HC-110... changing colors?

[evan_parker]

I know that HC-110 is supposed to last a long time, and I've

searched the forms to know that when it turns pink, it's gone.

However, I have a bottle that is about 1/3 full and has probably

been sitting for about 5 months. The soup in the bottom seems pretty

normal colored, but the walls of the bottle have turned a brownish

color, presumably due to oxidized developer that stuck to the walls

of the bottle. I shook the bottle vigorously and it removed some of

the discoloration or "crap" clinging to the walls, but not all of it.

 

My question is: Is it still worth running an important roll through?

I know I should just test it, and that's probably what I'll do, but

does anyone know if this should or shouldn't be a viable developer?

 

Thanks!

[joey]

HC-110 is cheap. The brown stuff will develop your film, but not consistently--I wouldn't use it for anything important. Do yourself a favor and get a new bottle.

[tonghang_zhou]

I've seen new HC-110 bottles in a local photography store that have pink spots on the inner walls like you describe. Shaking will cause them to disappear. Apparently they are still very good. I bought one of those, and it's fine. I think a little bit of developer can stay undisturbed on the bottle wall long enough to thin out sufficiently to be oxidized by the air inside the bottle, but the rest of the developer is just fine, and the amount that's oxidized is trivial. So I wouldn't worry about it.

[mskovacs]

<i>I have a bottle that is about 1/3 full</i><p>Therein lies your problem. Developer is a reducing agent and exposure to air is oxidizing it. What I would recommend is to divide the concentrate into smaller, tightly sealed bottles filled nearly to the top. This way you are only exposing one bottle to air at a time and the rest remain sealed. It should keep for a long time this way. HC-110 has to be one of the best developers if your work is low volume.

[patrick_gainer]

There is one thing you should know about HC110 concentrate. It will not blacken exposed film unless you add water. The small amounts adhering to the wall of the container may have absorbed enough water from the air to allow it to oxidize.

 

HC110 contains hydroquinone, which produces a very intense color upon oxidation. In fact, hydroquinone is usable as a staining developer of the catechol type. A very small amount of oxidized hydroquinone will make a large amount of HC110 look bad. If you were to add hydroquinone to fresh HC110, you would get no noticeable increase of activity. If you worry about oxidation of the hydroquinone, you can add a little hydroquinone to make up for it without hurting anything.