XTOL as 2-bath?

Harry Lime · Mar 16, 2008

Is it possible to reformulate XTOL as a 2-bath developer?

1 liter:
______________________________________
Part A (Dry Formulation)
Sodium sulfite 10 g
Diethylenetriaminepenta-
1 g
acetic acid, pentasodium salt
Sodium metaborate (8 mol)
4.0 g
4-Hydroxymethyl-4-methyl-1-
0.2 g
phenyl-3-pyrazolidone

Part B (Dry Formulation):
Sodium sulfite 75 g
Sodium metabisulfite, 3.5 g
Sodium isoascorbate 12 g
______________________________________

Is this possible if I isolate the Sodium metaborate in Bath B or are there other chemicals present that initiate development?

It couldn't be that simple...?

thanks

Alan Johnson · Mar 16, 2008

With phenidone-ascorbate A bath I found that carry-over of solution from bath A on the tank,reel,film surface,about 20ml, made bath B into effectively a single bath developer that did not exhaust when the developer absorbed in the emulsion was used up.I daresay dimezone-s and ascorbate would be similar.This effect is much less with metol as used in Thornton's 2-bath.Test your brew by pouring 20ml of the A into the B and see if it develops film,if so,it's not a 2-bath developer.

Snapshot · Mar 16, 2008

I'm not sure this would work very well. There is no dedicated accelerator (alkali) in the second bath, unless you count the sodium sulfite, so I'm wondering if there is going to be much development with that bath. Most of the development would likely occur in the first bath.

el wacho · Mar 16, 2008

you'd have to separate the sod. metaborate in bath A and put that in bath B etc... it seems to me that the separate packaging is to ensure survival in transit.

this article may address your interest. read the second last paragraph.

hope it helps.

Harry Lime · Mar 17, 2008

Hey el wacho, I read the article.

I guess the big question is of you mix up Xtol without the Sodium metaborate as bath A, does any development still take place in bath A, before it reaches bath B.

In the article it is suggested to curtail development in the developer (D76, Xtol etc) and finish it in bath B, which contains the 'accelerant' (not sure what the proper term is). This makes sense. The film is perhaps developed half way in BATH A (the full developer) and then the developer that has been absorbed is exhausted in BATH B.

I guess the only way to find out if this would work, is to mix up a batch of XTOL without the Sodium metaborate in Bath A and instead place it in Bath B.

Guess I'll be heading down to the chemist...

thanks

ronlamarsh · Mar 17, 2008

Try

Check out my earlier post on D-23 my method there may be easier than trying to split up x-tol.

Harry Lime · Mar 17, 2008

OK, thanks everyone. I'm going to do a little more research and see what I come up with.

Tom Hoskinson · Mar 18, 2008

Try Splitting Instant Mytol

Harry Lime said:
Is it possible to reformulate XTOL as a 2-bath developer?

1 liter:
______________________________________
Part A (Dry Formulation)
Sodium sulfite 10 g
Diethylenetriaminepenta-
1 g
acetic acid, pentasodium salt
Sodium metaborate (8 mol)
4.0 g
4-Hydroxymethyl-4-methyl-1-
0.2 g
phenyl-3-pyrazolidone

Part B (Dry Formulation):
Sodium sulfite 75 g
Sodium metabisulfite, 3.5 g
Sodium isoascorbate 12 g
______________________________________

Is this possible if I isolate the Sodium metaborate in Bath B or are there other chemicals present that initiate development?

It couldn't be that simple...?

thanks

Looks to me like Instant Mytol might make a better starting point for a Split Developer.

A. Dissolve the AA and Phenidone in Propylene Glycol instead of TEA, add water to make the A bath.
B. TEA and water (forget the metaborate).

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Start with 750 ml water
60 g sodium sulfite (anhydrous)
11.5 g ascorbic acid
0.15 g phenidone (easier to handle as a stock solution in alcohol or glycol)
13.4 ml triethanolamine OR 7 g sodium metaborate
Water to 1 L

Harry Lime · Mar 18, 2008

Interesting. Thanks Tom, I'll take a look at that.

Alan Johnson · Mar 18, 2008

I tried:
(A) Sodium metabisulfite 20g/L ,Phenidone 1g/L ,Sodium Ascorbate X g/L
(B) Sodium carbonate anh 10g/L
4 mins in each 21 C. The negative density was very thin until X reached 20g/L then increased rapidly up to 50g/L. However, 20ml of this solution carried over from the A to the B bath gave a phenidone concentration in the B bath of 0.020g/L, similar to 0.025g/L for PC-TEA 1:100. This made the B bath a non-exhausting developer, it was not a true 2-bath developer, that was the problem I encountered. However, good luck.

XTOL as 2-bath?

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