How many times would you use Ilfostop and Ilford Rapid Fixer

[fatihayoglu]

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Hi all,

So I am planning to develop my B&W films at home and doing some research about concentration etc.

One thing i have found is, you can use Ilfostop and Ilford Rapid Fixer few times but there isn't any indication how many times.

To my understanding, Ilfostop has a dye in it, which will change color when it gets exhausted and again to my understanding each mix (1+19) can be used about 5 times, is this correct?

For Ilford Rapid Fixer, I get an indication about 10 times.

By times, I mean developing 2x 35mm films in Paterson tank.

Could you give me an indication?

Many thanks,

Fatih

 

PS I use TriX and HP5

[Pyrogallol]

Ilfostop starts off dark yellow, depending on how dilute you make it up, and gradually gets a lighter colour until it finally goes a blueish colour. It’s so relatively cheap that you can throw it out when it looses it’s yellow colour.

As for the fixer, it will last for a few film, if you have made up just enough for the developing tank you are using. You will soon know that it is time for fresh if the film is not clear when you take the top off the tank to take a look. In which case make up some fresh and finish the fixing in the fresh fixer. So long as the film is at least partially fixed it won’t come to any harm so long as you put it in some fresh fixer.

To test your fixer keep a piece of undeveloped film and put it in some fixer in daylight and see how quickly it clears.

Edited April 4, 2020 by Pyrogallol

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[fatihayoglu]

So can I open the tank during fixing process?

[TomB_tx]

I take the cut off leader from the film and run a quick test with fixer before processing the roll. I put developer, stop, fixer, and multiple rinse in beakers ready to pour in the tank. So just dip the leader in the beaker of fixer and time how long it takes to clear. (I also run the fixer through a filter funnel to fill the beaker to get rid of precipitants.)

[Pyrogallol]

10 hours ago, fatihayoglu said:

So can I open the tank during fixing process?

Yes, give it a couple of minutes first, which is probably enough with rapid fixer.

[fatihayoglu]

Great, I’ve just watched a video and clearly understood how you test it. If the test fails at about 3 minutes, I guess it’s a good time to change. 

[mdp]

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Hi, on the ilford photo website there's downloads available for each product, and that's where it tells you the life span of each one. I think it says the Rapid Fixer can be used for 24 rolls of 35mm film. 

[giannis]

1L of fixer *working solution* (i.e. 200ml fixer concentrate and 800ml water) is good for ~25 35mm or medium format rolls. An exception being Tmax 100 film, which is especially hard to fix and exhausts the fixer faster. Every Tmax 100 film you fix, it counts as 2. I.e. you can fix 12 Tmax rolls in 1L of fixer working solution. Of course, when nearing exhaustion, do the clip test just in case.

[Chuck Albertson]

On 4/8/2020 at 5:28 AM, giannis said:

1L of fixer *working solution* (i.e. 200ml fixer concentrate and 800ml water) is good for ~25 35mm or medium format rolls. An exception being Tmax 100 film, which is especially hard to fix and exhausts the fixer faster. Every Tmax 100 film you fix, it counts as 2. I.e. you can fix 12 Tmax rolls in 1L of fixer working solution. Of course, when nearing exhaustion, do the clip test just in case.

That's pretty much my experience with a liter of TF-5 rapid fixer (from Photographers' Formulary), though it doesn't seem to exhaust as quickly fixing T-Max films as Kodak's rapid fixer.

[TomB_tx]

I recall we used to say the surface area of a 36 exp 35mm was about the same as a 120 roll, so equivalent rolls for life of chemistry.

[giannis]

4 hours ago, TomB_tx said:

I recall we used to say the surface area of a 36 exp 35mm was about the same as a 120 roll, so equivalent rolls for life of chemistry.

Yeah exactly, roughly you have 1 roll 35mm = 1 roll 120 = 4 sheets 4x5" = 1 sheet 8x10"

[Richardgb]

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