Probably A Very Stupid Thought

[malcolm_denton]

<p>Would it be possible to extend the life of concentrated/diluted developer by freezing the solution ?</p>

[larrydressler]

<p>I find that it is not a good idea to do that. You get things that precipitate out and won't redissolve. I know I accidentally froze some and it was not good.</p>

[walter_degroot]

<p>with fil developer, use a strong cocentrate.<br>

Rodinal for slow films and something like HC-110 foir all films<br>

http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/hc110/<br>

follow suggestions and mix JUST what you need.<br>

for paper developer, IF THERE ARE NO CHILDREN AROUND<br>

and other solutions in trays.<br>

place a sheet of saran or other plastic food wrap<br>

over the tray, this will extend the life by 1-2 days.<br>

better than trying to SAVE solutions by pouring in a bottle and adding air.</p>

<p>In Olden days when large tanks of developer were used they added a floating lid and developers were used and re-used<br>

for weeks and longer. Look up panathermic 777 for a read on thet.</p>

 

[christer_almqvist2]

<p>for paper developer, instead of saran you can use a (clean) tray as a floating lid.<br>

it is a bit messy when you lift it off, though.</p>

 

[Fotohuis RoVo]

<p>More professional are the Nova vertical processors. Very easy and handy in use, however a big price.</p>

<p>If lifetime of your B&W developer is an issue change to Rodinal or HC-110. HC-110 at least 3-4 years and Rodinal more or less forever.</p>

[User_502260]

<p>Several years ago I ordered a liquid film developer concentrate from an overseas seller. It was the winter both at the seller's location and here in the Northeast. The developer arrived frozen solid. I e-mailed the manufacturer. They told me to wait until the weather warmed up and order again. If you are a little handy you can make up your own PC-TEA. PC-TEA has very low toxicity, is inexpensive to make, contains no sodium sulfite and lasts indefinitely.</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>Freezing darkroom chemicals, mixing half a bag of powdered developer, using 30-year-old developer fround in a friend's closet, etc., are all what I consider examples of being penny wise and pound foolish. Darkroom chemicals simply don't cost enough to be worth the trouble. When you try to stretch a $5 gallon of developer and it's gone bad or not mixed properly, etc., and you've got two rolls of film in the tank, you've ruined $6-7 worth of film.</p>

[walter_degroot]

<p>carefully sealed developer such as old D-76 in cans, it it has not turned brown<br>

it worth trying, But if it is important use fresh developer.<br>

as said the liquid developers like HC 110 and rodinal last a long time<br>

years ago I had a bottle of Versatol ( liquid developer for both film and paper)<br>

that went very smelly and bad. ( partially filled glass bottle)<br>

so all concentrated liquid developers do not have a long shelf life.<br>

My 40 year old bottle of Metol ( pictol) looks ok. but I do not open it and look inside.<br>

the packets that Kodak sold may be sealed, but a pinhole might cause the contents to absormb moisture or air and oxidize. If you entend to try using old chemicals, they may work OK<br>

but keep something else on hand .</p>

[malcolm_denton]

<p>Thank you for all the responses.<br>

To clear up any misapprehensions about my original post,it was never about saving money - it was just a random thought that came into my head whilst sitting at home 'contemplating my navel' !<br>

For the record Rodinal is my developer of choice.</p>

[larrydressler]

<p>Well I found a bottle of Rodinal that was 1/2 full in an antique store. Glass bottle cork in the top. In a whim I developed a non important roll with it diluted 1-100 full stand. It came out fine.<br>

And sometimes I have those thoughts too that is why I come here and ask the experts.</p>

[mjferron]

<p>Don't know about freezing but D76 doesn't like to be refrigerated. Accufine on the other hand looks good after a few months in the fridge. (full to the brim glass bottles)</p>

[ian_gordon_bilson]

<p>The stories about Rodinal are much more than urban myths - it really does not appear to die.<br>

And,as a long time user of Dektol print developer, and being inconvenienced many times by its tendency to 'settle out' in cold temperatures, I tried an experiment -freeze and rethaw it.<br>

I still have the bottle , 10 years later : it is a very light straw color , and I have no doubt it is still fine.</p>

[dennis_oconnor6]

<p>I know this is a monochrome forum. But just for the sake of answering malcolm's question. In the days when I used to belong to the 'Colour Reversal Club' (whatever happened to that?). I used to make my own E6 slide processing chemicals from raw chemicals supplied through the CRC. I often used to freeze my unused chemicals in convenient sized batches. As far as I can remember I never had anything untoward happen when using them for processing! They could have been frozen for over 6 months in some instances. I have currently, just for curiosity, a bottle of 'Parodinal' in the freezer, not refrigerator, that has been in there for over a year. I will take it out one day and test an unimportant film with it just to see how it behaves. As has been said there are chemicals available, take 510Pyro or Hypercat, my two standard developers, and Rodinal, that have a very long shelf life. So why go to the trouble, except for the curiosity factor since cost does not really come into it.<br>

Dennis</p>

[chuck_albertson1]

<p>You don't need to freeze Rodinal to make it last. I'm finishing up a bottle of the stuff that I first opened in 2003. Just last week, I pulled 5cc of developer out of it to develop a couple rolls of Delta 100, and it worked fine as always. The color changes over time, but it doesn't affect development.</p>