Does PotOx separate?

[wilsonneal]

I haven't used my PotOx in several weeks. All the dark brown stuff has separated to the bottom and I can easily decant the clear stuff on top. The liquid on the top is pale yellowish green. Can I use this clean liquid on top or are some of the necessary components of the developer in the dark sediment?
Thanks
Neal

 

[Mateo]

what happens is that you're using a saturated solution and if you use it hot when you put it away it cools off and supersaturates and crystals form. you can use the liquid off the top or you can warm the liquid up and put it back in and the crystal will dissolve and you be back where you were.

 

[wilsonneal]

thanks. i tested it and it seems to have the same properties. i was interested in cleaning up the developer a little because it had gotten so opaque I couldn't see what the print looked like until it was rinsed. and also, this dark developer stained some prints made on the Weston paper.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Neal- if you remember from our class with Carl Weese, periodically you should filter that stuff off that separates, and replenish with fresh developer. I've forgotten once or twice and then when I poured well-saturated developer over a fresh print, I got all these little thread-like things floating around in the developer. They all come off in the wash, but it's distracting because you're never quite sure until they're washed if one of them is a flaw in the print or if it's just the thread.

 

[wilsonneal]

I've filtered with a coffee filter a few times, but there seems to be particles that are too small for this method. In any event, it's working fine now and the sludgy stuff is out of the mix.