How long do you run a batch of Xtol using the replenishment system?

I'm curious as to the life expectancy of Xtol when replenished and the best way to replenish for longevity. Any ideas? John W

I've gone a year+, but ditched that batch because it was growing things.

My working stock is in a plastic 2L Jobo bottle, and the replenishment stock is in glass bottles. As the replenishment stock is used, I transfer it to smaller bottles. any air space in the glass bottles is purged with non-reactive gas, I use nitrogen, but there are many choices. The working stock bottle is always filled to the brim.

Finally, I mix the developer with distilled, because i have iron in my well water.

I have a feeling that an APUGer called Maris and located in Australia uses replenished Xtol. I might be wrong but do a search. I use Xtol but as a use once and dump developer. In winebags I still have a little of the original 5L stock mixed 2 years ago. It was last used 3 weeks ago and worked fine

pentaxuser

It does seem to be very long lasting. I started using it as a tank developer about 3-4 months ago and haven't used it in the past month, but I floated a sheet of plastic wrap on the surface of the developer in the 5L tank, and it's still good in our warm climate.

pentaxuser said:

I have a feeling that an APUGer called Maris and located in Australia uses replenished Xtol. I might be wrong but do a search. I use Xtol but as a use once and dump developer. In winebags I still have a little of the original 5L stock mixed 2 years ago. It was last used 3 weeks ago and worked fine

pentaxuser

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That's 2yrs. in a wine bladder! That sounds darn good to me and then I could use it at 1+2 where I can't with replenished. I've used it at 1+1, 1+2 and 1+3 with Fuji Acros and like it at 1+2 the best. Acros is all I used when I tried Xtol so I can't say if 1+2 works that well with other films. I'd like to get down to one staining developer and one general purpose developer. For stain I've decided on WD2H+, but haven't settled on a GP developer yet. I have several I like and have to decide. John W

pentaxuser said:

I have a feeling that an APUGer called Maris and located in Australia uses replenished Xtol. I might be wrong but do a search. I use Xtol but as a use once and dump developer. In winebags I still have a little of the original 5L stock mixed 2 years ago. It was last used 3 weeks ago and worked fine
pentaxuser

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Yes, I use replenished Xtol. Because I do a lot of open tray processing of sheet film I find the slightly increased oxidation is compensated by replenishing at a rate of 90ml per film instead of Kodak's reccommended 70ml. My 1.6 litre batch has done hundreds of films and is still working perfectly 8 years after it was started.

Maris said:

Yes, I use replenished Xtol. Because I do a lot of open tray processing of sheet film I find the slightly increased oxidation is compensated by replenishing at a rate of 90ml per film instead of Kodak's reccommended 70ml. My 1.6 litre batch has done hundreds of films and is still working perfectly 8 years after it was started.

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If you had to guess Maris, how many 5 litre packages of X-Tol have you used in those 8 years?

And how do you deal with periods when you aren't developing film?

I was tempted to say to the OP that the real answer to how long does a replenished Xtol last is it lasts forever in that like the replenishment of print developer in a Nova Quad processor the same answer applies.

I put 1L of Ilford MG developer into my Quad in 2004 and have never had to replace it so it's lasted 11 year Pity that given the need to replace say 10mls of developer every X number of prints the original 1L has been replaced several times

pentaxuser

Over two years with replenished XTOL. When the stock solution for replenish was used up, I mixed more stock and continued using the replenished XTOL.

MattKing said:

If you had to guess Maris, how many 5 litre packages of X-Tol have you used in those 8 years?

And how do you deal with periods when you aren't developing film?

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How many 5 litre packages in 8 years? About 40. That's 200 litres of Xtol stock used as replenisher. There must be almost no original molecules from 8 years ago left in the bottle.

I do extended landscape shoots during the year and it may be up to 3 months between development sessions. Before using a well rested batch of Xtol I'll run a home made control strip to confirm developer activity. So far there's no activity change even after some months of storage.

A previous batch of Xtol was 7 years old when it got 18 months of unreplenished storage when I moved house and was temporarily without a darkroom. This batch showed activity reduced to about half so I discarded it and started the present batch.

The only maintainence except replenishment and keeping the bottle full to the top (no air space) is occasional filtration through a coffee filter. This takes out a few flecks of white precipitate which I believe is calcium ascorbate occasioned by some hardness in the tap water here.

Thanks Maris.

I've been using HC-110 replenished for the last few years, and will continue doing so until all my replenisher syrup is gone.

My experience only differs from Maris because of one occasion where my brain decided to focus elsewhere, and I dumped the developer from the developing tank into the drain, rather than back into the working solution bottle.

When it's replenished, I can use XTOL for over a year. I store it in an air-free poly container.

Turn over rate is a factor. When I was working in a lab, we never dumped the Xtol. The Refrema had a 70 gallon tank and it probably turned over every two to four weeks.

After what "pentaxuser" said I think I'll just go the wine bladder route and "one shot it" I know it's not as economical, but I won't be using it as much as I will WD2H+ so the Xtol will be idle for a while. I'll only use Xtol when I know I have to have full box speed or a little push. Thanks guys, John W