Is R09 One Shot/Rodinal safe to use in a stainless steel tank?

MickMod · Jul 7, 2022

Hello everyone, I just wanted to double check if there's any issues with using R09 One Shot (Rodinal) in a stainless steel tank.

I'm asking because I just developed a medium format roll in my Kindermann 1x 120 tank, and when I poured out the developer, it was a very dark purple, and looks almost black when it's in the beaker.

I have used Ilfotec DD-X in this tank before with no problems, and with that, the developer is a very light brownish-red color, and almost completely seethrough.

It's worth noting that this roll was very underexposed as I metered totally wrong, so it could just be darker because the images were so underexposed, but I wanted to ask before going any further just in case Rodinal isn't actually safe to use in my tank.

I attached a photo of the used developer, both the stop bath and fixer look normal.

Thanks in advance,
Mick

glbeas · Jul 7, 2022

Its quite safe, especially when you consider everything should be rinsed and put up to dry after every session. Some color bleaches can be rough on stainless but is really no problem for the amount of time its in contact before being washed out.

Donald Qualls · Jul 7, 2022

The color you're seeing came from the film. Several 120 films have a washable dye as antihalation (Fomapan, for instance, has a bright blue/green dye in 120 only).

Underexposed would produce less oxidation of the developer (if that were the source of the color) because less halide is developed to image silver.

Generally, stainless is impervious to sodium or potassium hydroxide -- enough so that even Rodinal(-alike) concentrate won't do any more than spot-clean the material. Drain cleaner has a much higher concentration in use, and is safe for black iron and plastic drain pipes, as well as brass tail tubes and P traps, as long as exposure time instructions are followed.

Alan9940 · Jul 7, 2022

I don't use Rodinal nowadays but, back when I did, I developed all my smaller format films in Nikkor-style stainless steel tanks. Never noticed any issues with the metal from this formula.

MickMod · Jul 7, 2022

Donald Qualls said:
The color you're seeing came from the film. Several 120 films have a washable dye as antihalation (Fomapan, for instance, has a bright blue/green dye in 120 only).

Underexposed would produce less oxidation of the developer (if that were the source of the color) because less halide is developed to image silver.

Generally, stainless is impervious to sodium or potassium hydroxide -- enough so that even Rodinal(-alike) concentrate won't do any more than spot-clean the material. Drain cleaner has a much higher concentration in use, and is safe for black iron and plastic drain pipes, as well as brass tail tubes and P traps, as long as exposure time instructions are followed.

Thank you for the explaination, I was just surprised as this was just a roll of Kodak Tri-X @ 400ISO, in Rodinal 1+25 for 7 minutes, and on my other rolls of this film with other developers (Ilfotec DD-X and Cinestill Df96) that color wasn't there in my developer. The more you know!
-Mick

Donald Qualls · Jul 8, 2022

The other thing is that the oxidation color of Rodinal-like developers is generally pink (barely any) to very dark brown ("like Coca-Cola" or "like coffee" are common descriptions for old Rodinal in the concentrate bottle). Even at 1:25, however, there isn't enough concentration of developing agent to produce a dark color; the furthest I'd expect it to go is a moderate straw color.

gone · Jul 8, 2022

It's safe. R09 isn't Rodinal though, or at least it's not like the current Rodinal from Agfa. The recommended dilutions are a little different, and I got negs from it that looked completely different than my Rodinal negs.

Can't say that I particularly cared for those R09 negs either, but it probably takes time to figure the developer out. In my case there's no need to try it again, the Adox stuff is great for pretty much everything I shoot. It, D76 and F76 Plus are about all I use now.

MickMod · Jul 8, 2022

Donald Qualls said:
The other thing is that the oxidation color of Rodinal-like developers is generally pink (barely any) to very dark brown ("like Coca-Cola" or "like coffee" are common descriptions for old Rodinal in the concentrate bottle). Even at 1:25, however, there isn't enough concentration of developing agent to produce a dark color; the furthest I'd expect it to go is a moderate straw color.

That's the weird thing to me, the bottle is less than a week old and looks great, in plastic tanks like the ones I have from Paterson come out much clearer.

Either way, if it's safe I won't complain too much
Thanks for your help!
-Mick

Pieter12 · Jul 8, 2022

MickMod said:
Thank you for the explaination, I was just surprised as this was just a roll of Kodak Tri-X @ 400ISO, in Rodinal 1+25 for 7 minutes, and on my other rolls of this film with other developers (Ilfotec DD-X and Cinestill Df96) that color wasn't there in my developer. The more you know!
-Mick

Different films have different color anti-halation dyes. I use Rodinal all the time (not in SS) and HP5+ has a brownish color, while Try X is a deep purple, almost black. Nothing to do with your tank material or Rodinal. If you presoak the film before developing, you will see the water turn same color, maybe just lighter.

MattKing · Jul 8, 2022

Different developers have different chemistries - differing as to pH, as an example. The appearance of the washed out dyes may vary because of that.

madNbad · Jul 9, 2022

I did a roll of Tri-X in Rollei R09 yesterday. The developer had turned a deep purple color and I was convinced there would be residual coloring effecting both the stop bath and fixer. The color was only the developer, not a hint of color in any other chemistry, plus my stainless steel tank is still bright and shiny.

eli griggs · Jul 9, 2022

Rodinal has been in use so long that any issues about steel reels/tanks would be common knowledge among photographers whom do darkroom developing.

AgX · Jul 9, 2022

momus said:
It's safe. R09 isn't Rodinal though, or at least it's not like the current Rodinal from Agfa.

There is no current Rodinal from Agfa. After the collaps of AgfaPhoto the respective german plant which made Rodinal was bought up by a new entitity and for a short time produced Rodinal again, until the plant was sold again and changed completely its range of products.

MattKing · Jul 9, 2022

Rodinal's history is as complex as Vivian Maier's family tree.......
And there is a whole bunch of versions that can rightfully be described as "real" Rodinal.
On the subject of the thread, there may be tanks that would suffer from prolonged contact with R09 concentrate, but I don't think decent quality stainless steel tanks are in that group.
And diluted to working strength Rodinal isn't like to be a problem for any type of tank.

madNbad · Jul 9, 2022

The R09 working solution is a lovely shade of purple with Tri-x. I tried it with TMax once but can't remember what shade it was when I drained the tank.

AgX · Jul 9, 2022

Only one process comes to my mind that can be critical on SS and may necessitate a high-grade alloy:

Ilfochrome (which is obsolete anyway...)

Sirius Glass · Jul 9, 2022

MickMod said:
Hello everyone, I just wanted to double check if there's any issues with using R09 One Shot (Rodinal) in a stainless steel tank.

I'm asking because I just developed a medium format roll in my Kindermann 1x 120 tank, and when I poured out the developer, it was a very dark purple, and looks almost black when it's in the beaker.

I have used Ilfotec DD-X in this tank before with no problems, and with that, the developer is a very light brownish-red color, and almost completely seethrough.

It's worth noting that this roll was very underexposed as I metered totally wrong, so it could just be darker because the images were so underexposed, but I wanted to ask before going any further just in case Rodinal isn't actually safe to use in my tank.

I attached a photo of the used developer, both the stop bath and fixer look normal.

Thanks in advance,
Mick

I can see no reason not to develop film with R09 One Shot in a stainless steel tank.

AgX · Jul 9, 2022

MattKing said:
On the subject of the thread, there may be tanks that would suffer from prolonged contact with R09 concentrate, but I don't think decent quality stainless steel tanks are in that group.

All SS alloys withstand KOH in the respective concentration.

Is R09 One Shot/Rodinal safe to use in a stainless steel tank?

MickMod

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