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  #1  
Old 19th March 2016, 09:42 AM
EdmundH EdmundH is offline
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Default Life of Fixer

I know this has been covered before, but I'm still confused. I'm using Ilford Rapid Fixer which clearly says in the small print that the lifespan of the 1+4 working solution is 7 days. Given that I rarely process more than one film per week, I get no more than two uses from each batch I mix, which is not very economical.

Yet I see on this forum that everyone is saying to carry on using the fixer solution until it becomes ineffective. What's the bottom line here, is Ilford being overly cautious?
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Old 19th March 2016, 10:04 AM
Lostlabours Lostlabours is online now
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My film fixer Ilford Rapid fixer lasts over a year in a 2.5 litre bottle. Films can tolerate quite high silver levels but I test it every so often.

For paper though I keep it 2 - 3 weeks but use 2 bath fixing.

Ian
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Old 19th March 2016, 10:17 AM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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For film fixing I use at 1/4 and use it 8 times, as I use both 120 and 35mm I mix 600ml I have kept fixer for several weeks, sometimes months, without problems, for paper I use at 1/9 and use for 2 printing sessions, using 2 bath method for FB paper I will mix fresh 1 litre, use for 2 sessions as bath 1, then 2 sessions as bath 2, but again have kept dilute fixer for a month or 2, sometimes longer, between sessions with no ill effects, For RC paper I would again use fixer for 2 sessions, at 1/9. then discard, I think Ilford are being cautious, as far as fixer concentrate is concerned I buy in 5 litre containers and have had it for 18 months to 2 years and it gas been fine
Richard
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Old 19th March 2016, 12:39 PM
John King John King is offline
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Default Fixer

I have never even considered a life span of a fixing bath. I use the time, tried and tested method of fixing until the emulsion is clear then doubling the time. The paper fixer I use in a NOVA deep tank and replenish at the same rate as I do for my RA4 blix and developer 80sq ins = 10cc. (1 x 10x8 sheet of paper either resin or fibre)

I think Ilford are trying to have us over in that fixer has a long life and they are trying to increase their sales.
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Old 19th March 2016, 02:36 PM
namir namir is offline
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some time ago, I had problems with Adofix, it went bad after a couple of weeks (it became smelly, strange things were swimming around in it, prints had pink stain), working solution and stock solution both were unusable. No problems with the other products I used so far, I use it until its capacity is reached.
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Old 19th March 2016, 06:00 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Given the others' views mine are probably redundant in that I agree with them. My experience has been much the same with Ilford Rapid Fixer

For film I put the working fixer in 250ml bottles and use it 4 times which is probably less than I could. I seem to recall that I got about 7 uses of it before Peter Hogan's fixer tester even began to show any precipitate.

Mike
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Old 19th March 2016, 09:03 PM
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cliveh cliveh is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EdmundH View Post
I know this has been covered before, but I'm still confused. I'm using Ilford Rapid Fixer which clearly says in the small print that the lifespan of the 1+4 working solution is 7 days. Given that I rarely process more than one film per week, I get no more than two uses from each batch I mix, which is not very economical.

Yet I see on this forum that everyone is saying to carry on using the fixer solution until it becomes ineffective. What's the bottom line here, is Ilford being overly cautious?
I use Hypam fixer at 1:4 for films and probably discard it about once a year. However, it really depends on the volume of film you are putting through it. I would suggest you could probably put 20 films through it without any problem.
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Old 20th March 2016, 01:10 AM
EdmundH EdmundH is offline
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Thanks for your replies, so it's unanimous that fixer actually has a good lifespan especially if used just for film. I began to wonder when I'd used nearly a whole bottle of fixer for relatively few films, whilst the developer is still fairly full.
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Old 20th March 2016, 01:28 PM
namir namir is offline
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as for the capacity, I count films, I fix about 10 films in 500ml 1+4, if I wouldn't change films all the time, I would orientate myself by film clearing time (as described e.g. in the Ilford rapidfix factsheet).
I think manufacturers want to be on the safe side with their statements about shelf-life. Adox (iirc) said something about a shelf life of a some weeks for the working solution and (?) three or maybe six month for the stock solution (once the bottle is opened), this matched my experiences with that product, as I had different experiences with other products before, I wrote to Fotoimpex anyway, they said, that it actually should last longer, and offered to send a new bottle ( if I sent in my gone-bad fixer, which I never did...).
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Old 20th March 2016, 01:59 PM
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Miha Miha is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EdmundH View Post
I'm using Ilford Rapid Fixer which clearly says in the small print that the lifespan of the 1+4 working solution is 7 days.
Not true. Ilford says 6 months in full tightly capped botles.

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/...7111531653.pdf
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