18 month old Multi Grade developer - chances?

[hoffy]

Greetings all,

Its been way way way too long since I printed B&W in my darkroom. I checked my notes and the last time I printed was in March last year.

I am deciding whether to mix up the packet of bromophen that I have in the cupboard or whether the bottle of Multi grade developer I used back then is going to work. That bottle was first opened in January Last year and has probably had 100ml taken out of it.

What are my chances? Or should I mix the Bromophen?

Cheers

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

Mix the Bromophen. The bottled stuff will be dark brown.

 

[hoffy]

Yeah, you're probably right. I just hate throwing away un-used chems.

 

[Rick A]

Do a quick test of the MG developer first, it may still be good to use.

 

[gone]

Rick has the right idea. In the past I've thrown out a lot of chemicals, probably needlessly. Now I test stuff and am pleasantly surprised by the results. I used to throw out my Kodak Rapid fixer after 2 months (I pour the fixer back into the stock bottle after using it in the Paterson tank). Now I test it, and it's going on well over 3 months and still clears in less than a minute.

 

[kb3lms]

Hoffy, try the MG and see how it works. I have a bottle that has been opened for over 3 years (because it got pushed to the back of the shelf and I forgot about it) and it works just fine. It has turned a golden brown but that does not seem to have affected its function.

FWIW, I now make sure all opened stock bottles are closed tightly and then dropped in a ziploc bag and/or a tightly closed glass jar. Securely bagged C41 and ECN2 developers then also go into the fridge in my garage for cold (not frozen) storage.

-- Jason