Junk in my Rodinal?

[yeknom02]

Quick question - I want to go back to Rodinal for a few rolls of 35mm, so I was looking at my bottle yesterday, and I noticed what appears to be a clump of brown (lighter than the liquid, though) solid material at the bottom. I got some of the last Agfa product, so that should give you a clue as to its age. What is going on with it, and will this affect any development I try with it? Do I need to do anything to try and re-dissolve this material?

Note: in an effort to de-clutter and 'neaten' my chemical storage area, I switched to putting everything in glass bottles. This bottle had not stored anything previously, however.

 

[Rick A]

You were'nt supposed to look in the bottle, that's the secret stuff that makes magic.

 

[john_s]

You will find many different and vehement opinions about Rodinal past, present and future. My take on it is that the later Agfa versions relied on higher alkalinity to make up for reduced p-aminophenol because it was cheaper to make. This IMO makes it less likely to last as long as the legendary Rodinals of the past. Traditional Rodinal had a few crystals of undissolved developing agent in the bottle but yours sounds different, more like deterioration crud. Very likely to work, but maybe not full speed. I would test before any important films.

Now donning my flak jacket and hard hat.

 

[vpwphoto]

IF you MUST use it... I suggest heating it to about 125 F. stir it all back together and let it cool again and use.
I tossed mine out when I found it like yours... I bought the Freestyle "equivalent" but haven't used any yet.
That is my somewhat scientific opinion.... or just develop longer but then again you don't really know what the stuff that precipitated "out" does during development.

 

[ROL]

It's all good. Why just the other day I noticed there was chocolate in my peanut butter, or was that peanut butter in my chocolate?

 

[Rick A]

You don't by any chance have your DR in a spare bathroom

 

[Mark Fisher]

There is always a chunk at the bottom for me and it is coffee colored by the time I finish it....and it always works for me.

 

[Michael W]

I had an old bottle of Rodinal & was using it for several years to process glass negs. A few months back I processed a neg that came out blank - pretty much clear glass, meaning the silver hadn't developed and the fix had washed it all away. Had a close look at the Rodinal bottle and there was a lot of these brownish crystals in the bottom. I suspect whatever was happening there had left the dev unable to process correctly so I threw it away. I'd be very careful - as someone suggested above, try a clip test.

 

[vpwphoto]

The Scientific answer to all of you is that the compounds that are dissolved in the liquid that is Rodinal (or any other developer or fixer) have fallen out of solution, either making it weak or chemically "wrong". THink back to high-school chemistry. This is the same reason there are specific mixing procedures for powders as you are making a super-saturated solution.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I had an old bottle of Rodinal & was using it for several years to process glass negs. A few months back I processed a neg that came out blank - pretty much clear glass, meaning the silver hadn't developed and the fix had washed it all away. Had a close look at the Rodinal bottle and there was a lot of these brownish crystals in the bottom. I suspect whatever was happening there had left the dev unable to process correctly so I threw it away. I'd be very careful - as someone suggested above, try a clip test.

I remember this happening from my stint with Rodinal as well. Shoot a couple of junk frames at the beginning of a roll, and do a clip test. It's a good way to make sure you have enough developer activity if you're not sure.
Or, just use your Rodinal up faster to prevent the crystalline solids from forming.