Is Xtol reliable?

[clayne]

Kodak has told me not even a clip test is a guarantee because the film area is small compared to developer volumn. KODAK said there is NO HOME TEST to reliably measure activity. I no longer use Xtol.

This is a really dumb reason not to use XTOL. A better "test" would be to just use it more OFTEN such that sudden death isn't even an issue.

 

[Robert Budding]

"Suppose for the sake of argument that there's a pinhole in the cap of your storage bottle."

No, I'm not that sloppy. I use brown glass reagent bottles for storage and a little piece of plastic wrap under the bottle cap.

 

[SchwinnParamount]

This is a really dumb reason not to use XTOL. A better "test" would be to just use it more OFTEN such that sudden death isn't even an issue.

Snark - Clayne... right on! -end Snark

PE. You always bring such sanity and ACTUAL-FACTS to these discussions. Thank you very much.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I keep track of when the XTOL was mixed and how many roll have been processed in the liter that I am using.

Steve

 

[fotch]

Kodak has told me not even a clip test is a guarantee because the film area is small compared to developer volumn. KODAK said there is NO HOME TEST to reliably measure activity. I no longer use Xtol.

Holy smokes Batman, you take bigger risk just driving a car.

However, if your that concerned, you should not use it.

 

[Dave in Kansas]

Those of you using glass bottles for storage, do you also add marbles or anything in partially filled bottles to elimate/minimize air space? I would think Xtol might spoil faster when the stock solution bottle becomes less than half full (for those who replenish).

Dave

 

[Sirius Glass]

I added large marbles into a gallon jug of print developer and towards the end, I had a heavy hard to handle jug ... no joke!

Steve

 

[fotch]

Those of you using glass bottles for storage, do you also add marbles or anything in partially filled bottles to elimate/minimize air space? I would think Xtol might spoil faster when the stock solution bottle becomes less than half full (for those who replenish).

Dave

I plan to use twenty 250ML amber glass bottles, filled to the brim, sealed with Saran wrap as well as the cap. The label will have the date sealed. Once I open to use it, I will either use the entire contents or if I use less, will dump it since it won't be worth trying to store such a small amount.

After 6 months, I will consider it expired.

Note! Will do the same with D76 except I will only need sixteen 250ML bottles.

No marbles, no gas, no squeezing. I would use Nitrogen gas if I had it but I don't so I won't.

 

[clayne]

You guys seem to be going overboard. I put it in accordion containers to expel air, use distilled water as initial mix (although I've done both), and just use as normal. NO ISSUES.

You don't need gas, marbles, saran wrap or any of that. Just use it often enough (vary dilutions if you aren't using it fast enough) and issues will be minimal.

 

[Jerevan]

I mixed a batch yesterday night, and I saw that it is clearly written on the bags that stock solution will keep up to six months in a bottle filled to the brim. If not, it will keep at most 2-3 months in a half fillled bottle. Either you need to soup film more often or switch to something that lasts much better. Such as Rodinal, but that's another thread completely...

 

[Tony Egan]

Some theories:

- King Duncan was not killed by Macbeth, but by traces of "sudden death XTol" in his nightcap.

- There was about one liter of XTol in the trunk of Amelia Earhart's plane.

- In the early days NASA used XTol as rocket fuel, but it was a disaster
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13qeX98tAS8&feature=fvw

I heard the bad batches were traced to the work experience kid who heard his senior colleagues complaining about those bad photographers out there that didn't give their film enough exposure to light. Being an inventive and ambitious kid he thought he would help them out by replacing the vitamin C with vitamin D.

 

[Jim Chinn]

I place mine in a duravinyl container (what fuel cell bladders are made of)
then store the whole thing into a large cyrogenic nitrogen bottle.

 

[Sirius Glass]

You guys seem to be going overboard. I put it in accordion containers to expel air, use distilled water as initial mix (although I've done both), and just use as normal. NO ISSUES.

You don't need gas, marbles, saran wrap or any of that. Just use it often enough (vary dilutions if you aren't using it fast enough) and issues will be minimal.

I use accordion bottles and some of them slowly leaked. I have a set that works, but when one of them goes I will use glass bottles.

Steve

 

[cmo]

My XTol storage: 5 simple glass bottles (wide bottleneck). I spray butane gas into the bottles, it is heavier than air, lays on the fluid like a lid. It's just cheap cigarette lighter gas but reduces oxidation to zero. Much better than accordion bottles, no heavy marbles.

 

[fschifano]

I use propane instead. Buy it in the size typically used for soldering torches and it's even cheaper than butane. It stinks a bit, but works just as well.

 

[Venchka]

Half Gallon Arizona Tea + Fruit Juice bottles. Free when the drink is gone. They work for all my chemicals. There's a smaller size too. 1.5 liters aprroximately.

As previously stated, Xtol goes in a wine bladder.

 

[srs5694]

"Suppose for the sake of argument that there's a pinhole in the cap of your storage bottle."

No, I'm not that sloppy. I use brown glass reagent bottles for storage and a little piece of plastic wrap under the bottle cap.

FWIW, and relevant to another question in this thread, I use a vacuum pump on glass bottles to produce a partial vacuum to extend the life of my developers. I find this to be effective; however, I also find that the seal on the caps eventually degrades so that the vacuum doesn't hold for very long (a few seconds, minutes, hours, maybe days). It'd be hard to spot this sort of problem if you just screw the cap on, even with the plastic wrap you mention; the bottles, although not airtight, don't leak. In any event, a bad seal like this could speed the deterioration of XTOL (or any other developer).

I've also found that acidic solutions rot metal bottle caps rather quickly. I now use nothing but plastic caps (and often plastic bottles) with stop bath, acid fixers, bleaches, etc. I've never had this problem with developers, so it's not really relevant to XTOL per se, but I thought I'd mention it.

 

[brianmquinn]

I plan to use twenty 250ML amber glass bottles, filled to the brim, sealed with Saran wrap as well as the cap. The label will have the date sealed. Once I open to use it, I will either use the entire contents or if I use less, will dump it since it won't be worth trying to store such a small amount.

After 6 months, I will consider it expired.

Note! Will do the same with D76 except I will only need sixteen 250ML bottles.

No marbles, no gas, no squeezing. I would use Nitrogen gas if I had it but I don't so I won't.

More or less my method but I use 330ml perrier bottles (glass with metal caps so I skip the Saran). BUT as I stated earlier I set some bottles aside and have used them to test how long Xtol is good for. Well after 3 years at room temp it was as good as new.

 

[Double Negative]

Today is literally the one year anniversary since I mixed up my 5L batch of Xtol. Developed a couple of rolls of 120 in it just last week. Works fine!

I kept it in four 40oz. brown glass beer bottles with metal caps. Drinking the beer was half the fun!

 

[Tom Stanworth]

Kodak has told me not even a clip test is a guarantee because the film area is small compared to developer volumn. KODAK said there is NO HOME TEST to reliably measure activity. I no longer use Xtol.

I suspect Kodak wont put their name to a crude home test just like a doctor wont tell you its OK to diagnose yourself off the internet (though I have on several occasions found the internet more reliable)

If 20cc of dev causes a film leader to blacken quickly, the developer is working just fine and 400cc is not going to have any trouble developing your roll of film...

 

[Brandon D.]

The only kind of "XTOL failure" I know of is the kind in which one is too lazy to shoot through a batch of it within six months. If you failed to shoot through a batch within six months, then you are officially considered an "XTOL failure!"

 

[cmo]

The difference between a good and a bad restaurant in Italy...

In a good restaurant the waitor will ask you after the meal: "Fish was good, sir?"
In a bad restaurant he will ask: "Fish was still good, sir?"

Food packages have a "best before" stamp, often with a note about storage ("put in the fridge, dude"). It is vital to follow these instructions, because a "sudden death" can be very unpleasant...

 

[david b]

I can't believe this thread is still going on.

 

[Kirk Keyes]

Well, when you get the urge to do something you know you shouldn't, like make another post to this thread, just remember those famous words of Nancy Reagan, "Just say no".

 

[cmo]

I can't believe this thread is still going on.

You might try to (there was a url link here which no longer exists) this thread....