Just lost 12 rolls to a bad fixer batch in my darkroom

Mixed a fresh batch of fixer Tuesday night. Same brand I always use. The math was right. Time was right. But every single roll came out milky and foggy. Went through all 12 before I caught it. The fixer was bad from the bottle, maybe old stock from the camera shop in Albany. Checked the date after, it expired 4 months ago. They marked it down but I didn't look. Has anyone else had a bad chemical batch wipe out a big chunk of work? How do you test fixer before running real rolls?

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the_joseph23d ago

Oh come on, you can't really blame the fixer for this one. Expired chemicals are expired chemicals, but you said yourself the math was right and the time was right. The real problem is you ran 12 rolls without doing a single test strip or clip test first. That's not a bad batch problem, that's a lazy workflow problem. I've been using the same fixer brand for years and I've never once checked the date on the bottle. You know why? Because I test every new batch with a scrap piece of film before I commit real work to it. Takes two minutes, costs nothing, saves you from exactly this kind of post. And honestly, "milky and foggy" on every roll? That sounds more like a washing issue or a temperature swing than expired fixer. Fixer doesn't just go bad overnight, it gets weak. Weak fixer leaves film looking thin and cloudy, sure, but you'd catch that on roll one, not roll twelve. You just wanted to shoot, so you skipped the boring part. Next time, stop being cheap about the test step. You lost 12 rolls, that's a full day of shooting. That's not bad luck, that's bad habits. Expired fixer is just the excuse you're using so you don't have to admit you rushed the process. The camera shop in Albany probably sold you that bottle knowing it was old, but you also bought it without looking. So maybe blame yourself a little more and the chemistry a little less. Test your stuff, man. It's not that hard.