Old bottle of KRST. Could it be ok?

[Anon Ymous]

Hello all.

I got some chemicals with my second hand darkroom gear and a small bottle of KRST was included. It's not sealed, but it's a full bottle. I've no idea how old it is, it could be 5 to 10 years old. It has the old Kodak logo and the text "9917 C7 001800" printed on the label. I don't know if it's true or not, but I had seen somewhere that the first part (9917) means that it was produced in the 17th week of 1999, making it 10 years old. The liquid is clear and stinks horribly (ammonia). So, is it good or should it be disposed?

BTW, I also got a packet of Kodak Sepia toner (1 quart). I assume it's ok.

 

[Ian Grant]

Should still be OK, try it

Ian

 

[Anon Ymous]

Thanks Ian, I will, but why the smiley? Am I missing something?

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Concentrated selenium toner has a very long shelf life.
Sepia toner should be OK too as long as the paper envelopes are intact.

 

[Ian Grant]

why not the smiley, it's smelly

Ian

 

[Anon Ymous]

why not the smiley, it's smelly

Ian

Oh, got it. The balcony seems a good idea btw.

Concentrated selenium toner has a very long shelf life.
Sepia toner should be OK too as long as the paper envelopes are intact.

Thank you Thomas. They probably are intact, plus I can hear the powders when shaking the packet. Does that stink too?

 

[ann]

not as much as it used to

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Sepia toner smells like things 5 year olds and most adults like to laugh about. Rhymes with smart.

 

[Anon Ymous]

Oh, you mean gases escaping from the lower end of our digestive system

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Yep. Just like poetry, it sounds wonderful.

 

[Martin Reed]

This might be the right thread for this one, the latest KRST, supplied in the last week or 2 through the Kodak chain, has a distinct straw colour to it, whereas for aeons it has been totally colourless. Has anybody used it yet and found any detectable difference? Maybe it's just a different batch of one of the components.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I noticed it too at my local dealer, and was wondering about it at the time, but forgot to bring it up. I'm curious too.

 

[Mike Crawford]

This might be the right thread for this one, the latest KRST, supplied in the last week or 2 through the Kodak chain, has a distinct straw colour to it, whereas for aeons it has been totally colourless. Has anybody used it yet and found any detectable difference? Maybe it's just a different batch of one of the components.

Hi Martin
Have left a message with Kodak last week to get someone technical to call but no one is rushing to ring back! Will try and do a comparitive test with 'clear' selenium soon.

 

[Mike Crawford]

Test Results

Have now done some tests on ‘old-clear’ and ‘new-yellowish’ Selenium using Fomatone and Ilford Multigrade.


Fomatone; Toned 1+10 at 1, 2 and 3 minutes.
The new toner definitely appeared more active. At 1 minute, both were similar though the new was a touch warmer. 2 minutes and the new was noticeably different with the midtones taking on a bit more warmth. 3 minutes and both prints had taken on a strong red selenium tone though again the new is a little bit stronger. Not too much to worry about as if I am toning for a stronger colour, I would be testing each time anyway.

Ilford Multigrade; Toned 1+20 at 1, 3 and 5 minutes.
In general the differences are not so noticeable on Ilford with a weaker dilution. (As one would expect.) I tend to tone this paper at 1+20 for 3 minutes as a standard to give a cooler tone, stronger blacks and for added archival qualities so this is what I was really interested in. I’ll have to see them dry to totally decide, but there is really very little difference with the weaker dilution so am not too worried now about the colour of the toner.

While the tests were timed quite precisely at 20 degrees, it should be mentioned that the older ‘clear’ bottle had been first opened about a month ago so I don’t know if that would change it at all. However, it would be nice to know why it has changed. Over to you Kodak.