melvin_bramley Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 In fact no negatives;XTOL failure strikes again. I was under the impression that the problems with XTOL had been solved? I have used the product for over three years without a problem & I am very satified with the results.I even scoffed at the posts suggesting that the product was defective.To add insult to injury the failure came with a four roll tank full of negatives.Some of the exposures can be retaken next summer in simlilar lighting conditions.The fourth roll hawever is irreplacable & is of an alien spaceship which landed in my yard for engine repairs!What is the latest on an XTOL substitute! I have been very happy with the results of XTOL & Delta films.I have also appreciated,untill yesterday,it's very good shelf life(which suddenly became seconds not months). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimvanson Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 I realized you're PISSED! But why are you sure it's XTOL at fault? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_kim2 Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 How old was your Xtol? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lex_jenkins Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 The aliens probably zapped your film. I doubt the Xtol was at fault. To recover the latent image you'd need Inversol, a secret formula generally unknown outside NASA and the military. It contains exclusively reducing agents and restrainers that have been through a wormhole which are then dissolved in heavy water. The film is then processed at zero gravity. Unless you own your own space program or, at a minimum, a satellite, you'd have to get the U.S. or the Russians to do the job - maybe some other country that isn't admitting anything right now. At any rate, you'd never see your negatives again so it doesn't matter. They'll claim it got lost in the mail. Or a sundog ate it. And don't worry too much about missing those alien photos. Now that they know where you live, and you know that they know, they'll be visiting you regularly. You just won't remember it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronald_moravec1 Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 The problems are not gone. Two years ago my almost failure was traced to a 5L package beyond shelf life. At the time the packs were not dated. They are good for two years unmixed. After that, they will mix fine with no clumping of part A and you can even do a clip test to check activity, but it won`t properly develope a full roll in 8 oz. My batch was less than a week old, mixed in distilled water at 900 degrees, and stored in full small glass bottles. I am trying again now that the packs are dated, but frankly I seem to be getting as good a result with D76 not diluted as with xtol not diluted. My almost failure was some landscapes with a late spring snow that just piled up on the trees, blue sky, and the ice had already melted on the lakes and streams. I will probably never see these conditions again. They print on grade 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronald_moravec1 Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 That was 90 degrees. How do you correct from the check page? My system just tells me page expired if I try to go back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
db1 Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 obviously this is a joke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
everheul Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 It sounds like the mother ship finally picked up Hans. Before it comes back for you, you might consider switching to FP4+ in acutol :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melvin_bramley Posted October 4, 2004 Author Share Posted October 4, 2004 Thanks for the replies;my XTOL was on "my" shelf for about 3 months & then mixed two days before use (& two days before the aliens arrived).I was hoping to give the aliens a contact sheet & a few 8X10's to take home for the kids & just to prove they actually had been to Earth!Naturally I would have to tone the prints for permenance as the aliens are from a few light years a way!BTW I got ZIP nothing not even a edge marking.The solution was mixed at about 30C & mixed well.I am p####d as I really liked (past tence) the stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melvin_bramley Posted October 4, 2004 Author Share Posted October 4, 2004 Ronald;Just how do you mix at 900 degrees? maybe I am missing something? Maybe my alien friends can enlighten me? David;This is not a joke;I realised this when I found a dismembered cow on my lawn after the aliens left.I am also uncertain how I finished up with circles & patterns in my grass! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly_flanigan1 Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 There is a bigger better Inversol version available from a Dallas Texas vendor; called Texersol.<BR><BR> It has a tighter grain; higher effective real speed; longer shelf life. This is an old Okie formula; which adds a pinch of Hoppes #9 to reduce the purple in negatives. <BR><BR>The older secret formula was laundry bluing; this boosted speed; like the old Ethol Blue mash. Alot of the XTOL uses Vitamin C; a B complex variant works better with color emulsions. <BR><BR>There is also a Texersol variant in Louisana that uses nutria eye as an accelerator. Many texts confuse the eye of nutria with the eye of newt; and the accelerator has way less superadditivity.<BR><BR> The <b>Lex</b>ersol variant in Louisana has an added Tabasco agent; in place of plain Metol. The Tabasco has a higher charge than Metol; and is locally available. One of the byproducts of the developing process of Lexersol is a salt; usefull in a shrimp/crab boil. Add the shrimp after the development; and never before. The acid stop is rarely added to the shrimp boil; but makes a decent dressing with greens; along with red beans and rice.<BR><BR> Jax beer once was used as a super additive agent; but is no longer available. With Jax; alot of folks used Dr Pepper as a stop bath; with surplus fixer; and salt water as a hypo remover. Throwing the film in the bayou was not really that critical; unless the gators were hungry. One side effect is a pulled leg.<BR> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_waller Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 The answer to the question about the meaning of life, the universe and everything is - Rodinal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronald_moravec1 Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 I added a correction to 90 deg. I do not seem to be able to correct the post after submitting and before finalising. MELVIN- was the package dated? Was it one of the older matt finish ones rater than the new shinny plastic ones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
everheul Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 What a coincidence! I just found a partially dismembered cow in my freezer. Hey Kelly, does that texerol come in a dry rub version? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_appleyard Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Just in case anyone is interested, there is a good sub for x-tol in Anchell's book, "The Darkroom Cookbook." Works quite well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conrad_hoffman Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Some of Pat Gainer's posts (I think), and silvergrain.org, talk about Xtol life, and potential problems with age and water. A good substitute for Xtol that avoids the problem would be almost any other developer. If you want to mix your own soup, Pat's TEA seems to be highly thought of. I gave up on TMX, but recently got some really good results using FX37 from TFDC. It might do as well or better on Delta films. Then there's always D-76/ID-11. Lazy as I am, I never process more than one roll at a time, preferring small disasters to large ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Johnson Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 If you care to use a scale there is a choice of ascorbate developers at silvergrain.org .I have been mixing a 5x concentrate of DS-12 and developing TMX 12m 68F,Pan F 9m 68F in the 1:4. A half empty bottle of 5x concentrate kept under Tetenal Protectan gas but exposed to air once a month was OK till 5 months when it started to give lower negative density.Obligingly it also went lager brown color to warn of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melvin_bramley Posted October 4, 2004 Author Share Posted October 4, 2004 Whilst I appreciate the reccomendation of some of the lesser known "brews" I live in Canada & importing "white powders" could be a problem in more ways than one!At this time I have available,locally,Agfa products with which I am unfamiliar with.My only other supplier is,yuk,a large chain drug store which has untill recently had a decent supply of Ilford products.They now only stock Ilford Ilfosol which I feel is not a bad developer but does not have fine grain & has a short shelf life.They also stock Ilford Ilfotec DDX which I am also unfamiliar with.IF,at the drug store,I move over a couple of isles I can purchase Viagra which is said to perk up "negative"things! This may be a good alternative but just how good is Viagra diluted two to one for a "one shot" development? Does Viagra have a good shelf life? Can I use divided Viagra for better economy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titrisol Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Try Rodinal or the Ilfotec DDX Rodinal has an infinite shelf life and is very consistent IlfotecDDX is great for Deltas, and can be used to psuh film Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_hoyt Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Ronald, I have had the same problem with trying to go back and the page has expired. I go forward and copy my text and then paste on an empty or new response page, then edit. Tedious but it works. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reuben_c Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 <i>This is an old Okie formula; which adds a pinch of Hoppes #9 to reduce the purple in negatives.</I><p>If you're mixing up your own brew, wouldn't it be better to make yourself a batch of "Ed's Red" instead of prepackaged Hoppes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick_gainer Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 XTOL uses isoascorbic acid, the mirror image of Vitamin C. These are not interchangeable in the human body, so why should they be in the developing tank? My theory is that the walls of your stainless steel tank were too highly polished, thus converting the isoascorbic acid to the ascorbic and throwing the whole formula out of kilter. If that sounds reasonable to anyone here, you are even crazier than I am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melvin_bramley Posted October 5, 2004 Author Share Posted October 5, 2004 RONALD..The package is matt.All the XTOL,packages, I have ever bought had a matt finish.What is the significance? I purchased two 5 ltr packages about 3 months ago & have only just opened one for immediate mixing & use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimvanson Posted October 16, 2004 Share Posted October 16, 2004 Please see <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=009n76"><b>this thread</b></a> for the answer to this dilemma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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