Headache from Fixer Fumes?

[Two23]

Did two batches back to back again tonight--four plates. I didn't pour the fixer in until the plates were in the stop bath, and then put them in immediately. Bathroom exhaust fan and house central air fan on with air coming through strong from AC vent. Gloves on both hands. Removed towel from under the door (very dim light on other side.) After fix, placed plates in final 20 minute wash and immediately place a large flat lid over the fixer tray. Did the second batch, placed in stop bath, uncovered fixer and set in there. Removed towel from under door. Immediate after getting final wash started for second batch I drained the fixer back into bottle, rinsed the tray out. This time not only did I have no headache, my eyes weren't burning and nose wasn't irritated. I think I've got it under control. Will order some Hypam to use when tray fixing.

Thanks for the suggestions. I've now successfully done about six batches in trays and think I'm getting it down. This is boosting my confidence to tackle wet plate. I've made a lot of progress since the first of the year!


Kent in SD

[Duolab123]

Final iteration of my setup. I can just pull the plenum and pipe off the blower when not in use. This thread got me motivated to get this done.



Good discussion!

[Duolab123]

Did two batches back to back again tonight--four plates. I didn't pour the fixer in until the plates were in the stop bath, and then put them in immediately. Bathroom exhaust fan and house central air fan on with air coming through strong from AC vent. Gloves on both hands. Removed towel from under the door (very dim light on other side.) After fix, placed plates in final 20 minute wash and immediately place a large flat lid over the fixer tray. Did the second batch, placed in stop bath, uncovered fixer and set in there. Removed towel from under door. Immediate after getting final wash started for second batch I drained the fixer back into bottle, rinsed the tray out. This time not only did I have no headache, my eyes weren't burning and nose wasn't irritated. I think I've got it under control. Will order some Hypam to use when tray fixing.

Thanks for the suggestions. I've now successfully done about six batches in trays and think I'm getting it down. This is boosting my confidence to tackle wet plate. I've made a lot of progress since the first of the year!


Kent in SD

Covering up the tray really helps. I've done this by inverting the same size tray and using this as a cover. Glad you are doing well. One question, doesn't wet involve something like ether? I know nothing about it other than I'm glad I can buy film, I've seen some remarkable works from modern wet plate.
Buy a old van ,you won't need a burro and a wall tent

[Drew Wiley]

Maybe burros contributed some special ingredient missing in modern wet-plate work. Ever notice how brownish the old plates are?

[Duolab123]

Maybe burros contributed some special ingredient missing in modern wet-plate work. Ever notice how brownish the old plates are?

[Davidson1987]

Guys, I understand that this is quite an old trade and maybe you will find this off topic, but I really really need some advice. I still can not start a new discussion and therefore have found a relatively suitable discussion. Recently, I am increasingly experiencing severe headaches and I would like to know your opinion about this. I decided to use Kratom because the reviews on the Internet are just excellent and many say that Kratom is a panacea for all diseases. Nevertheless, I would also like to know your opinion. I found the best kratom and want to know if you used this substance at one time?

[Drew Wiley]

Nice but noisy. The next phase would be to install a remote fan that pulls the air. I do have a supplementary booster air extractor similar to that which can be placed close to noxious vapor containers, but ordinary use just the main fume hood which has a big externally mounted squirrel-cage fan, and is quiet.

[Rick A]

I used to use PF4 fixer, but the ammonia odor gave me headaches as well. I started using a different fixer and the headaches stopped. I switched to Eco Pro Neutral Fixer and haven't had problems in years now.

[Tin Can]

I use PF5 with distilled water as my only fixer

Even with it's low odor I cover it in gas burst tanks

but open tray printing it's fine for me

if something hurts you, get away

[jp]

I have used both photoformulary tf4 and tf5. The tf5 is about 1/4 as smelly as tf4 and worth it for tray use. I would also avoid tf4 for tray use but it does a great job in tanks like patterson/combiplan/stearman/jobo.