Dark Brown Dektol...FRESHLY MADE???

jovo · Sep 30, 2008

What is going on? I just made up a gallon of Dektol from a sealed metallic packet that looked to me like old, oxidized developer that has long since passed its expiry date. When I was pouring it into the warm water, it was a bit dark, and seemed to have some clumps that I wouldn't expect in dry chemical. But, I've not used Dektol in over 25 years (it's now a good bit less costly than Ilford Paper Developer that I've used for a decade.) and wasn't sure what to expect. Was there a perhaps a possible pinhole in a pocket of the packet, or a flaw in the flavor of the formula? (thank you DK )

KenM · Sep 30, 2008

It's bad developer - it should be an off-white color, and mix to a slight (and I mean slight) amber color.

As you've found, it's expired. Badly

jovo · Sep 30, 2008

KenM said:
As you've found, it's expired. Badly

I should have also stated that the expiration date is August of 2009! Should I be examining the package with a glass for penetration of some sort (there isn't anything obvious) or is this a not very uncommon occurrence?

fschifano · Sep 30, 2008

I've had this happen, and it is usually because the seal of the package had been breached somewhere along the line. It looks bad, and it is. However, Dektol is pretty sturdy stuff; and before you chuck it all, give it a try. You might be surprised that it still works well. I would not expect to run as many prints through a give quantity of fresh developer before it dies completely, but it is likely not a total loss.

Jedidiah Smith · Oct 1, 2008

I agree - at least give it a try with one print, and leave the paper in for 3 minutes. You just might be lucky...I've had Dektol out in my garage (granted a cold, dark one, in Alaska), for I think about 2 months in a large tray, and on a whim I tried it instead of throwing it out - and it worked.
Never know...best of luck!
Jed

KenM · Oct 1, 2008

The packaging must have been defective...I would just toss the developer - it's obviously got issues, so you may need to print differently (read: work harder) to get the same print as you would with pristine developer.

R W Penn · Oct 1, 2008

Your prints may show stains after time.Toss the stuff.

George Collier · Oct 1, 2008

Is the pack of developer worth more than the darkroom time (your time) it would take to consume it?

Marco Buonocore · Oct 1, 2008

R W Penn said:
Your prints may show stains after time.Toss the stuff.

How would this happen? I've not heard of this before (assuming a print is fixed and washed properly.)

jovo · Oct 1, 2008

Thanks, folks. I will toss the stuff, not because I doubt it might still work, but because I try to achieve repeatability in printing, and using chemicals to exhaustion isn't very productive in that way. I started this thread because I didn't know what to expect after not using it for decades. I think I'll just go back to Ilford liquid developers, and stick with what I know to be reliable.

David Brown · Oct 1, 2008

jovo said:
I think I'll just go back to Ilford liquid developers, and stick with what I know to be reliable.

John:

Nothing wrong with using Ilford. I use both Ilford Multigrade (liquid) and Dektol, depending on how much printing I have to do. But, I don't wish that you or anyone else get the wrong impression. Dektol is a good product and works just as it always did. You just got a bad package.

Paul Verizzo · Oct 2, 2008

jovo said:
What is going on? I just made up a gallon of Dektol from a sealed metallic packet that looked to me like old, oxidized developer that has long since passed its expiry date. When I was pouring it into the warm water, it was a bit dark, and seemed to have some clumps that I wouldn't expect in dry chemical. But, I've not used Dektol in over 25 years (it's now a good bit less costly than Ilford Paper Developer that I've used for a decade.) and wasn't sure what to expect. Was there a perhaps a possible pinhole in a pocket of the packet, or a flaw in the flavor of the formula? (thank you DK )

It's probably the new warm tone Dektol....... :rolleyes:

MTGseattle · Oct 16, 2023

I know this is an old post, but within the last week, I had a pack that mixed to a "Whisky and water" color, that pack had a 2008 exp date. I went and swapped it for a pack with a 2023 exp date. The new one looks like Turkish coffee. I called the small local shop and told them to order some fresh stock. I literally cannot see through this batch and it's in a clear pitcher.

chuckroast · Oct 16, 2023

MTGseattle said:
I know this is an old post, but within the last week, I had a pack that mixed to a "Whisky and water" color, that pack had a 2008 exp date. I went and swapped it for a pack with a 2023 exp date. The new one looks like Turkish coffee. I called the small local shop and told them to order some fresh stock. I literally cannot see through this batch and it's in a clear pitcher.

Something is wrong. There was a bad batch for several years, but 2023 dated stuff - at least what I have here has been fine.

There is no fresh stock. Kodak exited this business. You can learn how to make D-72 from raw chemicals or buy one of the alternatives from Freestyle or Photographer's Formulary.

MattKing · Oct 17, 2023

MTGseattle said:
I know this is an old post, but within the last week, I had a pack that mixed to a "Whisky and water" color, that pack had a 2008 exp date. I went and swapped it for a pack with a 2023 exp date. The new one looks like Turkish coffee. I called the small local shop and told them to order some fresh stock. I literally cannot see through this batch and it's in a clear pitcher.

Do you have the package still? May we see the labelling, including the "Made in..." and Sino-Promise parts, as well as the "Use before" text?

pentaxuser · Oct 17, 2023

Wasn't there a tread about the fact that a batch of Dektol was made that resembled Root Beer but SP or whoever was responsible for its manufacture was assuring buyers that it worked just as well albeit, I assume, that it was more difficult to see the print developing in the tray?

Again just my memory but wasn't there reports from users here that it did in fact work perfectly well?

pentaxuser

MattKing · Oct 17, 2023

pentaxuser said:
Wasn't there a tread about the fact that a batch of Dektol was made that resembled Root Beer but SP or whoever was responsible for its manufacture was assuring buyers that it worked just as well albeit, I assume, that it was more difficult to see the print developing in the tray?

Again just my memory but wasn't there reports from users here that it did in fact work perfectly well?

pentaxuser

Yes.
A friend of mine continues to methodically use up his Dektol from that batch.

MTGseattle · Oct 17, 2023

I’m happy to post package details if it helps anyone.
I’ve read through a lot of the forums regarding the funky color.
I mixed stock solutions and my first round of working solutions last night but ran out of steam. I plan on buying backup developer

MTGseattle · Oct 17, 2023

I will at least try the “root beer” before I 86 it.

Bill Burk · Oct 17, 2023

It will help to know the batch info.

Kodak Alaris with no date or batch marking for mine.

I will be using a couple gallons of the brown stuff because press releases say it’s good, but I hit eBay for a few gallons in paper/foil laminate bags.

Those laminate bags and tin cans I trust. ( but if they’re brown I throw them out).

dokko · Oct 17, 2023

MTGseattle said:
I know this is an old post, but within the last week, I had a pack that mixed to a "Whisky and water" color, that pack had a 2008 exp date. I went and swapped it for a pack with a 2023 exp date. The new one looks like Turkish coffee.

I also had a pack two years ago that resulted in a sludgy dark brown sauce. Been told by the seller it's a manufacturing problem but the developer should still work as advertised.
I didn't try because it was no joy working with the stuff. Made me really sad that Kodak quality went downhill since they sold the chemistry division.
I'm very grateful what Eastman Kodak has done for photography in general, but will be buying products from Adox and Ilford until they get their act together.

MattKing · Oct 17, 2023

dokko said:
I'm very grateful what Eastman Kodak has done for photography in general, but will be buying products from Adox and Ilford until they get their act together.

You are not likely to ever see Eastman Kodak in that part of the business again - it has been more than two decades since they were doing their own manufacturing of black and white photo-chemicals.

MTGseattle · Oct 22, 2023

Sorry all. The packaging for the last batch went into the circular file quite quickly. I suspect it was bad storage as the envelope itself was discolored. Had I not been basically new to sourcing and mixing powder-based stuff that would have been a red flag for sure.
The postscript to this whole thing is that yes, the 'root beer" Dektol would bring an image up in my paper. The times were longer than normal, and exhaustion (both mine and the chemistry) set in quickly.
This "weird" developer compounded things for me though as I was also having a safelight issue and ambient light issues. It's hard to narrow down the culprits when starting with an already skewed process.
I struggled with things for about 1.5 hours before mixing different (Ilford multigrade) developer.
I'll comment about the other issues in my own thread.

dokko · Oct 22, 2023

for those who can't imagine the Dektol mud, here the color of the package I mixed in 2021.

here the packaging in question:

and the color of a second package bought at a different time for comparison (immediately after mixing and about 5 minutes stirring)

MTGseattle · Oct 22, 2023

Exactly! It looks like a big pot of Espresso. Here's the odd thing to me. In my case, the really dark stuff at least dissolved properly, while my "whisky and water" batch had all kinds of particulate matter that never broke down.
Thanks for the pictures, I can't even get my phone images sized right for the forums. Sheesh!

Dark Brown Dektol...FRESHLY MADE???

jovo

Membership Council

KenM

jovo

Membership Council

fschifano

Jedidiah Smith

KenM

R W Penn

George Collier

Marco Buonocore

jovo

Membership Council

David Brown

Paul Verizzo

MTGseattle

chuckroast

MattKing

Moderator

pentaxuser

MattKing

Moderator

MTGseattle

MTGseattle

Bill Burk

dokko

MattKing

Moderator

MTGseattle

dokko

MTGseattle

Dark Brown Dektol...FRESHLY MADE???

Membership Council

Membership Council

Membership Council

Moderator

Moderator

Moderator

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency