Re: LC-1 developer question
At 09:46 PM 3/27/2008, you wrote: Hi David,This has to be mis-typing. Sodium bisul_fate_ is a very strong acid often used as a drain cleaner. Sodium sul_fate_ IS used in photography, mainly as an ingredient in tropical developers and fixing baths to reduce emulsion swelling. It also acts to retard development. The above formula makes sense if the two are sulfite and bisulfite. Sulfite is a mild alkali, bisulfit is a mild acid. The bisulfite solution will change the pH, and therefore the activity, of the developer and may be added in various amounts to control the activity. The more bisulfite added the less active the developer will be. I think Ryuji is right about the needle like crystals being metol. I still suggest warming the solution to see if it will go back into solution. I have also heard that adding about an ounce of rubbing alcohol per liter will help it go into solution, worth a try because if the developer is already no good it can't hurt. The hydroquinone must be there as a regenerator of the metol because it is inactive at low pH as it is in D-76. Metol, OTOH, will develop in even a slightly acid solution. Kodak D-25 is a fine grain developer which is buffered to neutral pH and uses metol as the sole developing agent. FWIW the formula for D-25 is: Water 750.0 ml Metol 7.5 grams Sodium sulfite, dessicated 100.0 grams Sodium bisulfite 15.0 grams Water to make 1.0 liter Use full strength for extra-fine-grain development. The film should receive about one stop more exposure than for D-76. When diluted 1:3 D-25 becomes an acutance developer, delivers full film speed but looses its extra-fine-grain property. Note that this is D-23 plus the buffer. -- Richard Knoppow Los Angeles, CA, USA dickburk@ix.netcom.com
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