Dissolving Dektol
Barbarosa
Following the directions on the package, I heated the water to 100º
F and then added the powder. I used distilled water.
After sloshing the liquid around for a while, there were still
undissolved longish, white crystals floating around in the liquid. The
liquid had a slight dirty-water color to it.
This is bad isn't it? Or is this normal? Will these crystals
dissolve given time?
B
JW
James Meckley
I've begun using a temperature slightly higher than Kodak's
recommendation, say around 110—115 degrees F., to mix my Dektol. This
encourages the longish crystals or "flakes" to dissolve more rapidly.
In any case, they usually go into solution on their own if left to stand
overnight. I would describe the overall color of freshly-mixed Dektol
as a subtle "straw" color. If this corresponds to your "dirty water"
description, I would say you have had an entirely normal first Dektol experience.
James Meckley
Terri K. Schurter
>
>I thought that the temperature was supposed to be 125 degrees.
>Jim
Isn't that D-76 that gets mixed at 125 degrees?
Terri
kro...@mich.com
straight Dektol really brings the image up fast! :-)
Regards,
B.J. Kroppe
Ann Arbor, MI
cutest man in the known universe
>
> Following the directions on the package, I heated the water to 100º
>F and then added the powder. I used distilled water.
>
> After sloshing the liquid around for a while, there were still
>undissolved longish, white crystals floating around in the liquid. The
>liquid had a slight dirty-water color to it.
>
> This is bad isn't it? Or is this normal? Will these crystals
>dissolve given time?
Switch to Kodaks Polymax T Developer. it is the same formula as Dektol,
already in a liquid form, which means a lot less stirring.
Good Printing
Scoot.
Remember: It costs you nothing to laugh....Besides, it's fun to make people
laugh while they are drinking a soda...nothing like a carbonated beverage
shooting through a persons nose to lighten a dull afternoon....
Now, where did i leave my Vernors????
Jimfinkle1
>From: sfe...@aol.comeonover (cutest man in the known universe)
>Date: Mon, 08 November 1999 07:16 PM EST
>Message-id: <19991108191630...@ng-cf1.aol.com>
I thought that the temperature was supposed to be 125 degrees.
Jim
Msherck
>Isn't that D-76 that gets mixed at 125 degrees?
Most of the powders mix more easily at elevated temperatures. This includes
D-76 and Dektol.
Mike
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
C program run. C program crash. C programmer quit.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Lloyd Erlick
Just keep stirring will work, but letting it stand for some brief time
will also help a lot.
Doing some other chore for ten minutes to half an hour can relieve a
big part of the tedium of stirring. Sometimes I mix my powder
chemistry and go have breakfast. In fact, on a few rare occasions, I
have come back and found the remaining powder has dissolved. Usually,
though, more stirring is required, but it seems to be more effective
after standing and quickly gets the material in solution.
I find this is true for many powdered darkroom materials, such as the
A part of Xtol. And of course fixer mixed from bulk chemicals.
hope this helps,
--le
JW <jdwa...@home.com> wrote:
>Keep stirring.
>Barbarosa wrote:
>> I mixed my first batch of powdered Dektol last night.
>>
>> Following the directions on the package, I heated the water to 100º
>> F and then added the powder. I used distilled water.
>>
>> After sloshing the liquid around for a while, there were still
>> undissolved longish, white crystals floating around in the liquid. The
>> liquid had a slight dirty-water color to it.
>>
>> This is bad isn't it? Or is this normal? Will these crystals
>> dissolve given time?
>>
>> B
-------------------------------------
Lloyd Erlick,
357 Richmond Street West,
Toronto M5V 1X3 Canada.
---
voice416-596-8751
ll...@the-wire.com
http://www.heylloyd.com
-------------------------------------
Glenn Stewart (Arizona)
> I mixed my first batch of powdered Dektol last night.
> Following the directions on the package, I heated the water to 100º
> F and then added the powder. I used distilled water.
> After sloshing the liquid around for a while, there were still
> undissolved longish, white crystals floating around in the liquid. The
> liquid had a slight dirty-water color to it.
> This is bad isn't it? Or is this normal? Will these crystals
> dissolve given time?
> B
Barb,
I second Scooter's recommendation of PolyMax-T. You can't tell the
difference between it and Dektol when viewing the finished prints, and
since it's a liquid, it mixes instantly, right in the tray if you like.
You only need to mix as much as you need for a printing session, so you
don't need to worry about having half a gallon of it go bad between
sessions.
Best regards,
Stew
--
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Jimfinkle1
>From: "Glenn Stewart (Arizona)" gste...@inficad.com
>Date: Tue, 09 November 1999 11:59 AM EST
>Message-id: <382852DB...@inficad.com>
I remember using a paint mixing attechment on a drill to help mix some
photographic chemicals. Maybe that would help.
Jim
Richard Knoppow
>I chucked the water (at the rec'd temp) and Dektol into a 5 litre bottle and
>just shook it up till it all dissolved. No stirring etc needed.
>
>The slight dirty color is normal.
>
>
The problem with mixing like this is that it beats a lot of air into
the solution, something you want to avoid for long shelf life. In
fact, its recommended that water which has been brought to a boil for
three minutes and cooled be used for mixing because the boiling drives
off the dissolved gasses (including chlorine). The stirring technique
should be one which avoids beating air into the solution.
Because Dektol comes with all the components mixed together in one
powder there may be difficulty in gettingh some of them to go into
solution. For instance, Metol won't dissolve in a solution of Sodium
Sulfite. When Dektol, or other developers containing Metol, are mixed
from a formula, the Metol is dissolved first, then the sulfite, then
the other components. In packaged Dektol the Metol and sulfite are
added at the same time.
Kodak gets around this probably by including some EDTA or some
similar agent to help everything go into solution but its pretty
evident this does not completely work, hence the stuff floating around
after mixing.
It helps to add the powder relatively slowly with steady stiring and
to keep the water temperature up to 100F until most of it goes into
solution. I've never been able to mix it with some amount of crystals,
probably Metol, floating in it afterward. They do seem to go into
solution by the time the stuff has cooled to working temperature.
Mike Gudzinowicz suggested in one of his posts adding a little
Isopropyl alcohol to the solution while mixing to help it dissolve.
>
>
>
>On Mon, 08 Nov 1999 20:41:12 GMT, Barbarosa <epid...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I mixed my first batch of powdered Dektol last night.
>>
>> Following the directions on the package, I heated the water to 100º
>>F and then added the powder. I used distilled water.
>>
>> After sloshing the liquid around for a while, there were still
>>undissolved longish, white crystals floating around in the liquid. The
>>liquid had a slight dirty-water color to it.
>>
>> This is bad isn't it? Or is this normal? Will these crystals
>>dissolve given time?
>>
>> B
>
>
>
>*********************************************
>
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Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, Ca.
dick...@ix.netcom.com
Pete Schermerhorn
>photographic chemicals.
When I get properly organized (probably never), I hape to activate a lab-type
magnetic stirrer I have (from a garage sale). It works fine, but I don't have
the plastic-coated stirrer bar for agitation and haven't gotten around to
making one. As you might imagine, most stainless steels are
non-magnetic.....and I'd rather not dump a bare steel stirrer into my developer
or, even worse, the fixer, when I mixing that. One of these days, though.
Pete Schermerhorn, in the glorious Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts
Remove nojunk.
Carl Wegerer, III
"Kodak Answer Man" ala the Shell Oil spokesman from the 1970s and 1980s.
I am reborn photographer and new to darkroom techniques. I always cheated
by renting a darkroom. I made the mistake of shaking the container when I
mixed Dektol. Never again!
What impact does adding isopropyl alcohol to the solution have beside
helping the chemicals dissolve?
Richard Knoppow
AFAIK not much, it evaporates after a short time.
Mike Gudzinowicz posted this suggestion originally, he is still
following these groups, I saw a post from him recently. He is a real
chemist and could answer in detail about why the alcohol helps
dissolving.