Storage of Chemicals

[pridbor]

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I was wondering about the best way to store my C-41, and maybe later also other, chemicals.  I have used them 2 times and hope in not too remote future to have a go at it again.

 

Without thinking too much about it I placed my Chemicals in my dark and also cold garage, and it was the cold aspect which suddenly made me think, is this the right way? It's unheated but no frost.

 

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[Martin B]

I advise the following - I am using my diluted Unicolor C-41 without issue since mid of last year. 

 

1. Get six 18 oz glass bottles which are sold to store juice with a well sealed screw cap (--> Amazon). Fill each bottle to the top with the developer (2 bottles), BLIX (2 bottles), and stabilizer (2 bottles). You use one of each of them for one C-41 development process (the second bottle of each remains untouched). Glass bottle instead of plastic and filled to the top avoids oxidation of the chemicals with not a lot of air trapped inside the bottle. 

2. Store them at room temperature but avoid too much heat. I keep mine in a box underneath my sink in a cabinet which avoids getting too much light. 

3. After you used the developer a few times, you will see a brownish precipitate at the bottom of the flask. Don't worry about it, it will fully dissolve at 39-40 deg C! Your developer will darken a bit over time, but it is not an issue for the development. 

4. I find that my BLIX solution is very stable. In the past it was recommended to keep fixer and bleach separate since the formerly used iron complex (for bleaching) decomposed quite quickly in storage. But the newer BLIX component contains a very stable Fe(EDTA)3 complex. The color of my BLIX solution never changed nor a precipitate formed.

5. The stabilizer solution gets a bit cloudy with some colorless precipitate at the bottom. This precipitate does not dissolve easily when heated either. After a while, I decided to filter my stabilizer solution simply through a paper kitchen towel. I am aware that the salt concentration of the stabilizer changed by doing so, but there seems still a sufficient amount in solution to do the job. 

Edited February 23, 2017 by Martin B

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[mikemgb]

I store my C-41 chemicals in collapsible plastic bottles in a refrigerator, this eliminates air and keeps them cool. I've only been developing  C-41 for 3 months but I have done 10 films in that time and the chemicals are still good.

[duckrider]

In the older times we used glass-marbels to avoid air & oxidation in the developer solution bottels. And mark the bottels with CLEAR notes of the content, especially when using juice bottels!

My father always was curious about the experiments I did when I was young boy (became chemist later) and he took a draught from a coke-bottle containing CLEAR developer solution only marked with a piece of tape and hint "developer"....

The cooler the better, avoiding freeze, is the best for chemicals.

Thomas

[Martin B]

In the older times we used glass-marbels to avoid air & oxidation in the developer solution bottels. And mark the bottels with CLEAR notes of the content, especially when using juice bottels!

My father always was curious about the experiments I did when I was young boy (became chemist later) and he took a draught from a coke-bottle containing CLEAR developer solution only marked with a piece of tape and hint "developer"....

The cooler the better, avoiding freeze, is the best for chemicals.

Thomas

 

Regarding keeping the C-41 chemicals cold - how is this with crystallization of the stabilizer? Those are salts, and I would suspect that they start crystallizing or forming precipitates in the cold after a while. But I can see that cooler temperatures are beneficial for the developer and the BLIX.

 

Marking of the bottles is necessary. For white glass bottles it is less critical since they can be distinguished by the color - yellow/brown for the developer, blue/black for BLIX, and colorless for the stabilizer.

[pridbor]

I advise the following - I am using my diluted Unicolor C-41 without issue since mid of last year. 

Martin what do you mean by "diluted"????

 

Thanks

 

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[Martin B]

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Martin what do you mean by "diluted"????

 

Thanks

 

Preben

 

Simply the dissolved powders in water (which give a diluted aqueous solution).

Edited March 3, 2017 by Martin B