Checking replenished film developer

I've been a user of film developer for many years. I like the look of season developers and being more economical is a plus for me. However, I have a constant problem of my working solution of HC-110 and XTOL drifts so it gets weaker over time. Is there a way of testing the strength without processing film? Can I evaluate the developer by just checking the PH? Any insight is helpful.

Not really, there isn't. PH alone doesn't say much. You don't really know the condition of the development agent(s) in the solution. Perhaps you should replenish more and/or extend development time.

Anon Ymous said:

Not really, there isn't. PH alone doesn't say much. You don't really know the condition of the development agent(s) in the solution. Perhaps you should replenish more and/or extend development time.

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Thanks for the valuable info. I guess there's no shortcuts

You can still buy Ilford FP4+ control strips, that and a used densitometer is the only real way to monitor developer activity. Both the Ilford QC manual and the Kodak Z-book are still around.

https://125px.com/docs/techpubs/kodak/z-133-2003_03.pdf

https://125px.com/docs/techpubs/kodak/y30.pdf

https://www.freestylephoto.biz/1672109-Ilford-FP4-Plus-125-ISO-35mm-x-100-ft.-Process-Control-Strips

https://www.freestylephoto.biz/static/pdf/pages/product_pdfs/ilford/20114271214382932.pdf

Tom, If developer activity is gradually falling off, I'd say you're either not replenishing the correct rate ( for your processing line ) or throughput is on the low side.
If throughput is ok, then you need to increase your rep rates.

John S

You can use a film clip to test. Start with fresh developer, dip a film clip half way into the developer and time the change to D0max. Record the time and use thit as a reference for future checks. Your times shouldn't vary much more than a few seconds on successive tests. If the time variable starts taking much longer than what you deem as reasonable, replenish or dump the developer.

My solution: I stopped replenishing developer over 40 yrs ago and prefer single shot developers for consistency. I can only see using a replenishment program if developing film every couple of days, so that developer doesn’t sit around unused. My own shooting and developing are too erratic for replenishment. At one time Tetanol used to package developer in small glass veils similar to injectable medications for developing small batches of film as one shot. Are they still available? I use Rodinal and HC 110 as one shot.

darkroommike said:

You can still buy Ilford FP4+ control strips, that and a used densitometer is the only real way to monitor developer activity. Both the Ilford QC manual and the Kodak Z-book are still around.

https://125px.com/docs/techpubs/kodak/z-133-2003_03.pdf

https://125px.com/docs/techpubs/kodak/y30.pdf

https://www.freestylephoto.biz/1672109-Ilford-FP4-Plus-125-ISO-35mm-x-100-ft.-Process-Control-Strips

https://www.freestylephoto.biz/static/pdf/pages/product_pdfs/ilford/20114271214382932.pdf

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That's great! I didn't know they existed other then for C-41 film processing machines. I thought I'd just expose 1 sheet of 4x5 film opened 2 stops (Zone VII) on a white wall. After processing, I could check for 1.2 density. Do you know if it's a grayscale on those strips?

Here's a link to Ilford FP4 Control Strips here.... https://www.ilfordphoto.com/1672109

John S

I have been using my replenished X-Tol for more than 3 years now without issues.
The way I check its activity is by using exposed photographic paper.
I take a small piece of photographic paper (always the same brand) and expose it to full daylight for a few seconds (=completely overexposed). I then put a drop of my developer on it and another next to it after 60s, that makes one spot developed for 60s, the other for 120s.
Then I flush the paper strip under running water to stop development and fix. That gives me two different density spots. I compare those densities by eye to the test strip I made initially, at the point the developer had reached the perfect seasoning level.
If the densities are lighter, I add some fresh stock solution and repeat the operation. It only takes me around 10 minutes in the worst case, to adjust the developer to the initial activity.
As surprising as it may sound, but my final film densities are very consistent and the whole operation can be carried out at room light.

John Salim said:

Here's a link to Ilford FP4 Control Strips here.... https://www.ilfordphoto.com/1672109

John S

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Thank you so much! Very useful information.

guangong said:

At one time Tetanol used to package developer in small glass veils similar to injectable medications for developing small batches of film as one shot. Are they still available?

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Yes, they are. Back in the 50’s and 60’s Tetenal sold Neofin developers in glass ampoules — see photo. You had to snap off the “head” of the glass tube to pour out the concentrate; sealed glass tube = little to no oxidation. My first use back in the late 1990’s was when Neofin Blue, Neofin Red and Neofin Doku were sold in resealable glass bottles; I know that at some point Tetenal sold Neofin in soft plastic bottles, but apparently gave that up as even current production of Neofin Blue (the only version left) is in the resealable glass bottles. Neofin Blue is available on e*ay from Germany, with a $50 shipping cost to the U.S. Or you can order from macodirect.de and get a much more reasonable shipping cost. Used to be Tetenal sold Neofin in boxes of five bottles, but now they sell it in boxes of six bottles. Google “Tetenal Neofin” and click on Images to see what current packaging looks like, or follow this link to the macodirect website entry for Neofin Blue: https://www.macodirect.de/en/chemis.../4558/tetenal-neofin-blue-6x-50ml-concentrate


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