Hypo Elim. - Problems

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You are the higher law - you are the gods. What is a hypo? What is a hypo eliminator? What is a Photo Flo? I've developed APX400 (Agfa) through Rodinol 1-25 for 7 1/2 mins; stopped with water; fixed with Ilfofix II for 2 minutes. I fixed and developed very thoroughly. I can't get the fixer out at all! I've worked on thsi roll for two days, it gets no where and I'm getting a little angry. It's greasy all over and some of the frames are now lost. "....has been learned that totally hypo-free silver images are very vulnerable to attack by oxidizing gases." True of false? Is Photo-Flo and the Hypo-Elim's out there updated to be different?

-- Anonymous, June 20, 1997

Answers

Albert, your question does not make too much sense but that may just be a language difference. Hypo, basically is the fixer. If you do nothing but fill a bucket with water the same temperature as your develop, stop & fix solutions & put your film in it and let it soak for 10 minutes you are OK, as long as you do this(change the rinse & soak water) at least 8 times. If you have a grease or slimy feeling on the film you may have mixed the photo flo too strong. As to getting the fixer out of your negatives and/or prints, just a soak & repeat rinse will do it if you allow enough time for the system to work. The only real way to know how effective your rinsing has been is to test. I will leave tht to others who use this page as many of them are much more technically proficient than I. One other option as to when & why negs may feel 'greasy' or slimy could be the use of really soft water. I hate to shower in the stuff & don't like rinsing my negs in it either. Anyway, re-read the manufacturors recommendations & try it again with a test roll or two. Good luck

-- Anonymous, June 21, 1997

Thanks fellas....

-- Anonymous, June 23, 1997

Photo-Flo is a wetting agent used to remove water from the negative to prevent spotting caused by mineral salts present in the water. I had some prpob;lems with Photo-flo too, and solved them by not using the product. To keep water spots from forming, I finish my normal washing with tap water with three sucessive washes in distilled water. The water remaining on the negative after washing contains no salts, and so no spots remain after the negative is dried. Another problem I had with Photo-Flo was Newton rings caused by contact of the glass pressure condenser on my enlarger. After using the distilled water technique, I no longer experienced this problem.

-- Anonymous, July 03, 1997

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