Working Solution Developer Question

I

Ian-Barber

Admin
Registered User
Joined
Aug 6, 2016
Messages
1,586
Brief:
I use XTOL as a replenished developer so I always have 1 litre of working solution mixed and stored to the brim in a thick brown glass bottle.

Now the weather is turning, the room where I develop the film is going to drop., in fact as I write this, my working solution is at 17°C

Question:
To bring the working solution up to 20°C I could ...
  1. Put the glass bottle into some warm water and wait for the temp of the developer to rise but this could take some time due to the thickness of the glass bottle

  2. Pour out the amount I need into a thin plastic jug and then place that into some warmer water and wait for the temp of the developer to rise. The developer is now open to the air so would this cause it to oxidise quickly and lose its strength.

  3. Use a temperature conversion chart and just adjust time according to current temp of developer
Which option would be sufficient?
 
Just place in a bowl of warm water and let it warm up, most developers won't work effectively below 18-20ºC anyway.

Ian
 
Ian Grant said:
Just place in a bowl of warm water and let it warm up, most developers won't work effectively below 18-20ºC anyway.

Ian
Click to expand...

leaving it in the Brown bottle or pouring it out into a thinner plastic measuring jug exposed to the air ?
 
Microwave, if you're very, very impatient, but WITH THE CAP OFF. You'd need to do some testing first.
It seems reasonable to arrange the workflow to begin the warming process before anything else. Despite Ian's warning, I've found that a compensating chart works for a couple of degrees difference, but in the opposite case, when the developer is warm, times easily become too short. If you use a pre-wash, that should be adjusted too. The other solutions should be close, but reticulation doesn't seem to be a problem these days.
Ian's advice is the best.
 
Ian, why not just store your developer in a room in the house that is normally around 20 degrees C? The kitchen, or a cloakroom for example.
My darkroom has no running water so I develop film at the kitchen sink, after loading it into its tank in a cupboard under the stairs. Developers and fixer are stored in the cupboard. No problem to carry them through to the kitchen for mixing.

Alan
 
Alan Clark said:
Ian, why not just store your developer in a room in the house that is normally around 20 degrees C? The kitchen, or a cloakroom for example.
My darkroom has no running water so I develop film at the kitchen sink, after loading it into its tank in a cupboard under the stairs. Developers and fixer are stored in the cupboard. No problem to carry them through to the kitchen for mixing.
Alan
Click to expand...

Very good idea :)
I develop in the conservatory but as we hit the winter the temp drops like a stone in there. I will make some room in the kitchen and put them in there I think, at least they will warmer in there
 
Since I live on the surface of the sun, I keep all my chemistry in a small fridge that maintains temp at about 10C. Therefore, I'm always warming chemicals up. I pour the chemistry into a stainless steel beaker and drop that into a larger container of fairly hot water. Takes only a couple of minutes to bring the temp up to processing temp.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top