Old Tetenal Paper Developer

[Shangheye]

I have been given a large amount of old Agfa RC paper and Tetenal paper Developer. At a guess, the stuff is 6 years old or so. Can I expect the tetenal to be of much use?

I have run a few prints where the development time seems to be about 5mins (against a recommended of 1.5 to 3 mins at 1:9 dilution). The negatives appear low in contrast and darker that they should be (is that a sign of overdevelopment?).

I don't seem to form a latent image until about 3minutes, hence the need for the longer times.

I am exposing the prints (4x6) for around 9-12 seconds from a 35mm negative in a Condenser type enlarger with a 75w lamp.

Should I be extending the exposure time? Would that allow a shorter (and equal to the recommendation) development time, and hence better contrast?

Any help is welcome!

Rgds,

Kal

 

[Ian Grant]

You've got too many variables there to pinpoint the problems.

The paper may be very sloww, the developer collapsed, anf we don't know what your negatives are like, or how far you are stopping down the lens.

Expose some paper to light for a minute or so. Then develop for 2 minutes, if you don't gtet a good black try a different but new developer, if that works the Tetenal dev is useless. If that doesn't work the paper has aged severely and is very slow.

Ian

 

[Shangheye]

Thanks Ian. I am stopped down to f11. Will do that test tonight. K

 

[railwayman3]

?

The negatives appear low in contrast and darker that they should be (is that a sign of overdevelopment?).

I didn't quite follow that sentence....did you mean that the prints are low in contrast?

With old paper and developer, plus the variables in neg and enlarger exposure as mentioned in the previous reply, it might be difficult to pin down where the problem lies.

Why not try the paper with a known good neg and your usual fresh developer and printing conditions. If that works, you obviously know the condition of the paper...or you can experiment with different times, etc., if the paper is past its best.

Then, conversely, try the old developer with some of your usual fresh paper...again you are then experimenting with only one variable.

(At a guess, I'd think that the developer could be the problem. I'd not trust 6-year old chemicals, but paper of the same age, if well stored, should be reasonably usable?)

 

[Shangheye]

Yes the prints are low contrast. The negative has a good balance of tones with good contrast. I think that since the developer seems to only take effect after say 3 minutes and the image seems "developed" at 4-5 minutes, it's the dveloper as you say. Rgds, Kal

 

[Shangheye]

OK. I only got a good black after 4 and a half minutes. I then exposed my original test image for 3 seconds stopped down to f11 for the same image that I exposed originally at 9s, developed for 4.5 minutes and it seems to be OK. Probably not ideal, but it suggests that even with the aged tetanal, I can print OK. Will see what it looks like when it is dried down. Many thanks. Kal