If I fix for inconsistent times over the recomended time am I screwing anything up?

[sully75]

I'm using TF-4. As long as I fix for the recommended time, if I'm a little over by a minute or two am I in danger of screwing anything up? It doesn't seem to do any harm. I oftentimes start my next batch of film while the last one is in the fixer, so the last batch sometimes gets a minute more or so of fixing.

[jp]

No harm, even for an extra ten or fifteen minutes I'm sure.

[Sevo]

Exceeding fix times by 100-200% is entirely harmless for films and PE coated paper - modern fixers will only start eating into the shadow (respectively highlight, on paper) areas once you overdo it by 500% or more. With fibre based paper, it will complicate washing - past some point you won't be able to achieve archival state any more. Besides, a loose fixing discipline means that you'll have to do a chemical test on each and every print to verify whether it is sufficiently stable - so whatever regime you use, you are well advised to stick to the times you have established/tested.

[polyglot]

For film, no problem. In Way Beyond Monochrome, Lambrecht shows that measurable (though unlikely to be perceptible) bleaching starts occurring at about 10:00. I usually fix for 5:00 (normal film) to 8:00 (TMAX).

Time in fixer for FB paper should be minimised in order to minimise the uptake of fixer into the paper, which makes it really hard to wash. For FB, you should do two-bath (0:30 plus 0:30) fixing at film strength to get complete fixation while minimising the thiosulphate content of the paper. Once the first bath starts reaching capacity, you promote the second bath to first and make up a new second bath; the second bath is always near-fresh with very low silver content.

[E. von Hoegh]

I'm using TF-4. As long as I fix for the recommended time, if I'm a little over by a minute or two am I in danger of screwing anything up? It doesn't seem to do any harm. I oftentimes start my next batch of film while the last one is in the fixer, so the last batch sometimes gets a minute more or so of fixing.

It's more or less harmless, but why introduce another variable?

[Leigh]

When I'm printing, I normally leave a print in the fixer after initial agitation until the next print is ready to go in.
I move that print to the wash before I move the next from the stop to the fix. The time interval is relatively uniform.

Always use a proper hypo clearing solution like Perma-Wash according to the directions to remove fixer.
It greatly reduces wash time and does a superior job of removing fixer from the print or film.

- Leigh

[sully75]

It's more or less harmless, but why introduce another variable?

Because if I end up doing 3 runs of film, and can start the next batch while the fix/wash cycle is still going, I've saved myself about a half hour.

For the record I should have stated I don't print. Only develop film and scan.

Thanks!

[Leigh]

I've saved myself about a half hour.

If you're washing for a half hour, there's something really wrong.

Use Perma-Wash as I mentioned previously and your entire wash cycle will be about five minutes.

- Leigh

[Vaughn]

Not a problem for you, but over-fixing paper with fixers containing a hardener might 'over-harden' the emulsion which might give you some differences in the paper's response to toners...and might cause excessive curling of the paper when drying.

[Leigh]

I haven't seen any modern fixers that contain hardeners.
Some brands sell a hardening solution separately that you can add to the fixer if you wish.

But I agree with Vaughn that you should limit fixing time if it does contain a hardener.

- Leigh