Stop Bath

[trevorbray]

I know I can't over fix or over wash but so far I've stuck to 1 minute stop. As the stop gets older should I stop for longer and can I over stop ?

 

[Asha]

I don't think you can overstop Trevor.

Worst I can imagine is if the film is left too long then the emulsion could possibly start to lift off although that can happen throughout any stage really....I've had it happen with Efke when left in fixer for over 45 mins by accident.

 

[mustanir]

I wouldn't bother with stop at all, just a rinse would do.

 

[Steve Smith]

For film, I just use water. For paper, I think a stop should be used.

I don't think you can over stop though. You can over fix. If you leave it in there too long the image will fade.


Steve.

 

[trevorbray]

For film, I just use water. For paper, I think a stop should be used.

I don't think you can over stop though. You can over fix. If you leave it in there too long the image will fade.

Steve.

Interesting, thanks Steve. I usually fix for double development time.

 

[G.K.Jnr.]

Hi, You can actually over stop but we are talking probably at least half an hour maybe longer so nothing really to be concerned about.

If it's any help a good rinse with water at the "correct temperature" is all that is needed for film, I personally don't like to arrest film developement too quickly, but like others have said it's probably better to use stop for prints although once again not essential.

With regards to your question about exhausted stop bath most of them change colour when they are past their active life.

Hope this helps.

 

[trevorbray]

Lots of good advice here. Thanks guys.

 

[StephenM]

Interesting, thanks Steve. I usually fix for double development time.

It's normally recommended to fix for double the clearing time (the time it takes for the film to no longer appear milky). A normal hypo fixer (dissolve crystals in water, no acid, no hardener) takes around 5 minutes to clear, so the fixing time is 10 minutes. The recommendation was to throw it and start with fresh when the clearing time doubled.

Modern rapid fixers fix completely in under 2 minutes, so if you're developing in Rodinal (as I am) where developing times can be 16 minutes, you're definiely over fixing.

The loss of image from over fixing (if pushed far enough) is easily visible.

If you're worried about examining the film before the fixing is complete, don't. The acid in the stop bath (if the stop isn't exhausted - use an indicator stop or litmus paper to check acidity) will stop development with normal developers; and even if not, the time it takes the developer to kick in to develop the parts you exposed will be longer than the time it takes to fix anyway.

Although I don't recommend it, you can get away with taking the lid off the tank to pour out the developer and get the stop bath in quickly without ill effect. I've done it - CombiPlan tanks take a time to fill.

Prints should definitely not be over fixed - not only can it dissolve the image (I've seen the effects easily myself years ago) but it also makes it more difficult if not impossible to removed all the chemicals by washing, which affects permanence.

 

[freecom2]

Double the clearing time, but often the recommendation is 3x for T-grain films (T-Max, Delta etc.).

Just use water rinse, had no problems with my developments.