but I notice that "Clear Ammonia" can be sourced from cleaning suppliers.

 

[pkr1979]

As I understand this:

The biggest disadvantage of acidic fixers are their limited life both as concentrate and working solution. Even sealed commercial rapid fixer concentrate (typically having a pH around 5.5) will sulfur out within a year or two, while neutral or alkaline fixer lives almost indefinitely, even as working solution. A slightly less prominent disadvantage of acidic fixers is, that they etch silver. If you leave a print halfway in acidic fixer, you will detect noticeable bleaching after an hour.

The biggest disadvantage of alkaline rapid fixers is their Ammonia smell. At pH 8.0 and above Ammonia will escape from the liquid as gas, which makes the fixer very unpleasant to use in open trays.

Neutral fixer is mostly odorless, shares the long shelf life of alkaline fixers, and it does not etch silver. Yes, you will need a stop bath between developer and fixer, but apart from that I see no reason to use anything else. Neutral rapid fixer are easy to mix yourself, but also available as packaged products.

from @Rudeofus , neutral fixer might be what Im after. As my main intention of making my own fixer was shelf life... I get that these fixers are good for both Pyrocat developed films and 'regular' developed films, and paper then? As long as I use a stop bath... can this stop bath be plain water or shold this be a regular stop bath (I assume so)? Furthermore, if all this is the case, this is sold close by and I suppose it would serve my needs: https://tetenal.com/en/homepage/103067/superfix-odourless-1-l

Cheers
Peter

 

[john_s]

.... As long as I use a stop bath... can this stop bath be plain water or should this be a regular stop bath (I assume so)?...
Peter

There is a 1000 post thread about stop baths. Your answer will be in there (somewhere).
FWIW, I use an acid stop for paper, just water for film, and neutral fixer for everything.

 

[pkr1979]

There is a 1000 post thread about stop baths. Your answer will be in there (somewhere).
FWIW, I use an acid stop for paper, just water for film, and neutral fixer for everything.

Thanks - Im aware of the acid/water stop bath discussions going on. In this case I was in particular curios on what kind to use with neutral fixers... (I guess those discussions might include those though). Anyway - I suppose you answered my question.

 

[Rudeofus]

I get that these fixers are good for both Pyrocat developed films and 'regular' developed films, and paper then? As long as I use a stop bath... can this stop bath be plain water or shold this be a regular stop bath (I assume so)? Furthermore, if all this is the case, this is sold close by and I suppose it would serve my needs: https://tetenal.com/en/homepage/103067/superfix-odourless-1-l

I have very little experience with staining developers, so I dare not comment on that. And yes, this Tetenal Superfix Odorless product appears to aim at pH 6.5, which is right there where it should be. If you have the rare use case for alkaline fixer, you can always start with neutral fixer and add Ammonia solution.