Expired Kodak Photoflow, Kodak Hypo Clearing Agent, Ilford Rapid Fixer > still ok to

[Bob Salomon]

Pere, if there's any 'mud' at the bottom of the fixer bottle, get rid of it. Sadly, I have too much experience with this issue. Imagine cleaning up a neglected 42" Kreonite roller-transport RA-4 print processor when the bleach-fix has sulfurized. I've done that more than once... So fresh fixer is just a "better safe than sorry issue", at least for me.

When I was selling Hope processors I got a call one day from the photo lab at Picitinniy Arsonal that the fix rack was running backwards in their film processor so the film was coming out unfixed inside the machine.

Being a bit baffled I went to the lab and they demonstrated the problem. I asked them how often they cleaned the processor racks, they said “not in the past few years”!

There was so much crud built up that it actually pushed some gears in the wrong direction so when the film hit the rack it reversed!

They spent the next few days cleaning, problem never recurred!

[Pere Casals]

So fresh fixer is just a "better safe than sorry issue", at least for me.

Sure, perfect fixing and washing is what ensures a perfectly permanent job. I'd add that what (IMHO) ensures that perfect job is a double bath fixing, also allowing an optimal chem yield.

[Peter Collins]

Consider throwing expired developer, stop bath, fixer out *on the ground*--bare, hoed soil--instead of down the drain. Soil microbes, moisture, and the cation exchange capability of the soil is a better place than the wastewater treatment plant, whose hydraulic residence times are relatively short, such that residuals might be discharged into the "receiving water"--your river, lake, etc.

[Vaughn]

Vaughn, 20 years in the labs at Kodak never told me that about Photo-Flo. Live and learn...

Both PF 200 and 2100 use Propylene glycol, where as PF 600 uses Ethylene glycol. I had a gallon bottle of the Photo-flo 2100 when I ran the university darkroom. If I remember correctly, I used 7 oz of the PF2100 to make a gallon of stock solution -- one fluid ounce of stock solution per gallon of water for working strength. The bottle outlasted the job.

[l2oBiN]

Than you for all the replies. I gather them that the PhotoFlow should be good indefinitely.

The rapid fixer has never been opened...have not checked for precipitation yet..

The hypo clearing agent should be good?

[Vaughn]

HCA, as long as it is not caked into a solid mass, will be fine. I just bought a couple 5-gal packs -- never thought to look, but due date 7-2020, which I will now ignore. One pkg arrived with a cut in the wrapper so I've made that one first.