Toralf Lund wrote: > Hello, everybody... > > A few weeks ago, I asked the list if some Agefix fixer that someone gave > to me, and that must be at least 10 years beyond its sell-by date, could > still safely be used. The answer was essentially, "do a clearing test"... > > A couple of days ago I finally got around to doing this (after having > "taken the risk" with a couple of films in the meantime.) I tested on a > solution that had been used on one or to 35mm rolls already, and made > out the time to be around 2 minutes, 40 seconds. This is for the > "normal" film dilution, which has a recommended fixing time of 6-8 > minutes. I also tested again just now, after two more rolls, including > one T-MAX 400, had taken a bath in the same solution. The time had > increased to nearly 4 minutes. > > Anyhow, based on this I can safely say that Agefix can keep for at least > 10 years, don't you think? >
Yes. > Or is there *some* way the fixer can change so that it doesn't fix the > film properly even though it seems to clear all right? (This is > something I also meant to ask about last time.) > I would think so. Pardon my terminology here. As the fixer is depleted, for a given volume of working solution you have less and less active fixer. You will eventually get to the point that there is not enough fixer left in your working solution to adequately cover the film, even with agitation. You should replace the fixer before it gets to this point. With the 4 minute clearing time you should have about an 8 minute fix time in the tank. I would think that your fixer would be good enough up to about a 6 or 8 minute clearing time. My patience would be wearing thin at this point, as a 12 to 16 minute fix time is too damn long to stand there staring at timer while turning the tank over every so often. I use a rapid fixer that takes about 5 minutes to fix Tri-X. When it starts to take more than about 8 or 9 minutes I dump it and mix up some more. > I think perhaps I have also verified the claim that T-MAX eats fixer, > although that was not something I set out to prove... > Yes it does. This is one of the several reasons I have for not using T-MAX. In the few cases that I've had to use T-MAX the fixer is dumped after one use. -- Scott Loveless http://www.twosixteen.com/fivetoedsloth/ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
