Silver particles.

<p>Hello help needed.<br>

I am using Ilford FP4 in 120 size. I have noticed particles on the film after processing, filtered the fixer and got a lot of silver out but think the silver on the inside of the bottle caused the latest issue.<br>

What cure should I use.<br>

Also found tiny areas where the emulsion is missing on some negs, I keep my temps between 68 and 70 when processing............what is going on ?</p>

<p>Please help,<br>

Cheers,<br>

James.</p>

 

<p>Use fresh fixer.</p>

<p>Well Stephen, I am using the same fixer bottle that my late Father used for fifty years, he was a Doctor and used a large dark glass bottle that had been used for storing medical chemistry. I just wanted to keep using it but obviously this has been the cause of the problem. Since posting the issue half an hour or so ago, I went and emptied the bottle contents into a clear plastic vessel, the silver that came out was beyond comprehension, since it was only a few weeks ago I filtered the whole lot. I have tossed the lot, I will now use a clear plastic bottle, this will allow me to see the contents in future and take the action needed.<br>

What a bummer, anyhow what about the other issue of emulsion being lost from the backing, could that be related to silver peeling off the emulsion in the past ?</p>

<p>I use #4 coffee filter in a funnel. I pour the fixer out of the processing tank through the filter into the storage bottle. Once sludge built up on the inside of the storage bottle I filter into a second container just before pouring it into the processing tank. </p>

<p>James - I grew up with an early 1900s pharmacy (my late physician grandfather's) as a playground, and I appreciate those old bottles, especially the dark brown ones - but not for practical use these days other than as decorative items. As a practical matter, you want to be in total control of the conditions which will allow you to achieve repetitive and consistent results. There are ways of leaching out the silver...but they honestly aren't worth the effort. As far as the emulsion coming off the film itself...it sounds like it is running into chemicals which are contaminated, or it may be touching another part of the film during your processing; I occasionally encountered situations where my 120 film buckled during the process of loading the reels and was partially spoiled during processing. I knew it was my lack of finesse during loading, and finally switched to a reel system which was pretty foolproof for me, at least. Take a close look at your negatives, if you haven't cut them, if you have any sharp lines of demaracation betweem good/bad areas, there is a possibility of a loading error.</p>

<p>James,<br>

After many years without any problems I'm getting a similar problem to you. I'm getting heavy deposits on the inside of my fixer bottle and this is flaking off and causing problems. I think it relates to the type of bottle I use. I use old plastic bleach bottles, well washed out before use. I used different coloured bottles to colour-code for the chemical. Recently I started using white bottles because the bleach was cheaper and I have now started getting this problem. I'm going to transfer the fixer back to one of the older bottles to see if this sorts the problem out. A friend of mine has suggested that the cheaper bleach bottle may have a rougher internal surface which provides microscopic points on which silver deposition can nucleate.</p>

<p>James,</p>

<p>Now you know why I use fixer one-shot. That's correct, I do not reuse fixer. Ever. I dilute from concentrate just before I use it, and toss it immediately after use. This single change cut way down on the tiny dark spots I was getting on my film (and thus the tiny white spots after scans).</p>

<p>Took me years to figure this out. The fight for clean film is just that, a fight. And it never ends. But some of these "tricks" give a permanent and lasting result. Like using fixer one-shot.</p>

<p>Well Bruce you have taught me a lesson, never knew there was a one shot fixer. I also just read that I should not use the same fixer for film and paper. Just turned 56 years old last month and still learning stuff.<br>

I have been washing the old bottle out and it is 90% free of silver now, just using hot water and dishwashing liquid. I need to look for some of the stuff you mentioned. Also thinking of a distilled water source, for the final wash and a possible water filter set up.</p>

<p>For film, I never reuse fixer. One shot and out it goes. Like Bruce, I mix it from concentrate right before I use it. </p>

<p>For paper, I will reuse fixer if I am printing later the same day or on the next day. I do not store used fixer for more than a day, and the storage bottle gets washed as soon as I dump the fixer in the tray.</p>

<p>I do not use the same fixer for film and paper. The dilutions are different anyway. </p>

 

<p>All of my chemicals are one shot.<br />I mix a gallon of developer and a gallon of fixer. Each goes down the drain as it's used, never back into the bottle. Just isn't worth the issues of keeping track of whether it is still good.</p>

<p>Wait a minute. I've been developing film for years & I am using dark plastic bottles from Freestyle & I too,just this past week,have encountered the same problem with fixer for the very first time. I think there's something else going on here. I'm using Freestyle's own brand of powered fixer in the 1 gallon envelop. What brand,type,formulation of fixer are you guys using?</p>

<p>I'm using Ilford Hypam as I have done for years. I'm not aware of any chnage to the formulation. The only other factor I can think of is temperature - we have had an extended period of unusually warm weather.</p>

<p>I have another theory. I just checked the pH of my stop bath and although the indicator is still yellow, the pH is rather high (ca. 6, as tested with universal pH papers). I have mixed up a new batch of stop. I am trying a batch of stop using bromocresol green as the indicator.</p>