My developer is huffing

[semi-ambivalent]

I never used to worry about my D-76 going bad, at 1:1 I used it up quick enough. Lately I have been using it at 1:3 and developing a roll at a time so last night after pouring another 4 fl. oz. I gave the bottle a shot of Blow Off brand duster gas and put the cap on. Tonight I noticed the plastic bottle has collapsed a bit, as if some of the air/Blow Off has been absorbed by the developer. The Blow Off ingredient is 1,1-difluoroethane. Wikipedia says it's benign other than being lethal if you huff it.

Could this gas and its absorption by the developer affect the developer's action?

s-a

 

[ParkerSmithPhoto]

Get yourself a case of 250 or 500ml glass bottles from usplastics.com

Super cheap. No worries about freshness cause there's never any air.

 

[Bob-D659]

Sounds more like the bottle is getting fairly empty and cooled off after being closed.

Yes some will be dissolved in the dev, but it takes a while.

 

[Worker 11811]

I'm betting with Bob.

Canned air is basically Freon-152, if memory serves. As a refrigerant, we should expect it to expand and contract in response to changes in temperature and pressure more than air. Right?

 

[albada]

Plastic bottle collapsing:
I've seen the same thing happen with my home-brewed clones of XTOL, and with XTOL itself. I use Dust-Off, which is also difluoroethane. It seems to be absorbed by the dev, creating a partial vacuum, collapsing plastic containers. So far, it has done no harm to my developers. Now I store them in glass bottles, solving the problem of collapsing. But when I unscrew the cap, I hear a "fsss" sound, reminding me about the partial vacuum and making me wonder if I should be using nitrogen instead.

Mark Overton

 

[Bob-D659]

Also appears to be much more soluble in water than butane.

 

[markbarendt]

Also appears to be much more soluble in water than butane.

I used to use the dust off and have the bottle collapse, no problem with the chems but that is anecdotal.

I use Butane/Propane now, no collapse.

 

[kevs]

Best thing probably is to exclude air from the storage bottles, squeeze it out before replacing the cap, and ensure the bottle is airtight. My ID-11, made up 1:0 in August 2008 has been stored in 500ml plastic (PET I think) pop bottles, and it's good to go. Oxygen absorbed from the atmosphere will slowly oxidise the developer. I don't know what effect 100% butane would have. If the dev significantly darkens, it's probably stuffed. It works for me, but YMVV.

Cheers,
kevs