How stale is too stale . . .

j.lukow · Expire: 2021-11-25

A number of years ago I got my chemicals and gear to develop B&W - but never got around to using them, for one reason or another. I am seeing the time rapidly approaching when I will have no excuses . . .

The expiry date in 2011 (Kodak D76 professional) but since then they have sat in a large closed plastic container on a high shelf out of the way.

So am I SOL send it off to hazardous goods collection or can I just adjust strength and timings and get good results?

Thanks for any assistance.

Jim

miran · Joined: 01 Aug 2012 Posts: 1364 Location: Slovenia

Is the D76 a working solution (liquid in a bottle) or original packaging (powder in a sealed bag)? A working solution would have gone bad long ago but unmixed powder should probably still be good. Other chemicals (stop, fixer, etc) should be good too if they're stored in airtight containers.

Btw, when you develop only one or two films every now and then I find the best developer to use is Rodinal (or Adonal). You need very little of it and it never goes bad. I too have a few old bags of D76 that I bought at the time I was beginning to develop my film still lying around. I never got round to using it all up because a working solution doesn't last very long so I would always have to throw most of it away.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9097 Location: Houston, Texas

Miran, about how long would you say a working solution of D76 is good for? I mixed some up back in February and haven't developed any since then. But now I have a couple of rolls to do and I'm wondering if I should toss it and start over first. It's only been about three months, so I'm thinking I'm still probably OK. The D76 is stored in a brown bottle and kept in a dark place.

pentaxpete · Joined: 02 Dec 2011 Posts: 644 Location: BRENTWOOD England

I would USE that D76 if stored in a dark glass bottle provided it doesn't come out all darkish brown -- it should be almost colourless.
I mix up my own from the formula with the raw chemicals.

LucisPictor · Expire: 2013-12-03

They say about half a year, but it needs to be clear (in contrast to Rodinal which can be brownish without problems).

The more contact to oxygen D-76 has the faster it goes bad.

Jim, I would shoot an unimportant "victim film" and then give it a try.

miran · Joined: 01 Aug 2012 Posts: 1364 Location: Slovenia

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9097 Location: Houston, Texas

Well, the bottle is not completely full, and it isn't glass. It's a brown plastic 1-gallon bottle that they sell in camera stores. I went ahead and mixed the entire gallon's worth of D-76, but even so, there is still a couple of inches of air in the neck of the bottle after the gallon of D-76 is poured in. In other words, the "gallon" bottle actually holds maybe another 100ml of volume in addition to its stated volume.

However, since it's plastic, it would be possible to squeeze the bottle to remove all the air. I didn't think of this until just now.

As for the film, I care about it somewhat because it's my last roll of Plus-X pan that's been frozen since 1983. i hd a rather large quantity of it and I've learned from experience what it takes to develop this old stuff with D-76. I used this last roll to try out my new-to-me Pentax LX. So most shots were just testing for exposure accuracy.

j.lukow · Expire: 2021-11-25

philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4748 Location: Cheshire, England

new, still sealed. I think no problem. I have used 30 years old chemicals like that

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9097 Location: Houston, Texas

I just poured a little of my prepared D-76 from its bottle into a clear glass. It's as clear as water -- no trace of brown at all. So I think it's still ok. Before I put the cap back on the bottle, I squeezed it slightly to bring the solution up to the top of the bottle's neck, then I cinched the cap down tight. I think it'll be good for a while yet.

LucisPictor · Expire: 2013-12-03

I've got a spray can of Protectan gas for that. Once you remove some of the chemicals, just spray some gas inside the bottle. Since the gas is heavier than air it protects the liquid from the oxygen.

j.lukow · Expire: 2021-11-25

I know that air exposure is of great concern for shelf life of mixed chemicals.
That said since it is also a going concern in the area of finishing in woodworking I picked up several of these . . .

This way I can collapse them to eliminate head space.

Jim