Perverted HC110

[gainer]

The latest revision (or perversion if you will) of HC110 to come from the evil mind of Gadget Gainer is summarized as follows: make PC-TEA without the P. Mix equal parts of this solution and HC110 syrup to make HC110P.

Mix 8 grams of ascorbic (or erythorbic) acid with 100 ml of triethanolamine (TEA). Heat as necessary to dissolve. If you use a microwave oven, cover the Pyrex pitcher with Glad or other brand of microwave-safe wrap,leaving enough slack so that it touches the surface of the TEA, so you can tell when it starts to vaporize. You should not have to heat it to that point, however.

5 ml of this solution added to 5 ml of HC110 in 500 ml water will make the equivalent of 1 part HC110 in 50 parts of water. It will develop HP5+ to normal contrast in 8 minutes at 70 F. In my tests I used automatic normal, plus and minus 1/2 stop bracketting and could see no loss of shadow or washing out of highlight. I used HP5+ film. In preparing the side-by-side comparison, I saved the scanning until last. I made 16X enlargements on glossy VC paper from the underexposed negatives. I did not use a printing filter nor did I change the enlarger settings or the development procedure between prints. I trimmed approximately the top 2/3 off the HC110 and overlaid the remainer on the HC110P print so as to make a complete image. The test print you see attached is approximately half from HC110 and half from HC110P, with HC110P on top, and is scanned from a 4x6 inch portion of the complete 16X image. If you print that image on 4X6 inch paper, you can get an approximation of a small part of a 16X20 inch print from a 35 mm negative. The most one can say from this comparison is that one might suspect that I used the same negative for both halves. If you suspect that, then I have proved my point. If you want to test your suspicion, you must repeat my experiment for yourself.

If you like the result, you can add an amount of HC110 equal to the remaining amount of ascorbic acid-TEA solution to make an HC110P stock. If not, you can add half a gram of Phenidone to the ascorbic acid-TEA solution and make PC-TEA.

The cost of the C-TEA solution should not be any more than 1/3 the cost of an equal amount of HC110 syrup. If you pay $12 for a pint of HC110, a pint of HC110P should cost you about $8 and you still have half a pint of HC110 left.

[Ryuji]

If cost is the concern, aren't a pinch of Phenidone and a cup of sulfite a lot cheaper than HC-110 syrup?

[gainer]

It all depends. Half a gram of Phenidone, 10 grams of hydroquinone and 1/2 cup of sulfite make a gallon of a pretty good developer for film with a fair capacity which I always thought was due to the excess of Q and the relative insensitivity to bromide build up.

Nowadays, I would substitute sodium ascorbate for the Q and leave out the sulfite, restoring the pH by adding some borax.

I figured out that 4 liters of a PQS working solution could cost as much as $20. 25 liters of HC110P working solution that I tested would cost about $16. I know that amount would develop 50 standard rolls of film.

[gainer]

Whoops! I meant to say 40 grams of hydroquinone.

[gainer]

I also meant to say "liter" instead of "Gallon"

[Keith Tapscott.]

If the images of the films developed in HC-110 and Perverted HC-110 are identical, then the mixing of ascorbic acid in trieth seems pointless.