I brought the container to the light and can see the inside better. I can see a combination of fine and rocky looking clumps in the container. The clumps do not appear to fall apart while shaking the container.Lots of chemicals are "clumpy" -- depending on what that means. My Kodalk is not anywhere as fine as salt or sugar -- if that's what you mean.
The reason why I asked such a question is that when I bought chemicals for the first time at B&H the metol was on the stale side and had some clumps in it.
Here Martin Reed the former owner of a raw chemical suppliers and also a customer of suppliers Rayco discuss this.Sodium metaborate [Archive] - Film and Darkroom User
[Archive] Sodium metaborate Chemical formulaewww.film-and-darkroom-user.org.uk
My experience after 3 years is that so long as it is kept in a sealed container it may become clumpy but its property is unchanged.
Thanks xkaes"Clump" is still undefined, as is "Stale". If Metol (and Kodalk) are kept in sealed containers they should last a LONG time. I was given a five POUND bottle of Metol 25 years ago, and it's still works fine. There's a reason they don't have an expiration date. Clumpy? Some might think so --- depending on how big or small, hard or soft, a "clump" is. Brown? Some might say so. I'd say more "egg shell".
"Black specs" in your developer? If they are not in your developer before you add water, I don't see how the developer would create them.
Are you saying you are re-using the chemicals -- or are these fresh chemicals each time? Those are two different ball games.
Thanks lamerko for explaining this.Sodium Metaborate is actually crystals of varying water content. This suggests that it is not very demanding to store. The lumps may have formed during the crystallization process. And my metaborate, which I got from Suvatlar (Germany), is lumpy.
"Clump" is still undefined, as is "Stale". If Metol (and Kodalk) are kept in sealed containers they should last a LONG time. I was given a five POUND bottle of Metol 25 years ago, and it's still works fine. There's a reason they don't have an expiration date. Clumpy? Some might think so --- depending on how big or small, hard or soft, a "clump" is. Brown? Some might say so. I'd say more "egg shell".
"Black specs" in your developer? If they are not in your developer before you add water, I don't see how the developer would create them.
Can you see any specks in the chemicals BEFORE they are used? I have no idea how large these specks are, so you might need a magnifying glass or loupe or an enlarging lens.
Sodium metaborate is hygroscopic so it absorbs water from the environment over time, which tends to stick the crystals together and so there can sometimes be some big chunks of the chemical in purchased jars of it. Sometimes I get a new jar from ArtCraft and it has no lumps in it, and sometimes there are. Over time, I find it develops large, hard lumps by itself. To be usable, you may have to remove the big chunks and - putting them in a (clean) heavy plastic bag - smash them up with a hammer.
With xkaes's batch of 25 years and yours of 50, this then puts my mind at ease. I can now switch to some other possible reason.I have a bottle of Kodak Elon that must be 50 years old. Still works perfectly!
I will figure out the speck thing, eventually. I thank everyone for their input on the metaborate topic.
I just thought of trying a presoak on the next film run just to see if anything comes out of the presoak. I believe Ilford doesn't recommend doing one but I have done them before in the past.
I pre-soak won't have any effect on your problem -- unless the black spots are coming from your water, which can have "stuff" in it one day and not the next -- unless you have a filter?????????
Sodium metaborate is hygroscopic so it absorbs water from the environment over time, which tends to stick the crystals together and so there can sometimes be some big chunks of the chemical in purchased jars of it. Sometimes I get a new jar from ArtCraft and it has no lumps in it, and sometimes there are. Over time, I find it develops large, hard lumps by itself. To be usable, you may have to remove the big chunks and - putting them in a (clean) heavy plastic bag - smash them up with a hammer.
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