Metol exposed to air???

[Eric Rose]

I received a large Ansco 130 package (8ltrs) of dry chems from Photographer's Formulary some time ago (1 year+) and have keep it in a cool, verging on cold dark place until today. I opened it up to mix up an new batch of 130 and found that the Metol pack was not properly sealed. Some of it had spilled out into the box but most of it is still in the plastic envelope.

The colour is just off white. Given that it has been exposed to air for so long do you think it will be ok? Am I wasting my time in mixing all this stuff up?

Need to get some prints out asap so your expert opinions would be appreciated.

Eric

 

[Photo Engineer]

Eric;

Metol keeps rather well, but not perfectly when exposed to air. It usually turns rather dark and forms a cake when it is bad. If the developer can be tested before use, that would help. I'll bet it performs just about perfectly.

PE

 

[Kirk Keyes]

Last month I mixed up some Ansco 130 with glycin that was stored at room temp for 4 years. I'd been warned that glycin does not last long, and the glycin powder had turned a pale brown color. Despite that, I mixed some up and the solution had the color of strong tea. Dark brown. I figured, what the hell, and tried it anyway. It worked pretty nicely. I didn't have "fresh" glycin to compare it with, but I can't complain about it.

I know it wasn't the Metol, but it still worked nicely.

 

[Eric Rose]

thanks guys