What's the difference between rapid fixer and standard?

sirch

sirch

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The other Chris
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Yes I know it works faster ...

I have some Adox CMS20 and the datasheet says to only fix it for 30 to 60 seconds. I have Ilford rapid fixer which when fresh reduces the usual 5 minutes down to 2 minutes. Is it okay to use the Rapid fixer on the CMS20 at say 30 seconds (a scary prospect TBH) or should I buy some standard fixer?

I may contact Adox and ask them but I thought I'd ask the very knowledgeable folk on here first.
 
Standard fixer based on sodium thiosulphate (aka hypo), rapid fixer based on ammonium thiosulphate. Difference is because of reaction rate converting silver salts (chloride, bromide, iodide) into more soluble and non light sensitive compounds.
 
And top marks to Adox, after posting this I emailed them and they have just replied, talk about good customer service. They say rapid fixer is fine, just stick to 30-60 seconds, I'll still do a leader test though just to be sure.
 
To further reduce your overall processing time, as well as reducing the amount of water, use the "Ilford Quick Wash" method. After draining the fixer...
  1. Fill tank, invert 5 times, drain water.
  2. Fill tank, invert 10 times, drain water.
  3. Fill tank, invert 20 times, drain water.
  4. Fill tank, invert 40 times, drain water.
...then dry.

The original advice ommitted step 4 but I'm a pessimist. I've been using this system since the 1970s and have thousands of negatives not showing any deterioration.

This data sheet includes the above: https://www.ilfordphoto.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Reducing-Wash-Water.pdf
 
Last edited:
+1 for this Andrew. I saw it on the Ilford website. It seems to work perfectly well and saves so much over the '30 minutes in running water' of old.
I'm sure that Ilford wouldn't promote it if it was not 100% OK.
 
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