Fotospeed / Did toning for first time but unsure if chemicals were shot ?

[lhalcong]

I bought from B&H a while back fotospeed toner for black and white prints. variable sepia , the ST-20 makes 1.5 liters. I mixed only half of the 150ml bottles to make 750ml instead of the full 1.5L , seemed to work on the first and second trials, by the time I did the actual print I needed to tone, it did not pick right color. I tried again, by the 4th , it did not work anymore, the image never came back from after the bleaching... I did the procedure correctly by bleaching first to desired tone, and wash according to instructions. all prints were correctly fixed and washed prior.

Was thing thing shot ?, not good expired ? whatever, or did I do something wrong ?

thx

 

[Michael Kiel]

How long did it take you to make the trials? The working solution of variable sepia toners does not last long, so it is better to mix only small quantities that are just sufficient for one batch. The concentrates however should almost keep forever. This is my experience with Tetenal and Moersch chemistry, but all of these toners are similar.

 

[mrtoml]

I mixed up some Fotospeed variable sepia toner last week that had been left in half full bottles for about 5 years. It worked fine including the bleach. Are you talking about the stock solutions being shot, or did you use some already mixed diluted toner you had stored for a while?

 

[lhalcong]

freshly mixed . it was immediate use within a couple of hours at the most. it did work for 2 initial prints, by the 4th it was not good bringing the image back anymore. I added more additive to see, and that kind of brought it back to live for one more print the same session. but the next print did not work again....
Bleach is fine.

thanks,