I'm curious...do you use a stop bath when developing film?

[raymaccarthy@mastodon.ie]

@kaiser_franz
I still have a film tank, but it's so long since I developed film that I can't remember. I only ever did B&W and last time I was using a slide projector adapted to take film strips to print enlargements.
Then in later 1/2 1990s used PhotoCDs (not Picture CDs which were rubbish). The lab closed & I did little till I got a Canon EOS70D. Still have the Olympus OM10 kit in the attic.

[tomnorthfilm@mastoart.social]

@carusb @kaiser_franz I do the same, Photo-Flo is in a separate container and the film goes in loose.

[tomnorthfilm@mastoart.social]

@kaiser_franz @rustoleumlove I will reuse stop bath for all the rolls in one batch but I don’t store it between developing sessions. I use hypo-check with fixer before each dev session. If the fixer is off I pour it into a jug and then take it to our local hazardous waste facility when the jug gets full.

[tomnorthfilm@mastoart.social]

@carusb @kaiser_franz I use the Ilford wash method. This saves a lot of time and water use.

[tmcfarlane@toot.community]

@kaiser_franz @rustoleumlove I'm not sure what your volume of fixer you are mixing is, but 65-70 rolls is an awful lot for say 1lt of fix. I generally get around 12-15. I change it once the total fix time goes > 6 min (given total fix time as twice the time to clear, so if clear time for a regular non-tgrain film goes > 3 min). I use the zone image eco-fix, but capacity wise, ilford rapid fix was very similar.

[tomnorthfilm@mastoart.social]

@carusb @kaiser_franz @rustoleumlove What I’ve read says it’s best to treat fixer as hazardous waste, at least where we live. All other chems go down the drain.

[tomnorthfilm@mastoart.social]

@tmcfarlane @kaiser_franz @rustoleumlove I also get around 12-15 rolls per liter of fixer. I trust hypo-check.

[tmcfarlane@toot.community]

@tomnorthfilm @carusb @kaiser_franz @rustoleumlove
Apparently most of the recovery methods result in the liquid being worse than the original fixer (especially electrolysis). I did read that raw salt can be used, but also read that, in home quantities, the sulphur in sewage systems is enough to reduce the hazardous content of the fixer. I engage my brain in Confirmation Bias mode and poor it down the sink.

[shom@gts.shom.dev]

@carusb why photo-flo is a separate container? Does it leave residue in the tank that doesn't come off with a wash? I end up with photo flow in a separate jug if I'm doing more than one run anyway for reuse but curious.
I switched to distilled water for photo-flo step and that's been great for not worrying about drying spots.
@kaiser_franz

[coldkennels@mastodon.social]

@shom @carusb @kaiser_franz Yeah, photo-flo is notorious for leaving a film on everything. It can gum up reels and contaminate the next development if not washed off properly.

[bosak@flx.masto.host]

@kaiser_franz Since you ask... I just follow the old directions from Kodak: pour out dev, pour in stop bath, agitate 30 seconds, pour out stop bath, pour in fixer. Nowadays my stop bath is 2 ounces of cheap white vinegar + water to make 16 (or 4 in 32), used as a one-shot (because why not).

Like some others, I check fixer by pouring it over a piece of undeveloped film and seeing how long it takes to clear. That piece of film then serves to visually confirm the beaker with the fixer.

[shom@gts.shom.dev]

@coldkennels cheers for that! I do some vigorous scrubbing of my reels and now I know the culprit.
@carusb @kaiser_franz

[shom@gts.shom.dev]

@carusb @coldkennels good shout, thanks!
@kaiser_franz

[kaiser_franz@infosec.exchange]

@shom @carusb @coldkennels I also do photo-flo in a separate container. I haven't personally had any issues with photo-flo on my Jobo reels, but I heard about others having this issue so early in my developing I changed my process to have it in a separate beaker so as to avoid completely. I also use distilled water with the photo flo (between photography and cleaning vinyl records I've always got a decent bit of distilled water around) and rarely have drying spots on my negs. Occasionally if I do, I run a kim wipe with some homemade record cleaning fluid (distilled water, photo flo, small amount of 90% isopropyl) that has ended up being great for this purpose. It dries quickly and removes any remaining spots (I do this ONLY on the non-emulsion side).

An added benefit of the photo-flo in a separate beaker is if I know I'll be developing several rolls over several days, I just put a paper towel on top of the beaker and have it there for dunking the following session's negs into before hanging. I don't let it sit for more than a week or so.

[kaiser_franz@infosec.exchange]

@tmcfarlane @tomnorthfilm @carusb @rustoleumlove I tried to get fixer dealt with locally but in our county I was told either we have a quantity large enough to make it worth paying a commercial chemical disposal company, or it's a small enough amount that the local water facilities can handle. The county specifically told me that fixer wasn't accepted at the local recycling facility that accepts things like paints, used motor oil, etc. So I've come to terms with dumping it down the sink. Luckily I only go through 3-4 gallons per year (if that) so it's not a lot, and I pour it out in stages with the water running so as to not hit the system all at once.

My local photo shop is in the process of getting a silver recovery system going, so once that's in place I'll just save up the jugs until I make it there and have them empty them and give them back to me.