'clip test' for paper developer?

[rippo]

not sure how to search on this one, and the results didn't answer my question.

got some dektol clone stock solution mixed up, probably about 6-9 months old. stoppered full bottles. is there a daylight 'clip test' i can do to see if it's going to still work?

i only ask because it takes me a fair amount of time to turn the laundry room into a darkroom, so i'd like to test beforehand. obviously it's been awhile since i've printed, if my dektol is that old.

 

[Ian Grant]

Just expose a strip of paper to daylight and mix the dev as normal see if you get maximum black in 2 mins at 20C

Ian

 

[rippo]

thanks, Ian! that's just what i needed.

 

[rippo]

so i did a clip test. dektol was pretty dark, like HC-110 syrup in color (not consistency) before mixing. however the square of RC paper i tried went dark quickly, like within 20 seconds or so. after roughly two minutes, it was as dark (wet) to my eyes as a properly developed and fixed burning card i have, which is made from two sheets of RC back to back.

so it appears to be working. but dark Dektol is probably a sign i shouldn't do anything critical with it.

 

[CBG]

I'm not sure you can't do something "critical", as long as you test. An exception might be doing a big batch of prints where you wouldn't want the developer to weaken prematurely mid-process. Someone might want to chime in with experience using older developer and toning.... I seem to remember reading somewhere of several connections.

C

 

[rippo]

i'm certainly not doing anything critical. really this is prompted by a roll of 36 exposure b/w film that's been hanging in my print dryer for a week. the thought of scanning it all on my epson 4990 is just...offputting. since the roll is of family holiday snapshots, i wanted to see if it were ultimately less annoying to make proof prints of most of them on my enlarger, as opposed to scanning. if the developer fails, no big deal.

as part of tomorrow night's re-entry into the darkroom, i will be doing an exposure test and making a test target for contact-printing, so contrast and exposure time is going to be more important. but even then i won't cry if it's not exact.

perhaps i'll do that test first, since as you mention, i might experience developer failure in the middle of making my batch of proofs. thanks!

-matt