Frozen Developer

Ah, it was bound to happen... Trying to quickly bring down the temperature of a film developer, I put it in the freezer. Then because I didn't end up continuing the work, I forgot it overnight. Now, its a huge yellow icecube. I am talking about Ilfosol-S at 1-9 dilution, inside a Jobo 1lt bottle. Considering the short life span of the developer and my lack of chemistry knowledge, would the developer be preserved as an icecube, or ruined? Can I use it or should I throw it away?

It may be ruined, but as it's not been frozen too long it's difficult to tell. You could do a clip test, process just a few frames of 35mm.

Otherwise just throw it out and start again, a bit of wasted dev is preferable to a ruined film.

Ian

Yesterday I was processing rollfilm in stainless steel tanks with flexible icepacks attached to the tanks to keep them at 68-deg F. with room temperature around 81 F. They've been sitting in the freezer since I broke my wrist several years ago, and fortunately, we haven't had too many medical uses for them. One has long velcro straps that worked perfectly. The other one I attached with rubber bands. It worked pretty well.

Just a guess, but it should behave as normal. I don't think that any of the chemicals should deterioate because of being frozen overnight. If anything it should be the opposite of too much heat, that is that the oxidation should slow down with a lower temp. But again, test it. If not for any other reason, just because you made us curious.

//Björn

Sorry guys, as you aren't sure either, I chose to take the safe root and get rid of the developer.
I didn't have the time to make any tests, so I will leave that to someone else.

I would be afraid that some of the chemical would separate out and not redisolve. After bringing it to room temperature and letting it sit with occasional stirring, look for particles on the bottom. If there are none, it's probably OK, otherwise, I would dump it.

Last winter (or the year before) I ordered some Amaloco AM 74 and Tetenal Emofin from a seller in Europe. The Emofin is a powder so if it gets cold before the powders are mixed there is no harm. The two 500ml bottles of AM 74 arrived nearly frozen solid. I sent an e-mail to Amaloco in Holland. They were alarmed to hear that the AM 74 had been frozen and told me that it was not designed for freezing. They also told me that the weather in northern Europe can be quite cold in the winter. It can get pretty cold in North America in the winter too. I was advised to put the bottles in a 165F water bath. I didn't do that but in a little time everything dissolved anyway. In your case I think you did the right thing by discarding the frozen developer.

bsdunek said:

I would be afraid that some of the chemical would separate out and not redisolve. After bringing it to room temperature and letting it sit with occasional stirring, look for particles on the bottom. If there are none, it's probably OK, otherwise, I would dump it.

Click to expand...

Not to worry....nothing separates out that doesn't redissolve. Food is a lot more complex than developer and it freezes and thaws just fine except for watery stuff where the cells burst. Tomatoes, not Dektol.

I keep my D-76 frozen since I use it so infrequently. It works just fine.

Having said that, I sure wouldn't keep 1:9 stuff, way too inexpensive to fret about.

I think Dan Schartz (?) has mentioned on photo.net repeatedly that he regularly freezes small batches of C-41 chemistry for use as one shot amounts...just a little FYI.

FWIW I think provided that there was no sedimentation that couldn't be redissolved on thawing out it should be fine.

If you do the same thing twice, allow it to thaw, then give it a thorough remixing, and should be no problem.

Though if you're in any doubt and you don't want to risk it, make fresh