If you have a bottle of fresh ilford rapid fixer handy could you do me a favour.....

Asha

Blithering Idiot
Messages
11,274
Name
Asha
Edit My Images
Yes
and tell me if it's odourless?

I need to make up a new soluton of fixer and having opened what is left of my concentrate, it has a distinct smell about it.

I know that dead / dying solution can smell pretty pungent but I don't recall the concentrate having a strong smell.

It could well be stuffed as I have had it sometime.

If someone can do a sniff test lol, it'd be appreciated.....
 
I hope that the (unopened) bottle I just opened is fresh! Mine smells of acetic acid (vinegar). If people respond that it should be odourless, then I'll buy a fresh bottle as well!

Edit to add - I just peeled back where it says "Peel here" and found the list of ingredients. If the order of listing is the order of concentration, the fixing part is the biggest percent, followed by acetic acid.
 
Last edited:
Yeah similar kind of smell.

Maybe it was there all the time from new but I didn't notice it until now and it is kinda strong, hence my asking
 
If it seems OK but you're still doubtful, try dipping a film leader or whatever in and check the clearing time. (This after you've diluted it). The time should be that indicated by Ilford; if not, perhaps get a new bottle.

BTW my bottle had a batch number, but no expiry date that I could see.
 
No expiry date on mine either.

The only reason I'm a little concerned is due to its age,
This is the last litre ( approx) left from a 5 litre container that I bought several years ago ( it was on promotion!)

I need to make a new solution as the last negs that I fixed took 15 mins to clear correctly!!
I gave them the usual 6 mins but had to re fix them as that hadn't cleared properly.
I wasn't aware that the fixer was so exhausted.
 
When rapid fixer really does start going off you get an ammoniacal odour (think cat pee) and also may start having yellow sulphur precipitating out. Even if your's has not got this far is worth testing with a little diluted mix to check it clears snipped off leader. I keep a pot of snipped off leaders for just such tests.
 
Last edited:
an ammoniacal odour

Mmmm will have to re sniff. I'm now not sure wethet it stinks of acetic acid or ammonia:thinking:

If I suddenly make postings that are more strange than usual and contain an increased amount of typos, you'll be aware that I'm as high as a kite! :LOL:

I'll do the film leader test anyway….assuming I'm in a fit state to do so of course! PMSL
 
Vinegar - good

Cat p*** - bad.

Although, when I once tried some years out of date fix, it smelled of nothing.
 
high as a kite! :LOL:


Pretty sure that sniffing either ammonia or acetic acid will have no pleasurable effects - or cause more trypos!

Is the rapid fixer a stop bath as well? If so, isn't stop acetic acid?
 
When rapid fixer really does start going off you get an ammoniacal odour (think cat pee) and also may start having yellow sulphur precipitating out. Even if your's has not got this far is worth testing with a little diluted mix to check it clears snipped off leader. I keep a pot of snipped off leaders for just such tests.

I got this precipitation with my last bottle... kept using it for about a year, but it was a PITA for the negs! I couldn't work out where the little dotty things were coming from, till someone here (maybe David) told me. New bottle is fine... :)
 
Pretty sure that sniffing either ammonia or acetic acid will have no pleasurable effects - or cause more trypos!

Damn, no pleasure and no excuse for my crap keyboard skills:sulk::LOL:
s the rapid fixer a stop bath as well?

Not to my knowledge.

If so, isn't stop acetic acid?

@StephenM .....err have you accidently opened a bottle of stop and not fixer??

I don't use a dedicated stop bath, just water like I've done for years ( yes I know it's a debate amongst togs but up to press I've experienced no issues)
 
Last edited:
Stop baths are normally acetic acid or citric acid (odourless). When I started developing, I used plain hypo (as it was then called). Fixers are usually described as being acid hardening fixers, and they contain chemicals to harden the gelatine to reduce scratches and acid to stop development. If order of naming corresponds to quantity in the bottle (as with food) then Ilford fixer has the fixer as the main component and acetic acid as the next one down.

As to water v stop bath, an acid stop bath will halt development more quickly and prevent alkaline carry over into the fixer; but it can also cause small bubbles in the emulsion under certain conditions. Hence some people prefer to use an alkaline fixer rather than an acid one. It is possible to have an acidic developer and do everything in acidic conditions, but this I suspect is extremely rare in practice.

It should be very easy to find on line a recipe for an acid hardening fixer to determine likely quantities. To be honest, that end of the processing chain has never overly interested me.
 
I'm pretty sure the smell is more vinegar than cat pee...….the dip test cleared the film in less than two and a half minutes so it sure works.

There is still enough concentrate left to make another three or four 1 liter solutions so I think I'll discard each one sooner than I normally would and then restock with fresh.
It's not like I've not had my monies worth out of the 5ltr purchase and I'd rather not risk losing frames for the sake of coppers.

Thanks for all your replies.
 
Back
Top