Ilford Rapid Fixer with TMY-2 - Amount?

[Jim Cole]

I have been using about 16ml of Ilford Rapid Fixer per 4x5 sheet of Acros and have just started shooting a lot of TMY-2. I read somewhere a while back that the T-Max films deplete the fixer about twice as fast as other films. So I have been mixing 160ml of fixer concentrate into 640 ml of water and using the solution for either 10 sheets of Acros or 5 sheets of TMY-2. All has been fine.

Now I have started shooting a lot of 8x10 and I am running up against the maximum amount of fluid I can put into my 3005 expert drum (1500 ml). If I stick with my current numbers with the assumption that I need twice as much fixer for TMY-2, I have to use 128 ml of fixer mixed into 512 ml water for a total of 640 ml of solution for each sheet of 8x10. This limits me to only 2 sheets of 8x10 TMY-2 in my drum at a time (2x640 ml=1280 ml) before I run out of volume.

Am I overestimating the amount of Rapid Fixer that I need for each sheet of 8x10 TMY-2? Does TMY-2 really need twice as much fixer or is 25% more just fine?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Chauncey Walden]

Jim, my limit for 1 liter of Ilford Rapid Fix (200ml fix to 800ml water) is 20 8x10s or equivalent. I believe this is under what Ilford suggests as the capacity. I dump the whole liter into the 3005 and mark off the use on a chart I keep on the dryer.

[Jim Cole]

Jim, my limit for 1 liter of Ilford Rapid Fix (200ml fix to 800ml water) is 20 8x10s or equivalent. I believe this is under what Ilford suggests as the capacity. I dump the whole liter into the 3005 and mark off the use on a chart I keep on the dryer.

Chauncy,

Thanks for the reply. You didn't mention which film you were using the 10 ml/sheet with. That is still lower than I have been using for Acros which is a savings right there. Do you shoot TMY-2 and if so, do you reduce the number of sheets that you can process with your 1 liter of solution?

[Chauncey Walden]

Jim, Kodak says it does, but it also says it is easy to check by the amount of pink stain. If additional time in the fixer removes the stain, it is still OK. So you can use the fixer until extended times don't get rid of the stain and then just mix up a new batch and have another go at it.

[Jim Cole]

Thanks again Chauncey. I had severly misunderstood Ilford's stated capacity on the fact sheet. I think I have wasted a few liters of concentrate. I'll figure out the T-Max usage here in the next few days.

[csant]

I have actually never really bothered counting how many sheets I fix in a batch - I just regularly test with a nonexposed strip of film, and see how long it takes to turn transparent - then use twice that to fix the film. This never failed on me yet…

[jp]

I mix it up the same as any other film, and I just don't expect as much re-use out of it.

[Jim Cole]

Thanks for the additional info folks. I know I can test as I go, I was just trying to see if anyone had an idea of how much more fixer the T-Max eats up as opposed to the normal films. I can do 20 sheets of Acros or ____ sheets of T-Max in my liter of working solution.

[Doremus Scudder]

Clip Test! Fix for three times the clearing time for TMax and Delta films (not twice as for conventional films; the iodide takes longer to fix). Discard the fix when the clearing time is double that in fresh fixer. Use the manufacturers' recommendations for capacities.

It's a no-brainer really.

Best,

Doremus Scudder