B & W film development (lesson learnt on developer stowage)

[LCT]

The other day, I developed 4 x roll of Tmax 100 & 400 b & w films using my Rodinol (used 1/2 bottle and kept in storeroom for almost 1 month +) and after the whole procedure of processing, films came out exposed and dark.

I got a shock thinking that all my films may have been fogged. Anyway, I place back everything to redevelop for a further 3 mins. Too bad cannot be help, all came out all darkened ( only the faint image on the chemical side of film is barely visible).

Appalled by the outcome. Eventually deduced that the Developer has been oxidised ( becos of air in the half filled container) despite room temperature safekeeping for less than 2 months.

The conclusion was confirmed when I use a new bottle or Ilford developer for a new film development. No problem.

So from now on, I put in glass marbles ("goli") so that the liquid developer come to the brim before i stowed it(prevent oxidation because of air inside).

Just to share a painful lesson learnt even though all the shots were not highly critical to me though I hate to imagine otherwise.

Btw, does anyone knows if I need to do the same for the stop bath or especially the fixer.

 

[e905591s]

hi,

Your apparant developer oxidation problem seems to be quite contrary to what I have in mind about the process of neg development. If the developer is unable to reduce the exposed silver halide to silver(due to loss of potency of the developer), the negative should come out clear after fixing ? Am I right to think so ?

I heard that Rodinal has exceptional shelf life. 1+ months seems a little too short for something that people store for years, if not decades, even in half-full bottles !

I have no problem with storing half full bottles of developer concentrate and fixer under kitchen sinks for half a year.

Thanks for sharing the interesting findings though I share your pain of losing the 4 rolls of film.

e905591s

 

[leewt214]

hi,

Your apparant developer oxidation problem seems to be quite contrary to what I have in mind about the process of neg development. If the developer is unable to reduce the exposed silver halide to silver(due to loss of potency of the developer), the negative should come out clear after fixing ? Am I right to think so ?

I heard that Rodinal has exceptional shelf life. 1+ months seems a little too short for something that people store for years, if not decades, even in half-full bottles !

I have no problem with storing half full bottles of developer concentrate and fixer under kitchen sinks for half a year.

Thanks for sharing the interesting findings though I share your pain of losing the 4 rolls of film.

e905591s

I think e905591s is right. If your film is not develop and fixed, all the undeveloped silver would be washed off and you'll get a clear negative. Rodinal has a super long shelf life, mine ine rodial is abt 2mths now and i dont have any problems with it thus far. Is it possible that you accidentally mixed the wrong concentration of rodinal or get a wrong timing leading to overdevelopment?

 

[vader]

If you already fix the negs then it's usless to dunk them into the dev again.I got problem with one batch of TX-PAN before. same thing as your problem. The whole nes is dark. you can barely see the image. after that never use TX-PAN again, I switch to HP-5. wonderful with rodinal. rodinal can keep a long time, at the most they change color, but nevertheless I still use them and they are still ok.

 

[LCT]

Anyway, unpredictable incident do sometime occur however careful particularly with Black and White development. This has been a major disaster thus far - not with methodology but with chemical.

Now i place marble in my developer and fixer for safe stowage to avoid potential oxidation.

p.s. - the negatives firstly came out in semi milky white outlook suggesting it is not properly developed, so "bo bien" tried to salvage by re-developing (additional 3 mins) but on second thought the correct remedial action should have been to refix with a few more minutes.

I will still go buy a bottle of Rodinol ( served me well in spite of this mishap) after depleting my Ilfords. I think I finally found the fault which is the oxidised Rodinol ( i threw it away today).

Nevertheless, thanks for all your input and comments, and its always good to share and learn from others experience.