Life expectancy of D-76

[Rick A]

Here you have it folks, proof that tightly capped full bottles of D-76 last a very long time. I am cleaning out my darkroom in preparation of closing it down, and pulled three one liter bottles of D-76 out, all mixed from the same batch and dated. Take notice of clear (NOT BROWN) bottles stored on the bottom shelf (no door on cupboard), room temp. Negative was shot Tuesday morning and developed later in the afternoon.I have several more 4x5's to process from yesterday's outing.(I'm using up the last of my film that didn't sell).

 

[WilmarcoImaging]

Well done Rick! I store D-76 in the same fashion (PET bottles at room temp) and have no complaints about storage life of the stock solution.

 

[David Lyga]

Thank you for confirming what I have always dared to impart. With glass or PET the duration of D-76 (filled to the rim) will outlast your life. I am sick and tired of truisms dominating truth. - David Lyga

 

[BMbikerider]

Life expectancy - you don't say if it is fresh, i.e. unused or a bottle that has processed at least one film.

As for storage in bottles of any shade for B+W developer it doesn't really matter, but for colour especially E6 C41 or RA4 then a bottle with a bit of tone with it is the way to go.

That is why only very rarely do you see a good quality wine in anything else but brown or green which filters out the UV and aids preservation. It is the same for developer.

 

[Cholentpot]

I've had the stuff survive a move. Never had D-76 go bad on me.

 

[jim10219]

I've been storing my D76 in old 2 liter soda bottles because they were easy to squeeze the air out of. But I'm only getting about 6-8 months out of mine. After that, the D76 still works, but it loses enough strength that I have to compensate my times. Maybe it's because I'm opening my bottles more often, or some other issue, because my bottles have a LOT less air in them that that one in the picture.

 

[Anon Ymous]

I have a full, 330ml PET soda bottle of D76, mixed in 12/2013. It's still clear and it was stored in terrible conditions (too hot in the summer). An identical bottle was used 2 years after being mixed, giving fine results.

 

[mklw1954]

I've had 1 liter PET bottles of D76, squeezed so there's no air, and stored in the dark for more than 6 months. The one not used for any development was clear and worked fine. The one that had been used to develop one or two rolls was hazy (looked like it attacked or etched the inside wall of the bottle) and was discarded. Still not a good idea to exceed Kodak's 6 month storage recommendation.

 

[Rick A]

Life expectancy - you don't say if it is fresh, i.e. unused or a bottle that has processed at least one film.

As for storage in bottles of any shade for B+W developer it doesn't really matter, but for colour especially E6 C41 or RA4 then a bottle with a bit of tone with it is the way to go.

That is why only very rarely do you see a good quality wine in anything else but brown or green which filters out the UV and aids preservation. It is the same for developer.

The quantity missing from the bottle was only enough to make two 1+1 runs developing some 4x5 film. This was mixed from powder two and a half years ago, decanted into three one liter bottles(Fiji Water) and the remaining was placed into several 250 ml bottles as one or two use applications. Since I only use my developers as one shot, used developer NEVER gets returned to my bottles. Once I open one of the larger bottles, I decant remaining chems to smaller storage bottles.

 

[Richard Jepsen]

In the past I stored XTOL in 1L hard plastic (PET) mineral water containers. I recently disposed of several XTOL liters stored in the dark at 75 degrees but 3 years old. The developer had a slight yellow tint vs the normal clear tint of fresh developer. XTOL stored in full PET containers will produce fine negatives at the 12 month point. It is risky to use old chemicals expecting excellent outcomes. Too much work goes into image making to risk less than expected results in any part of the image chain. From experience and literature XTOL has a several month longer life than D-76. Stored as stated my XTOL expiration limit is 8 months.

If you develop using a slightly (1 month) out of date, partial filled container of the D-76 ensure you use 500 ml of stock developer when mixing to 1:1. This may seem like a generous amount of developer but the Film Developing Cookbook recommends 500L of stock D-76 solution when mixed 1:1 when the solution is in date.

Only testing can determine If a developer can develop film to its full potential. Kodak & Photo Techniques, July 2001, have tested and reported recommendations. Photo Techniques claims excellent D-76 activity remaining at 6 months using distilled water stored in a glass bottle.

XTOL is a slightly better general purpose developer than D-76. If you are enlarging D-76 produced medium format negs to 8x10 I doubt you can see any difference in prints.

On the other hand if worried about unused chemical disposal XTOL is less harmful to the environment.

 

[trendland]

I have a full, 330ml PET soda bottle of D76, mixed in 12/2013. It's still clear and it was stored in terrible conditions (too hot in the summer). An identical bottle was used 2 years after being mixed, giving fine results.

Nice to hear from you - so last doubts on the true of the facts to developer live with stored D76 should gone away.
(As somebody like me agree with - you are like a neutral authority to this special theme).

with regards