Temperature of chemistry

v-toya · 2009-03-03T17:49:48+00:00

Hallo, bei s/w Papier Entwicklung sollte der Entwickler ja 20 °C haben. Bin nun am Überlegen, ob ich mir eine Wärmeplatte kaufe. Bei der letzten Sitzung in...

v-toya

Hello, During the black-and-white paper development process, the developer should be at 20 °C. I’m now thinking about buying a heating plate. During my last session in my new darkroom, the temperature dropped to 15 °C. But what about the fixer? Should that be at 20 °C as well? Thanks and best regards, Martin

orwograph

When conducting black-and-white paper development, the developer should be at 20 °C. I’m now thinking about whether to buy a heating plate. During my last session in my new darkroom, the temperature dropped to 15 °C.

Forget about the heating pad. 15° is perfectly fine – as long as it’s not 5° or 40°... the waiting times are slightly longer (or shorter in the case of heat), but otherwise it makes no difference at all. Peter.

Urnes

Hello, Well, at 15°C, development is possible, though depending on the developer, it can be agonisingly slow – if it works at all. The temperature doesn’t really matter for the fixer. I always start by bringing the developer up to 24–26°C in a water bath and then develop as the temperature drops. If you develop for longer, you simply use double the amount of developer and swap the warm for the cold partway through. The results might not be quite as consistent, but it’s cheaper than a heating plate. The reason I’ve gone and bought one now is mainly because temperature does matter for toning and lith development. But I still do normal development without one. Regards, Sven.