Storing Stock Developer in a tin

[dave_cattell1]

After years of using liquid developers I've been trying D76/ID11, for

the first time I've mixed my own stock from powder. So there's the

problem of storing it.

 

I bought a pair of metal paint tins - nice and light tight and air

tight. After a few days the originally shiny metal inside of the tin

had a dark grey deposit. The rest of the solution looks fine. After a

week it looks about the same.

 

The question is: Should I still have confidence in this stock

solution? Is a metal tin a good place to store developer?

 

No, there has never been any paint in them.

 

Your expertise appreciated.

 

Dave.

[Uncle Goose]

Maybe metal isn't such a good thing to use as storage for long time. After all, there's might be chemicals inside the solution that may eat the metal over a long periode of time.

[philip pankov - www.philpa]

Is a metal tin a good place to store developer? I would certainly not recommend metal tins ? you need some inert material (glass, some plastics) while metal can react with some components of your solution. I only use Jobo plastic storage bottles.

 

<br>

Regards,

 

<br><br>

Philip Pankov <br>

<a href="http://www.PhilPankov.com/">Pictures of Ireland</a> - Fine Art Black & White Photography of Ireland

[ronald_moravec1]

Glass is best. Air tight plastic not to close a second. Lots of plastics are air permeable.

[rowland_mowrey]

Dave;

 

I'm sorry to have to tell you that tin is probably one of the worst choices for storage of photographic solutions. Aluminum is the other bad choice.

 

If you go with metal, stainless steel is probably the only acceptable choice and that is out of sight for cost if you get good stuff.

 

Ron Mowrey

[dave_cattell1]

Thanks for confirming my suspicions. The main thing is that I stopped before using it on

negs from an excellent trip to the Arizona desert.

 

Guess I'd better pay a bit more for the photo specific plastic bottles.

Dave.

[dennis_oconnor3]

The 750 Ml and 1L (and other sizes) bottles that they sell fancy drinking water in, those with the pop up nipples, make top notch jugs for storing stock developer... They are oxygen impermeable right along with the fancy developer jugs.. They can be found in the nearest public trash bin... Fill them right up to the top so that the liquid is standing proud of the opening, put a small square of Saran Wrap over the mouth and screw the top on...

 

denny

[dave_cattell1]

I am interested that alot of you mentioned glass continaers. One of the reasons I went for a tin in the first place was the understanding that the container needed to be light tight as well as air tight. Is this important or do you just keep your glass bottles in dark cupboards?

[silent1]

Developers aren't as light sensitive as all that -- the main effect of light is to promote oxidation of the sulfite preservative into sulfate, which has none of the useful properties of sulfite. It's quite adequate to keep developer in a dark cabinet, and if you'll use it quickly enough, you could keep it on a shelf in the light without significant harm.

 

I'll add a second recommendation for polythylene terephthalate, aka PET or PETE (recycling symbol 1), as a container material. It's almost as impermeable as glass, much lighter and cheaper (especially if you can pull it out of the dumpster), and isn't prone to shatter if it falls a few inches. Do remove any original labels that mark it as a beverage, and clearly mark what's really in the bottle in some indelible manner (Sharpie markers work very well for this).

 

For that matter, if you're mixing your D-76 yourself, why not mix it just before use, directly to diluted strength (1+1, for one-shot processing)? The lower concentration will speed dissolution of the borax and sulfite, and you don't have to worry about where to keep it -- into the tank, and when done, down the drain (or however you dispose of your chemicals if you can't or don't choose to put them down the drain). You could even speed things up a bit in the darkroom by premeasuring the dry chemicals and packaging them together, enough for 4 ounces/125 ml of stock solution (or 8 ounces/250 ml of 1+1 working solution). Packages for dry chemicals can even be metal, if the ingredients and tins are dry -- Kodak sold developers in cans for decades.

[darkprints]

1.75 liter Tanqueray Dry Gin - dark green glass bottle.

 

And while you're at it, don't forget the pimento olives.

[eli_griggs]

If you can, use narrow mouth glass in one quart or liter sizes for mixing stock, rather than one large bottle. That will allow you to fill the bottles to the brim, reducing exposure to air. Working from one bottle at a time should give you an extended shelf life.

 

If you don?t use brown glass and are still concerned about exposure to light, wrap the bottles in a bit of aluminum foil.