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Thread: Headache from Fixer Fumes?

  1. #21

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    Re: Headache from Fixer Fumes?

    Quote Originally Posted by Peter De Smidt View Post
    Thanks for the formula, Richard. My main developer is DS-10. Anyway, whats the advantage of adding the sulfite and metabisulfite? I've been using straight Ammonium Thiosulfate for decades, and I haven't noticed any problems.
    The straight ammonium thiosulfate will clear, but not at the optimum pH for long life, at not the pH for adding hardener... Someone I know was using it straight, but developed problems with incomplete fixing with films and prints picking up pink or blue casts and fading over time... Sodium sulfite + acetic acid become sulfuric acid that is not affected by developer carryover...

    For the vent, anything that can draw the air over the tray out will be a big plus, and an input vent that can equalize pressure in the room is good...

    Steve K
    Last edited by LabRat; 3-May-2019 at 01:27.

  2. #22
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Headache from Fixer Fumes?

    Ordinary respirators aren't going to get everything. Besides, they can be pretty hot and sweaty. I've both sold and used all kinds of em, including in the darkroom for color chemistry. But even if you do take that route, it is NO SUBSTITUTE for a steady interchange of inside and outside air via a suitable intake vent plus sufficient fume extracting fan. I happen to be rather sensitive to RA4 chemistry, so what I've done for quite awhile now, including this afternoon, is, after exposing the paper and loading it in a light-tight processing drum, doing the actual chemical process steps outdoors. I have a big rotary processor on a portable cart capable of handling up to 30X40 inch drums. But I too once had my beginner darkroom days using a spare bathroom.

  3. #23
    Foamer
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    Re: Headache from Fixer Fumes?

    Thanks for all the tips. I think first I'm going to try: exhaust fan in bathroom plus running the central AC fan, immediately after 4 minute fix pour it back into bottle and rinse tray (while plates are in final 20 minute wash,) open the door after fixing and doing wash, wear a glove on each hand (right hand pulls plate from developer, left from fixer.) Will also wash hands as I go. If that's not enough will then buy & use Hypam fixer. I do have another bottle of fixer just received but it's Kodak fixer + hardener which contains ammonium thiosulphate and sulphuric acid. I bought it for the early batches of plates. I think I can limit my exposure by simply limiting the time fixer is in the tray to the four minutes it's being used, and then rinsing the tray out immediately. Will also open the door after fixing (subdued light) and that should clear the small room out quickly. If I continue doing a lot of this I will consider speeding up the timetable on making a well ventilated darkroom. All of this has me thinking I'm on the right path with plans to only do wet plate in a portable darkroom outdoors.


    Kent in SD
    In contento ed allegria
    Notte e di vogliam passar!

  4. #24
    Tracy Storer's Avatar
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    Re: Headache from Fixer Fumes?

    When I tray process ULF film, or any time ventilation is not optimal, I keep the fixer tray covered until I'm ready to put my film in it then cover it again after the film goes into a rinse tray. I use the next size larger tray upside down over the fix to cover the whole thing. You could also just cut a piece of plexiglas as a cover.
    Tracy Storer
    Mammoth Camera Company tm
    www.mammothcamera.com

  5. #25
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Re: Headache from Fixer Fumes?

    That's a very useful tip

    Thank you!


    Quote Originally Posted by Tracy Storer View Post
    When I tray process ULF film, or any time ventilation is not optimal, I keep the fixer tray covered until I'm ready to put my film in it then cover it again after the film goes into a rinse tray. I use the next size larger tray upside down over the fix to cover the whole thing. You could also just cut a piece of plexiglas as a cover.
    Tin Can

  6. #26
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Headache from Fixer Fumes?

    A single scratch will land a piece of acrylic in the scrap bin of our local plastics store at a huge discount. No good for picture framing, but great for things like tray covers or fabricating print washers etc.

  7. #27
    Foamer
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    Re: Headache from Fixer Fumes?

    Useful tip indeed!


    Kent in SD
    In contento ed allegria
    Notte e di vogliam passar!

  8. #28

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    Re: Headache from Fixer Fumes?


  9. #29

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    Re: Headache from Fixer Fumes?

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    Ordinary respirators aren't going to get everything. Besides, they can be pretty hot and sweaty. I've both sold and used all kinds of em, including in the darkroom for color chemistry. But even if you do take that route, it is NO SUBSTITUTE for a steady interchange of inside and outside air via a suitable intake vent plus sufficient fume extracting fan. I happen to be rather sensitive to RA4 chemistry, so what I've done for quite awhile now, including this afternoon, is, after exposing the paper and loading it in a light-tight processing drum, doing the actual chemical process steps outdoors. I have a big rotary processor on a portable cart capable of handling up to 30X40 inch drums. But I too once had my beginner darkroom days using a spare bathroom.
    These aren't ordinary respirators. But your point is well taken. After working around isocyanates for 25 years I'm sensitized. I would need to wear a respirator to be within 100 feet of the stuff. No substitute for fresh air. I have been working on increasing my blower cfm. I think I'm going to buy a central dust collection impeller. Nothing I use would be corrosive. My main concern is sound.

    Not like the good old formaldehyde days! That stuff would numb you up as it poisoned you.

  10. #30
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Headache from Fixer Fumes?

    Technically, you'd need a variety of respirator cartridges. Ordinary activated charcoal ones will capture long organic molecule films for awhile, but not short acid or ammonia vapors. Serious sensitivities require a supplied air hood, hose, and external air pump. But respirator elements get expensive, and I had a direct 3M industrial dealer account! But since I got away from messing with industrial coatings, my sensitivity level has somewhat normalized. At one time the sales head of Benjamin Moore's true industrial coatings division wanted to go into private business with me as his partner; and I'd probably be dead long before now if I had taken that offer up. Gosh, things sure had some nasty solvents back then. I know someone who worked at the epoxy brewing factory across town and now can't even touch a baked enamel desk forty years old without bloating up with anaphylactic shock. But those good ole moisture-cure formaldehyde floor and boat finishes... they could sure be tough if they were mixed and cured correctly; but when they weren't, I've seen entire buildings condemned and leveled because they were too noxious to safely remove. Moisture-cure urethanes were analogous; they've been illegal for a long time now, but one of the local varnish factory owners would sometimes batch that up for his personal yacht use. Nobody involved with that stuff lived to a ripe old age.

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