Re: what happened to my fix?

The grey deposit on polyethylene container is probably a sediment of
dyestuff that got washed off from the film during fixation. The fixer
is still good, but if you worry, decant off or use paper filter to
remove the stuff. (Once disturbed, the dye will get dispersed in the
solution and it will go through most paper filters. If you filter it,
work gently and don't disturb the bath!) To clean the bottle, you
could fill 1/4 with hot soap water, and shake it vigorously. The stuff
should come off rather easily.

Silver from fixing bath does not plate out by itself like in developer
bath. In order to plate, you would need some electrochemical driving
force.

Ryuji

From: Richard Knoppow <dickburk@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: what happened to my fix?
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 13:15:44 -0800

> From: "Iain" <iain.coghill@eiflex.com>
> To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
> Sent: Monday, November 14, 2005 10:31 AM
> Subject: OT: what happened to my fix?
>
> >I have some film fixer stored in a polyethene container. I
> >have had it for quite a while, though last time I used it
> >it still cleared the film fairly quickly. Today I pulled it
> >out of the cupboard and the inside of the container has
> >been 'plated' with a dark grey deposit. What just happened?
> >Obviously I will toss the fixer - there are bits floating
> >in it and chemicals are cheap compared to ruined images. Is
> >it safe to use the container again or will it spoil fresh
> >fixer? Is there a way to clean this stuff off?
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Iain Coghill
> >
> I could be silver if the fixer was very heavily used but
> it could also be sulfur from decomposition. Does it have a
> sulfur odor?
> If its silver a dichromate or permanganate bleach will
> remove it. You can silver plate clean penies with used
> fixer.
>
> ---
> Richard Knoppow
> Los Angeles, CA, USA
> dickburk@ix.netcom.com
>
>
Received on Tue Nov 15 07:08:07 2005